Coolice - Vinyl Decals

The following is a review of some new Swift vinyl decals from Coolice Grafix

Overview

Coolice Grafix is run by Ian Contessa, a fairly well known pilot who flies for Century UK. Ian produces vinyl decals for a variety of models including the Swift. Details on what models he supports and some gallery pictures of decals can be found on his site.

I asked Ian if he could reproduce a sticker set utilising the Swift-Tuning logo and site colours. Below are the pictures of what came through my door a couple of weeks later. Following this the canopy with stickers applied and ready for flight.

Fitting

The decals are peel back and then apply style decals. They are self-adhesive and care needs to be taken when applying them that no air bubbles are caught underneath. The Swift canopy does have a release agent on it (from injection molding) and this should be washed in soapy water before applying any decals to make sure that the decals don't peel off or fail to stick properly.

I found that the decals were very easy to apply but because the Swift canopy is extremely curved you do get some concertina effect in places around the edge of the decal. Aside from this minor issue the decals were easy to apply and the whole job was finished within 30 minutes. The concertina effect can be removed using a hair dryer and some gentle smoothing down with a thumb. After the application of some heat from the hair dryer the decal fits perfectly with nice smooth edges and looks superb.

Here are some shots of the canopy fitted to the Swift:

 

Conclusion

The Swift canopy is notoriously difficult to paint. Added to this the canopy is very often bent and stretched when fitting it onto the model. The result of this is that even if you managed to paint the model nicely the paint inevitably ends up flaking off and the canopy then looks awful. Vinyl decals offer a quick and easy alternative to painting the canopy. However, even decals have their problems on the Swift canopy, due to its large levels of curvature, fortunately this is easily remedied with the application of a little heat and smoothing down. Having spent some time looking at my nice paintwork slowly flaking off having these new vinyl decals has once again made my Swift look sharp and professional. All of the decals were a good fit and therefore it is my opinion this Swift decal set offers a good alternative to spray painting. Highly Recommended for a professional and permanent finish to the standard canopy.