Product Review: Bison Decals

 In the modern hobby environment new decal manufacturers seem to spring up every time you blink, but that goes to underline the fact that the hobby grew up with those who were born into it, and the modern plastic hobbyist demands accuracy, performance and variety. Swedish company Bison specialise in armour decals, with a strong emphasis on World War II. Their sheets are compact and economical, providing both vehicle tactical numbers and national insignia for numerous subjects, with a B&W foldout instruction sheet showing placement. Paintscheme diagrams are very small, however, and of limited use: you’re meant to do your research for these subjects, and Bison include the complete list of published works and online resources they used to create the decals. This is really interactive modelling!

 

 My first taste of Bison was sheet 35023, Early Tiger Is on the Eastern Front, featuring complete markings for eight tanks. I built Academy’s Tiger I (Early), kit #1386, and used the markings for 1325 of the LAH at Kursk (two white outline balkenkreutzer and three tactical numbers, one for each side of the turret and one for the stowage bin, facing the rear. My sample was fractionally out of register between the black and white elements of the numbers, but the error factor was so close to the resolving ability of my eyes that it made no difference to me. The silk-screened waterslide decals, manufactured by Fantasy Printshop in France, are very thin and take around 90 seconds soaking time to free off from their backing paper. They respond well to Microscale chemistry, a few applications of MicroSol really pulling them into surface detail. They go down over a flat finish with absolutely no silvering at all. Drawbacks -- the decals tend to want to stick wherever they touch, there’s precious little slippage available, no matter if you absolutely puddle them in MicroSet, so be as accurate as you can when placing them. They’re strong enough to withstand repositioning with a fingertip a time or two, which is a good thing as a brush will never move them. The graphics are designed to be proportionally correct on flat surfaces, there is no built-in correction for distortion over 3D detailing where this occurs. And lastly, they have a bright, glossy finish. I overcoated them with two or three applications of Gunze clear flat before trimming them close, but even so they were brighter than surrounding paintwork. This may be a case for airbrushing clearcoats if you’re a stickler for finish. Bison are available from numerous outlets around the world, a favourite is http://ausfwerks.com, whose website features larger, full colour versions of the diagrams (left profiles only).

 

You can find Bison themselves at: http://www.angelfire.com/pro/bison Their website features the colour profiles and a look at the sheets themselves. 35023 is further reviewed at: http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/bison/bison.htm New subjects are coming along regularly, for fans of Axis and Allied armour. For unusual subject matter and excellent quality, this is a range to keep in stock in your decal drawer.