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I am submitting this request for an old friend of mine that is ailing, but remains an avid modeler.

 

First, he has several sheets of ABT decals and is curious about the history or information on the company. He knows it is a French company, and assumes they are out of business. Can anyone offer information on this? I Googled this item, but came up with information that was not applicable.

 

Last, he has some old decals, some remain flat sheets, while others have curled. I told him the curled sheets are most likely to shatter when immersed in water, and I was not certain about the others. I suggested that he test a small decal from each sheet to confirm their condition. What is the method to restore these old sheets for use? I have heard (I think) that by spraying a thin coat of clear seal, like Future or Floquil the decals can be salvaged. Each decal must be cut individually.

 

Am I on the right track or not? Your help will be appreciated.

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I am submitting this request for an old friend of mine that is ailing, but remains an avid modeler.

 

First, he has several sheets of ABT decals and is curious about the history or information on the company. He knows it is a French company, and assumes they are out of business. Can anyone offer information on this? I Googled this item, but came up with information that was not applicable.

 

Last, he has some old decals, some remain flat sheets, while others have curled. I told him the curled sheets are most likely to shatter when immersed in water, and I was not certain about the others. I suggested that he test a small decal from each sheet to confirm their condition. What is the method to restore these old sheets for use? I have heard (I think) that by spraying a thin coat of clear seal, like Future or Floquil the decals can be salvaged. Each decal must be cut individually.

 

Am I on the right track or not? Your help will be appreciated.

Use Microscale Decalcote. Spray it over the sheet and it may help hold the old decals together.

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Use Microscale Decalcote. Spray it over the sheet and it may help hold the old decals together.

 

Thank you, David.

 

I appreciate the response and will pass this on to my friend and keep this in my file for my own use.

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I'm not sure what information you are looking for on the company. Yes, they were a French decal manufacturer. They go back to the early days of plastic modeling. After His-Air-Dec, they were one of the first companies to offer decals that were different from those provided by the manufacturers. Initially, each decal sheet provided two sets of markings. Their first sheet covered Pierre Closterman. Subsequent sheets covered various French and German subjects. They were the first to provide a proper color of blue for the center of French roundels. They had some general sheets covering Swastikas and general French Roundels and stripes. They were probably the first company to offer sheets of German WW I Lozenge Camouflage. I think that they were in business in the late '60s and early '70s. I think that they only covered WW II and a few WW I subjects. They were somewhat thick so you may still be able to use them with the coat of Decalcote as suggested. I remember that I was using their lozenge decals on a D VII and had to use a ton of Solva-set to get them to confirm. Hope this helps.

 

 

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I'm not sure what information you are looking for on the company. Yes, they were a French decal manufacturer. They go back to the early days of plastic modeling. After His-Air-Dec, they were one of the first companies to offer decals that were different from those provided by the manufacturers. Initially, each decal sheet provided two sets of markings. Their first sheet covered Pierre Closterman. Subsequent sheets covered various French and German subjects. They were the first to provide a proper color of blue for the center of French roundels. They had some general sheets covering Swastikas and general French Roundels and stripes. They were probably the first company to offer sheets of German WW I Lozenge Camouflage. I think that they were in business in the late '60s and early '70s. I think that they only covered WW II and a few WW I subjects. They were somewhat thick so you may still be able to use them with the coat of Decalcote as suggested. I remember that I was using their lozenge decals on a D VII and had to use a ton of Solva-set to get them to confirm. Hope this helps.

This will help my friend greatly. Thank you for your help.

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  • 4 weeks later...

For the complete story of ABT decals, see here: http://modelstories.free.fr/histokits/ABT_Gene/index.html

 

It's in French, but BabelFish or Google Translate will render it in English.

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  • 3 weeks later...

SkyKing -

 

Thanks for the link to the ABT history. It was fun to see all the old sheets. I was surprised to see how many of them I actually used - back before AMS set in. Although they are very thick by modern standards and much of the research has been superseded, they were well printed and covered some unusual subjects. I still have a few stashed away.

 

Greg

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