Patrick Selitrenny reviews Alliance Model Works's/Verlinden's German Army & Luftwaffe Uniform Insignia & Devices.



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Thanks!

An informative review Patrick. Thank you.

On a side note you have said you own most decals of this type patrick, which would be the offering you would recommend for German heavy artillery troops?

Hi CMOT,

Thank you, for having taken the time to read my review.

Whenever I may be aware of something "elusive" on the market, I will make an extra effort to bring it to everyone's notice.

These decals are not widely publicized as yet. I just "bumped" into them while browsing the Verlinden online store.

At first I thought they were the same as the Tamiya latest decal sheet, or even a combination of Tamiya with Lion Roar's own etched details. But after a closer look, i immediateli knew I had to have them.

Now that I own them, I hope they will stay on the market for a while, since I will need more than just one sheet of these, in my personal view, splendid renderings.

As said, I will try to do my best and at the same time write reviews that are both informative and if possible, also detailed..

Again, many thanks

Patrick

Excellent review,
Learned something, and enjoyed reading it.

Great review Patrick, very detailed and informative... A perfect example of what review is all about.

BTW, I was looking for similar items, but in 1/16 scale and found out about Peddinghaus decals. If you like insignia decals, perhaps you might want to check those out as well.

Mario

I like Peddinghaus' decals, but be warned they are printed on a single sheet of transder film and must be cut out carefully.

I discovered this using their excellent Schnauffer BF-110 G night fighter decals in 1/32nd scale. It's not a fatal flaw, but you don't want to leave a large amount of blue paper around them unless you don't mind transfer film all over the place.

Thank you Grumpy,

it was my pleasure. You know, beginner's luck...

Patrick

Hi Maki,

I already own the entire Peddinghaus Insignia line in 1/35 scale.
Besides being a bit hard to find and representing some very unique decals (i.e. Panzer Lehr shoulder boards, Administrative Personnel braids and shoulder boards, etc.), and despite Peddinghaus itself, allowing you only to pay through Paypal (with an account with them), as well as not being very forthcoming in answering questions by E-Mail, these decals are just for the expert.

I must concur with Bill Cross here, in saying that these decals are good (not excellent), but need very careful handling.

If one watches them carefully with a very powerful magnifying glass, one notices that they are at times out of register and some lettering on some of the shoulder boards is a bit off.

But as said, only if you use a magnifying glass.

Other than that, they have, and here I repeat myself, numerous interesting additions to the otherwise generally known ones.

The most notable being that Peddinghaus offers German General shoulder boards with collar Lahren (the specific General Staff collar braids).

Canadian Quartermaster Depot, now defunct, did offer the shoulder boards but always forgot to add these unique collar braids.
I actually use these, in conjunction with the braids, since they are more in scale.

Other peculiarity is that Peddinghaus has a complete sheet for the Luftwaffe, but just for regular Blue-Grey uniforms (no camouflage option is given).
It includes excellent Hermann Goering Division collar tabs and shoulder boards, as well as FLAK artillery one and the now famous Yellow ones, which one could actually apply to either Luftwaffe Pilot personnel, or slam them onto a Fallschirmjaeger (German Paratrooper - both wore the same Yellow collar tabs and shoulder boards underneath their jumping smocks).

But hey, I love them all, whether Tamiya's latest addition (by the way, did you know that this particular one has also decals in 1/16 scale?), the one I have reviewed, Verlinden's own, Echelon, Archer's or Peddinghaus, they all take a heavy burden off our shoulders.
The difficult task to paint all those tiny details by hand.

I am glad of having been of some service here.

Let me know if you need more informations on German, U.S. or British/Commonwealth uniform decals.

Patrick

Patrick, your review was excellent. Ausgezeichnet!

I must admit I haven't had any problems ordering from Peddinghaus. I also had no problems with emails; in fact, he even measured some of his 1/16 helmet decals for me before I bought them... as Verlinden 1/16 helmet decals are way too big I didn't want to make the same mistake of buying before knowing exactly how big are Peddinghaus helmet decals. And as far as I know there are no other 1/16 insignia offerings.

