This is a review of Alliance Model Works ACUPAT camouflage decals for 1/35 figures [LW35069]

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

So funny to see the reality is finally coming to us.
i did reminber the longue speech from the onwer of Alliance Model Work here, saying that He produced the best products and he is doing great job comparing to other. That doesnot know nothing about model business.

Well, as always this was a smoke screen to hide the harsh reality....

Thanks for the review
cheers
seb

another review here.

http://www.modelarmour.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1875:applying-acu-camouflage-decals&catid=35:build-features&Itemid=59



Seb, the PE products from AMW are really the best.

This is the same effect I got on these figures. The obscuring of details is visible as the person used the same figure as I did. Please look at the figure with and without the decals. This is not really what you want to achieve when doing the camouflage. From what I see it's really not worth the effort.

i agree, but what would you expect from decals??? I find it really strange to use that instead of painting.

The decals I used so far were mainly for AFV and airplane models. The conforming and the thinness of some decals is just astounding. Especially when used on irregular surfaces. I managed with the use of solvents (and in some cases with only warm water and a hair dryer) to get them to snuggle in crevices, sharp angles etc., and yet every rivet, panel line, raised detail was visible. They really look painted on.

I figured if they could be done with the same quality as those, it would pretty much look the part. I know they can not be made to be perfect, but still I had my hopes up.

I'd like to see you or anyone paint accurate digital cam. I have tried these decals on a couple of figures, and am not impressed. Seem to be a bit thick, tend to break up, and don't conform to any details.

the other decals i used for some marine figures were brilliant. they were from cross delta. they were thin without being too fragile, and set really well. i had a piece on my finger, and they started to form to my finger prints, they are that thin.

I also have used the trumpeter uniform decals, and i have found phone books thinner than their decals. I just managed to cover the legs of a standing figure with out too much of the decals tearing or breaking.

just wanted to edit my above post:

i meant to say unless you can paint accurate and reasonably looking digital cam, decals are the way to go. I am hopless at digi cam, so i'm happy to use decals.

I feel it is better to paint not-so-accurate ACU and seeing all the intricate details sculpted on the figure than using a product that delivers nice ACU pattern but obscures the details.

I was looking for a product that would help with the painting pixels in 1/35 scale for quite some time. I must admit I'm really dissapointed with these decals, as it was impossible to get decent results. Matt, I'm wondering if you have any pics of Cross Delta offering and the figure you did with those?

Mario

An interesting idea. But not good enough for me to spend my money on. I`d rather do a half decent pattern by hand than lose so much detail. And any decal that doesn't snuggle down over detail is worthless in my opinion.

matt

i've bben having problems with photobucket, but have managed to get a couple of pics.

first up is a couple of pics of a hobby fan figure with the alliance decal on it. No amoun tof softener could get the decal to soften into the molle straps.





Here is a couple of pics of the other hobby fan figures with the cross delta decals.

the molle straps on the back back are painted after the decal settled into them.





here is a pic of the trumpeter woodland cam decal on a mig figure:

Thanks for the pics! It seems CrossDelta is the way to go if one wants to use decals... However, I'm still not convinced any decals will give better results than steady hand and lots of patience for painting ACU pixels.

Mario

you may be right Mario. I am going to try and paint the acu, i just have around 10 figures that need acu, and i didnt think i could handle doing them all!

really it's all about making it look like digital cam when you are painting it, not replicating it. It is far too minute for me, even with magnifiers! thats why i decided to try the decals. I have some more marines and some jgsdf troops to do with decals, then i'm moving on to other projects. There is still nothing like painting a figure yourself, rather than using a decal. But on the other hand, with some combat uniforms, the decals wont be used for much.

Brian, the results shown in your reply are not good enough, at least not for me. Have you tried your decals yourself? I'd love to see the result.




So, the reviews of your product have to state your stuff is the best? The reviews here are honest opinions of experienced modelers, and no pressure from manufacturers will change that.

Face it, your decals are not good and 55% rating is more than fair in my opinion. And your arogant, trolling attitude is something we have been witnessing for quite some time here and most of us are really tired of you.

Mario

Well since your first answer was aimed at me let me answer back. I didn't ask you for a sample to review, you sent it to Armorama so please be polite.

Enough of my inability? What do you know of my ability? Apparently you like to take things from context whenever it suits you. I reviewed your unit decals and gave 80% and to quote the verdict "Great set to personalize and enhance detail of your scale warriors." Apparently this is a blatant insult to you as you chose to mention this in your post.

Calling people names is something that shouldn't be tolerated on any forums especially when you're a company trying to advertise a commercial product. No where does it say on your products that it takes a ingenious modeler to use your decals. They are well engineered, thought of but you simply used way too thick decal paper and they are unusable. I did try using smaller pieces and plenty of time and got the same results as Rob Matthews.

Unfortunately what you don't seem to understand is that covering up all details with decals that don't conform to the figure is not the solution. I was not looking for a miracle solution.

I know you wouldn't like to see your product reviewed with a lower grade, but I have told the truth in every sentence of my review. For a grown up man you sir are lacking a lot of communication culture. Please restrain yourself from name-calling on what is not your private forim.

Thanks for the lecture. It means a lot coming from you.

Thanks but no thanks. What you think of me is really of no importance to me and certainly I have nothing to prove to you.

You do what you like, I stand behind what I said as do you.

You got beaten up a lot while growing up didn't you? As far as I'm considered, this "discussion" is over and I will not waste more time on a person like yourself.