I have been contacted by a fellow model builder in the Tyler area who has a 'Hasagawa/Minicraft' Grumman S2F-1 Tracker in 1/72.
He tells me that the decals have broken/shattered, and would like to know his options. He seemed to think that Testors (his guess) had a software program at one time which would let a person make their own decals. Does such a program exist and who has it, and is it freeware, or must it be purchased?
I have and will be passing on to this man, the address and phone numbers I have found for both Hasagawa and Minicraft. Neither of these companies has the plane in production at this time and a look at Squadron mail-order did not locate any kits or decals that he could use.
I have heard of a decal making machine (alpa, alsa, or something like that) which does allow one to make decals, but I understand it is expensive, and I don't think this man will want to spend quite that much money.
He has suggested that he has the means to scan the current decal sheet, so I would also ask if he might be able to scan to say 'PAINT' and then fill in the cracks and then print out onto decal paper the repaired decals? If so, what would you advise as the next step. What would you recommend as a sealer, so that the ink does not run?
