Bill Cross reviews Archer Fine Transfers' Heer Uniform Patches for Panzer Crews.



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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I'm waiting for delivery of my transfers. I'm wondering if I should shave off raised detail on the figure before applying the transfers.
Thanks,
Mike

That depends.

On the Mini Art figures in the photos, I left them as is - with one exception: the figure with the large Reichscockade cap emblem had too much "fold" on the front of the crown, so I removed a slight amount of it so the decal would "sit" better.

These transfers are microscopically thin, so if you remove the shoulder boards or collar tabs, they won't look 3-D.

Figures that have the Wehrmacht eagle on the cap, for example, will need to be smoothed down. HTH

Thank Bill,
Any hints or tips on transferring SS cuff unit insignia.

Thanks Again,
Mike

Bill, I used a this Archer set not long ago and I found on a couple of Verlinden figs that the decals sat just fine on the raised detail (a couple of eagle patches on cap and arm plus a triangular rank patch) without having to shave it off. I just used some decal setting solution and it went down just fine.

However, you also reviewed the shoulder board decals and they were trickier. On some figures I did the decal was too long and had to be cut to size and the shoulder board raised detail on the figure did need to be smoothed down.

I found the decals pretty good- they really finish off Panzer figures nicely. But they are very small and very fiddly so my advice to anyone is to go slow!!

My preferred method of application is to scrape off the transfer from the reverse side of the carrier (using a curved blade and a bit of care, the entire transfer will come off in one piece) and fixing it in place with a small dab of thinned white glue, then flat coating the figure after.
On Archer's shoulder board set they give you enough rank patches to outfit a small army, but on the sheet with the collar tabs they only give you enough for about 7 figs which gets to be a little expensive if you are doing the "small army". I wish they would even it out and print enough collar and shoulder patches on one sheet to make the same number of figs.

Mike, this set includes cuff bands for Grossdeutschland, but there's no easy way to align them other than looking at period photos or perhaps Osprey's "Men at Arms" Series.


Karl, I, too, found the shoulder "boards" occasionally too long, but that's easy to remedy with a quick trim from a sharp hobby knife, or else gently scrape off any excess after drying. I'm sure Archer gives you the extra length because of the variability of figure sizes. They ARE fiddly, but the wet transfer paper makes them surprisingly easy to work with.


Biggles, I feel your pain. Archer is understandably sensitive about the cost issue. They're a small operation, not a big company making tons of money. And perfection (which is what they're trying for) comes at a cost. The collar tabs are relatively easy to mass-produce, while the patches require:

1.) a Wehrmacht eagle
2.) a Reichscockade, either the "dot" or the complex version
3.) rank insignia
4.) Luftwaffe eagles
5.) collar tabs

Matching the sets would make the uniform patches sheet enormous and even more-expensive than they already are. Yes, it would be nice if the two sets matched, however I'm personally grateful there's someone like Woody Vondracek doing this sort of arcane thing.

I simply can't imagine doing figures without these sets now. I had been procrastinating on finishing the figure sets I have in my stash because I didn't want to face the BS associated with uniform markings or trying to paint them. That's all changed now.