Reviews

L’Arsenal 1/350-1/400 Waterline Stripe Decal set Reviewed by Felix Bustelo
As much as we all enjoy ship modeling, there is some aspect or task that we do not like to do. For some it may be rigging; for others it is applying decals. For me, it is masking and painting waterline markings or boot tops. There, I said it! I personally find it difficult to mask off a consistently even thin line to paint black (or white for merchant ships) as the waterline marker. Even when I manage to do a fairly decent job of masking, there is always that little bit of bleeding of the black paint under the masking tape that needs to be touched up. Well, if you dislike this task then L’Arsenal provides you a possible solution to your woes. The 5.5-inch by 8-inch sheet contains a total of 29 black stripes in various widths. To be specific, the sheet comes with 4 stripes each in 1.00mm, 1.25mm, 1.75mm, 2.00mm and 2.25mm widths, 3 stripes in 1.50mm width and 6 stripes in 2.85mm width. Even though the sheet is marketed for use on 1/350 and 1/400 scale models, the stripe decals could be used on other scales depending on your needs. The concept of providing decal waterline markings is not really new, as some Heller and Mirage kits provide them as part of their decal sheets.

My only criticism of this sheet is that it does not provide curved shaped lines to use around the stern of a ship, which I find the trickiest aspect of masking and painting boot tops. One could also argue that applying stripe decals, especially trying to line them up straight, could be as time consuming as masking and painting, the end result of using the decals will almost certainly be neater and more even boot tops. In any event, I welcome this alternative to my most dreaded modeling chore and I plan on using them when waterline decals are not already provided with the kit. My thanks go out to L’Arsenal for providing my review sample. Click the logo on the right to visit their website.