The carrier film must be trimmed, but it is so thin that it is completely invisible once the decal is in place and Microsol/Microset is applied. I'm by no means expert in decals (since I build mostly figures) but I was very happy with the way those turned out. Here's one of my 1/16 figures with helmet and grenade decals: Wehrmacht Unteroffizier

Sorry for going so much off topic guys,
Mario

Wow Maki,

excellent pose, excellent painting work. He really looks alive!

I still can learn a thing or two, but alas I am reduced to 1/35 scale, since I have too little space and too many models...

But really, I was very impressed with your figure... It's a show stopper.

Best

Hi Bill,

I am back and kicking. Thank you for your kind words.

I have just received Trumpeter's "3.7cm FLAK 37 auf Selbstfahrlafette (Sd.Kfz. 7/2 late version) with Sonderanhaenger 52" and "3.7cm FLAK 43 auf Selbstfahrlafette (Sd.Kfz. 7/2) with Sonderanhaenger 52", which I ordered some time ago.

I already have the Tamiya model of the above and I am about to compare the two.
I always thought that the Tamiya one was an adequate replica. Until now.

Looking in Trumpeter's boxes I found what I was missing for so long.

Except for the two gun barrels, which like in Tamiya's case are incorrect, and which I had the intention to replace anyway with aluminum ones (Aber, Model Point or ArmorScale) and the trailer, described as Sd.Anh.52, which is in reality a prototype and never saw an actual development during the war (meaning a chassis based on the Sd.Anh.51 coupled with what appears to be the caisson of the Sd.Anh.56).

Except for those imperfections, the two models look gorgeous and come with a complete engine each, something that Tamiya completely omitted.

I am as happy as a baby, but now I have to find a spot to insert them in...
Major problem...

Anyway, thanks again

Best wishes.... and keep in touch...

Patrick, why don't you do a "dueling build log" like I am doing with the Sd.Kfz.7/1?

I have one question: Where can I find a picture of the Tamiya decal you mentioned? I went to their site and I could not find them.
Thanks
Mike

Sorry, I have been absent from these pages for a while...

To answer your question, I would suggest you stick with Archer.
Archer decals are easy to apply and they have one advantage, they come (at least for the German side of things) in two variations (early war and late war).

So, if you should decide for Heavy Armored troops fighting, say, from 1944 on, you would stand a better chance to find that Archer provides you with shoulder boards and collar patches for that appropriate period.

But as with German tanks, even German figures sometimes pose a contradiction. For instance, at least in Normandy and even later in the Netherlands, you could see both kinds of uniforms being worn, depending on where the troops were stationed.

Fortress troops for instance, would still wear, in many cases their originally issued uniforms, while field troops, or rushed in troops, reserves and so on, would wear the newer style (naturally downgraded and shabby, due to lack of raw materials at home).

So, I think this is it. Although I may add that I usually prefer wet decals to dry transfers, but as of late, I have heard that Archer is preparing a totally new line of water slide decals (but I do not know when they will be issuing them).

I hope I have been of some help and again, sorry for the heavy delay...

Can I say I was stuck in traffic? Nahhh...

I just read your suggestion about building a dueling blog.

I am thinking about it, but will have to do a real hell of a job, if I want people to participate...

It is scary...

Do you think I am up to it?

Cordially

Patrick

It's only necessary that you build the two kits.


Definitely!

Definitely![/quote]

Thank you for the trust you have in me.

I will study the kits I have in more detail, as well as all the various decal sheets I own and will get back to you as soon as possible with something for you to evaluate.

If the job done will suit you, and you should deem the subject at hand interesting enough, I will then immediately proceed in setting up the back-to-back comparison forum or blog (as it may be) as you suggested.

Give me some time (not too long I promise). Just a week or so.

Is this OK with you?

Be well and do good work

Patrick

Patrick, I am happy to have your enthusiasm for the project. Take as much time as you need.