Griffon Games Decals

Let me start by telling you a short story. I picked up a couple of boxes of Games Workshop's Tactical Space Marines a few months ago. I finally got some free time to paint these guys and upon opening the box I discovered something. The box contains ten marines yet only enough decals for five. I opened another box and discovered the same thing; not enough decals for all the marines contained within. However annoying this problem was, the timing was good. At the same time Griffon Games (previously Tangents) released a decal set of unit markings suitable for Space Marines. 

Griffon Games unit marking decal set is the latest in a series of decal sheets suitable for game miniatures. Along with the unit markings they also offer gryphons, skulls, caution stripes, and crosses similar to those of Black Templar marines. The unit marking come in a variety of colors so whatever color you need they probably make. The unit marking sheet has all of the proper markings for tactical, devastator, fast attack, chaplains, standard bearers and more and one sheet in more than enough for an entire army.

The decal sheets are different than those most of you are probably familiar with. First off the entire sheet is printed on a single piece of decal film meaning you'll have to cut out the decals you need with a hobby knife. Second, the decals have no protective coating over the top. This means two things; they scratch very easily and must be handled with care, but the lack of a top coat also means they are thinner than most decals and its less likely that you'll see the decal film once its placed on the model.

Now I must tell you something. I HATE using decals. I can never get them right. Sometimes they work great, other times they come out terrible. I know how to use them, but they just never seemed to work for me. Knowing this I was not expecting good results with these. I followed the included instructions sheet to the letter; cut out the decal, applied it to a glossy surface, and applied a setting solution. To my surprise they worked perfectly! I never had a decal go on with no problems before.

The first thing I noticed once I got them set in place is that the color is much more intense that the Games Workshop decals. If I was using a GW decal in this situation the dark green color of the marines would show through making the decal appear darker than intended. These decals are not transparent meaning you can use them over dark colored surfaces and still get good results.

The one downside I did notice with the Griffon Games decals is that there was a thin white line running down the side on some of the decals. It appears to be a printing error where the color was placed slightly off target. I cannot be sure if this is typical of these decals or if I just got a misprinted sheet. Either way the white line was not obvious and noticeable only upon close inspection. Keep in mind that the above photo was taken from one inch away. When your models are on the battlefield they will not be under such close inspection.

Just to be sure that I did not become a decal expert overnight I tried out a GW decal on one of the marines. As you can see in the photo above it was not my skills with decals that improved, but the quality of the decals that I was using. The GW decal would not follow the curve of the should pad and left air bubbles beneath no matter how much burnishing or decal set I used. The ridge of decal film is also quite obvious. Also notice the difference in color intensity between the GW and Tangent decals. It proves that I'm not bad with decals, I'm just bad with bad decals.

Conclusions? Griffon Games makes great decals. They are a bit harder to work with due to the lack of a protective coating, but the end results more than make up for the extra work required. The decals would rate a perfect ten if not for the white line that appears on some of the decals, but don't let this detour you from picked these up. As I stated above this slight imperfection will not be noticed on the battlefield. A big thanks goes out to Griffon Games for creating some great decals and for reassuring me that I'm better with them than I thought.

Griffon Games Pro Decals

The review above was written about three years ago. From all the feedback, Griffon Games decals have been a big hit with many painters. Even myself has found many a project perfectly suited for their decals. Not one to rest of their laurels, Griffon Games has expanded their line of decals to include professional decal set.

All previous Griffon Games decals were made by themselves, assumingly on an Alps printer. The new sheets are contracted out to a professional decal manufacturer. These new decals improve on two problems with Griffon Games in-house decals mentioned in the previous review. First, the decals now have a protective coating, meaning they are less likely to be scratched and/or damaged while being applied. Second, the decals are now segmented. The previous decals were printed on one whole sheet, basically like one giant decal, requiring some careful cutting with a hobby knife. The new sheets is composed as individual decals, so cutting does not have to be as precise. 

At the time only one sheet of decals were available, black crosses, so this review is limited to them. The quality of the decals are good, similar to what I would expect from high quality Tamiya or CAM decals. With the additional of a protective coat, they are still thinner and more intense in color than those from Games Workshop. I tried out one of the white crosses over black, the toughest test for a decal, and the color was crispy and clean.

I had no space marines as my test subject, so I substituted an i-Kore Vasa biker. The crosses and roman numerals are from the new professional decal sheet. The "VIGIL" on the front is from a Games Workshop decal sheet. It is difficult to tell in the photo, but the GW decal is thicker than the Griffon Games decal. Notice the fogging?

Griffon Games has made a great product even better. With their new professional decals they took care of the minor problems of their previous in-house decal sheets, and have not sacrificed a single thing in return. I look forward to an expanded line of Griffon Games Pro Decals.