Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

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bhoy
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Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by bhoy »

Hi All, I am in the process of restoring an original M42 helmet shell for a Luftwaffe impression, and I am pondering which is the best repro helmet decal to obtain, so I am looking for feedback on these decal types / makers to weigh them up againt each other. Hessen has the Czech decals and I have dealt with them before -- but the decals from Decalhelmet.com look really good, though I have never dealt with them before. . . If anyone has any input please send it my way! :wink: Thanks!
Stigroadie

Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Stigroadie »

I have used these guys a few times and they are great to work with and have a top notch product.
http://www.military-steel-helmets-and-d ... decals.htm
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Walther
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Walther »

Have to agree with Stig - Johns 'dry' decals by far wop on anything else I've ever used for ease of application and durability.

Neil.
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Mooyman
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Mooyman »

I have tried all suppliers but decalhelmet is the best.
Why? because they are ultra thin,and just as metallic as the originals.
and they are printed backwarts...
The dry decals from John are not that bad but they are made from vinyl
and they are thicker then originals.
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Sean
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Sean »

Not tried the other supplier Stig mentioned, but I'm very impressed with the ones I received from Decalhelmet recently.
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bhoy
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by bhoy »

Stig, I had completely forgotten about John at German Helmet Decals...I lost his link in my last hard drive crash. I will order from both him and from decalhelmet and compare with my original when I can get them all together, though that may take a few weeks :roll: I've been doing Luftwaffe at local airshows the past couple of years with a completely original helmet (except chinstrap) and even though it is not pristine I don't want to use it anymore from fear of knocking it about too much. :oops:
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dog green 1
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by dog green 1 »

I've always bought my decals from the link Stig posted whenever I've done a custom spray job for a customer. Always been over the moon with the dry transfer SS decals John supplied. Nice silvery/white background and bed into the texture on the helmets very well. However he no longer does the SS dry transfer decals as he claims his supplier has got cold feet with the nature of decals themselves :roll: I tried his water transfer decals instead and they were no where near as nice. For a start they are no longer the excellent silvery/white background but just silver, the same as the ones from SOF. I also nearly shat myself when I sprayed them with my usaual laqure to seal them and they started to melt. Don't even have this problem with the SOF decals. I still have one of his Heer decals and it is nice, however I am dissapointed in the new SS run. I can get the same from SOF posted out the same day for more or less the same price.

Would be very interested to see the decals from the other supplier mentioned. Are they easy to apply?
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Sheikh Al Stranghi
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Sheikh Al Stranghi »

John doesn't make the dry transfers anymore, and I found the water transfers to be pretty bad.
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Mooyman »

dog green 1 wrote:Would be very interested to see the decals from the other supplier mentioned. Are they easy to apply?
http://www.decalhelmet.com/categories.php?path=10


They look very natural with helmet texture.
You won't be dissapointed.

His paint is bad though!
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Mooyman
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Mooyman »

http://decalhelmet.com/description.php? ... target=new

brandnew series of decals 8) very close to originals
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Pz Gren Hoffmann
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Pz Gren Hoffmann »

What?! When did they put those up? I ordered perfect laquer decals a few days ago, and i didn't see them :(

Oh well, the perfect laquer are top notch aswell, but it would have been nicer to have had those instead.
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dog green 1
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by dog green 1 »

Do they do 2nd pattern SS decals in the new version. Had a quick look the other day and only noticed Heer.
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Mooyman
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Mooyman »

For the moment only Heer.
I doubt if there is a better one.
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bhoy
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by bhoy »

Well, I ordered a perfect lacquer 2nd model luftwaffe decal from decalhelmet and received it about 10 days later. It was carefully packaged and arrived in good condition. It was a little bit difficult lining the bird up properly when applying it to the stahlhelm from the reverse - definately more difficult than a typical shield shaped decal. Otherwise the installation went quite well. The detail in the eagle is excellent, as are the colors and it is amazing how thin the material is. . . as it dries / sets it just keeps sucking down tighter to the paint finish just like an original decal. Other decals seem much thicker to the fingertip than this one. If I can get some decent weather maybe I can get photos taken and posted up. For my opinion at this time decalhelmet WINS! Thanks for the input from you all! Bob
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Walther
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Re: Decalhelmet vs. Czech Made Helmet Decals Who is Best?

Post by Walther »

I have some water slide ones coming from 'Military and steel helmet' this week so I will let you know how I get on with them.

Neil
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