  Two coarse-grained models which capture some universal characteristics of
stripe forming systems are stud- ied. At high temperatures, the structure
factors of both models attain their maxima on a circle in reciprocal space, as
a consequence of generic isotropic competing interactions. Although this is
known to lead to some universal properties, we show that the phase diagrams
have important differences, which are a consequence of the particular k
dependence of the fluctuation spectrum in each model. The phase diagrams are
computed in a mean field approximation and also after inclusion of small
fluctuations, which are shown to modify drastically the mean field behavior.
Observables like the modulation length and magnetization profiles are computed
for the whole temperature range accessible to both models and some important
differences in behavior are observed. A stripe compression modulus is computed,
showing an anomalous behavior with temperature as recently reported in related
models. Also, a recently proposed scaling hypothesis for modulated systems is
tested and found to be valid for both models studied.
