Bill Cross reviews Decalomaniacs'' new supplemental decals for the British Mk. I from Takom.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thanks, Darren. Georg is a real asset to the hobby.

C1 - C25 and D1 - D25 covers all of the tanks that fought in the very first tank action at Flers on 15 Sept 1915, which allows use of those great early camouflage schemes before they went monotone.

Notice how there is only one each of C13 and D13 - I don't know but I'm guessing that's something superstitious about only having it on one side.

Hi All,
The decals can be purchased at the Decalcomaniacs E-bay store . Matthew, I didn't realize I was missing one of each. The sheet has been corrected.
Regards,
Georg

I am shocked .....
Precision and accuracy of this decal = 0.
As I see it, the authors do not see any photos of MK 1.
This sheet do not have any correct symbol.
In Russian it is called HALTURA (quickie trash).
I'm sorry.

If someone wants to do a review, I am ready to send full quality decals for Mk.I. The design of this three decals was spent almost two years.

Denis, I'm happy to review them, please message me if you want to arrange it. I understand some of your misgivings.

Matthew, see the PMs

Denis, it would be nice if you could present some evidence rather than I blanket condemnation. I'm satisfied that Georg did the research into the decals, at least based on his bibliography. It might be helpful if you could post a photo you believe would support your rather harsh verdict.

And given that you seem to have a competing set of decals for sale makes your post somewhat rude and in questionable taste IMO. If you have evidence that can clarify this, please post it, don't just make statements saying this sheet has no value.

Hopefully this is helpful... I agree with Bill that the criticism came across as a little harsh, but I think there is some point to Denis's claims.

A few examples that I was able to find from my own limited references:
This is D7, the lettering is not in white, but in something dark, possibly red:


This is C.15. - note the dots, and the fact that it is clearly hand painted, with no tail on the 1:


"We're All In It" has been rendered as hand-painted, but the 3 should have a flat top, not rounded. I'm also not sure that all of those numbers existed - D15 may not have done for instance.

Bill, thank you for reply.

First of all -during the first tanks did not exist Windovs standard fonts. This decal is almost entirely made Arial font. Real digital codes tanks were painted by hands, they have different sizes and configurations. As correctly pointed by Matthew, not all of them were white.
I need a little time, and I will write in more detail.

So, first picture. Yellow - Arial font letters. Red - my own example of Arial use. As I wrote, it's uncorrect. For such a decal with the standard Windovs font must not more than two hours to design.
In addition, the letters C1 - D 25 must be much less. Much less than the label With Care To Petrograd, for example.

Next. Yellow - also incorrect configuration, and this marking is not for Mk1, but for MK2 and MK3.

F53 The Flying Scotsman - is marking for Supply Mk2. Here also the standard fonts Arial and Futura.

Compare original 777 Charlie Chaplin and decal.


Also, do not correspond to the original inscription Perfect Lady.
The photo is poor, but the difference is clearly visible.


Mk.II Lusitania must have 788 factory number


Gaza tanks.
Each tank must have four names. In this case the name of the front should not be writing HMLS. Rear name should be much smaller than the others and is written in a different font.

However, Bill, I'm sorry, but I do not have so much time that would prove the obvious details. Once again, please believe that this decals are no any proper element. This will see anyone who looks pictures of prototypes.

If you agree - write me a PM your address and I'll send you the correct decals and a full photo reference used during designin.

Sorry for bad English.

But some more:

Denis, I don't know if it's an English language issue or a personality one, but I still find your replies rather abrupt and self-serving. It's clear you have a competing product, and it's never very good to attack a competitor in order to advance your own sales. That the decals were created using a Windows font and not hand-drawn.... Well, I'm not a decal maker, but I would imagine the cost difference would be high for that kind of hand labor. Will these suffice for the average modeler? Only time will tell. Again, you have a competing product and perhaps at some point someone will review it on Armorama. But to say these decals have no value is, in my opinion, both rude and incorrect. I would not, for example, have a problem using them at the price they sell for. Your mileage may differ. Thank you for presenting the photos, however.

Let's just leave this until the supporting information and decals are provided for a review. Until that is done all of this, regardless of the side you are on is just adverse opinion.

This is always a difficult issue as the decalmaker is only as accurate as the references they have and frequently has to make assumptions. Building up an exhaustive reference library or locating all the sources for information is sometimes impossible. I was once in the position to correct a mistake by a decalmaker which was able to be fixed before release (and it was a major mistake) but it gave me an insight into just how difficult it is to get it right. My suggestion for decalmakers is - ask for feedback on the artwork before release. That being said even though I value accuracy I would accept and buy Georg's decals if they were what I needed for a particular prototype.