"Decals for 1/76 & 1/72 Steyr RSO?" Topic

Hi, I recently posted here & on my blog about an Ace 1/72 RSO kit I'm building. Today I bought another RSO, this time in 1/76 by Milicast. Neither of these models come with decals. Does anyone know of any decal sets either specifically for the RSO, or else that might work with them? I have some decals for a Revell-1/2 track, some of which – number plates and door info (text in a rectilinear box) – might pass on the RSO. Are there any general-purpose 1/72 or 1/76 decal sets out there for WWII German softskins? I'd also like the other stuff, tactical & unit insignia, etc. Any help much appreciated. Thanks, Seb

archer does some 1/72nd stuff. Here's the link to unit symbols and you can scan around for other bits from there:

link

Thanks for the helpful link, much appreciated.

Sorry – join the traditional decal scurry! My best tip is for you to start hoarding every unused item now. PSC do several 'generic' German sets in 1/72. You may find some Skytrex still out there. There are expensive ones you can get via Milicast.

However, unlike in 1/35 you will almost never find vehicle specific sets. The exception is several Tiger and Late War sets by Bisons aimed at big stuff and Sdkfz 251s. At the other extreme you will have to a) get a photo that shows RSO markings and number plates, then use ACE or other 'blank' number plates with those tiny tiny tiny individual numbers – which nobody uses…..

Some of us will consider buying yet another 1/72 Italeri Fast build or Revell kit just to get our hands on enough decals to do a unit in consistent format!

The most useful sets have number plates only, crosses only, arm of service only, and unit symbols only.

You really can't beat the Skytrex ones

link

The Aleran decals that Milicast sells are very nice as well.

aleranminis.com

Thanks guys. Have now found lots of useful decals, thanks to these suggestions, but not the type I need, which are something along these lines:

… in particular the Steyr disc logo and the rectangle with text in it below that.

I have both an Ace 1/72 and a Milocast 1/76 RSO, neither with decals of any sort. Number plates are easy to find. But the Steyr logo and door info aren't.

Ace did other RSO kits with some of this stuff as decals. But they've sold out of the types of RSO I'm interested in, and tell me they have no left over decals (I did ask!),

Seb

Hello again folks

I'm attempting to 'bump' this old post of mine, back to the top of the listings, in a second attempt to find appropriate decals for these RSO models I've got.

I now have four such vehicles, as pictured above: a single 1/76 Milicast one, a 1/72 Ace models one, with a flak gun, and two PSC 1/72 models. So, four of these delightfully oddball vehicles in all.

Balkenkreuz and number plates are not a problem. What I'm still looking for are the circular Steyr logo, and the rectangular boxes (with vehicle stats in them) – as shown in the pic in the last of my previous posts, directly above this one. The closest I have got thus far, are some of the latter rectangular jobbies, in Revell Sdkfz kits.

All of the links very kindly posted/suggested above have plenty of German decals in the rights scales(s). But I don't see any of the particular type that I'm looking for. I'm also emailing PSC themselves, to see if they can suggest anything. Any help on this greatly appreciated

Thanks, Sebastian

PS – I'm even considering printing my own decals. Never tried it. But it looks like I might just have to! Trouble is they need to be in white, and I hear that that's bait of an issue… hmm!?

Well the problem with the 'technical plates' is you cant print white. You can try printing light grey ( proper white is to harsh anyway for the scale)on the clear sheets the other option is to use the white decal paper and do the background colour the correct vehicle colour. Make it darker and if you have the skill weather the background colour a bit to help it blend in. A light coating of dust/mud helps feather the decal in.
Youll need a good printer to get decent resolution but a proper scale effect would make the details pretty much vague anyhow.
Not sure Ive ever seen the Steyr logo on a period pic other than in technical manual type pics
I dont know if anyone deos them out there, a few kits have them but dont know of anything specific for the RSO.
Given that being not seen is important I'd doubt they would be on combat vehicles, too much of an aiming point. The technical plate in the pic looks a bit large to my eyes but not done a study lol
Ive used the Crafty Paper decal paper ( mostly the laser) quite a lot and it works very well.
L

I've only ever seen one photo of a RSO with the Steyr decal that could reasonably be assumed to be of one in operational use as opposed to being prototypes or test vehicles etc. The ‘technical plate' on the doors of operational vehicles always seem to be in black or very dark grey too.

Printing your own decals would probably be the best way to go. The paper can be purchased online, & comes in white or clear 'film', then you can create your own designs to fit with whatever schema you are using.

A couple of pieces of advice…

1. Size/scale is key – print on paper first to make sure the size is correct for the scale of model they are going on. Only once happy do you go to printing on the decal paper.
2. The paper comes in A4 sheets – Fill it as you won't be able to re-print later.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like a 'home-brew' decals solution is probably the way to go. Could be fun exploring a new modelling technique.

Leon, your suggestion of a white area left by printing the surrounding base colour is a great idea. I'll probably try that.

Tunnel rat, yep: test first, and use the whole sheet. Good advice! If I do print my own, I'll be sure to follow those sensible suggestions.

As to what vehicles in the field looked like, I've been trawling the web researching. Bundesarchiv pics are, amongst the many sources out there, one of the best. I might post a couple here and at my blog, by way of reference.

A nice colour pic from Life magazine. The flap on the driver's side, open below the window. Is that for headlamps?

This type of thing seems the commonest: no Steyr logo, and the tech. stats in black. I'll prob go this route, as it's easier than white.

An RSO in Albania. I have to confess that I do love that visible Steyr logo. I think at least one of my models will be emblazoned with it!

A contemporary example of an RSO with white text and logo. This may be a prototype.

Your Albania pic is the only "in service" one that I mentioned. Proves that they were out there though.

Hi deephorse, yep, same here… so far. Still looking. There are sooo many pics online… it's amazing (not to mention headache-inducing!)

I didn't know that the RSO with the 10.5cm was in Albania. The RSO looks so shiny & new that I thought maybe that was a testing ground or propaganda shot.

link

RSO with Einheits cab and Steyr logo.

Have a look at blackliondecals.nl. They will do custom decals. I have their Spanish Civil War decals and can vouch for the quality.