Tips on the US National Insignia
A friend challenged me to post some information about the US national insignia. I have extracted some key points from my how-to article/handbook on the US Insignia for modelers. In the larger article, I go into far more detail about the history of the insignia, how to draw it, and then make your own mask or iron-on markings.
We’ve all seen really well executed scale models with rivet detail, panel lines, and color matched paint schemes. But on some, when it came time to add the star and bars…well, that’s where the attention to detail ended.
Maybe if more ARF and kit manufacturers studied the US Insignia, better markings would be included in the box. It probably cost just as much do them incorrectly as it would if they were made geometrically correct. Unless you are getting your markings from reputable graphics companies or high-end kits intended for competition scale modelers, it is likely decals of the US insignia will be wrong.
What do we mean by geometrically correct? We mean that all of the insignia’s individual components including the star, the roundel, boarder or surround, bars and stripes, are placed and proportioned correctly to each other. This is not a discussion of the size the complete insignia should be in relation to the model. That would be for another article.
Later in the thread, we’ll look at how to identify problems on commercial decals, and look at some bad examples.