Introduction

After the end of WW2, Syria purchased a number of used tanks, including Panzer IV’s from Spain and France, and also T-34’s from Czechoslovakia. Some of these saw battle even in 1967 during the Six-Day War which might give modelers new ideas to present WW2 and post WW2 tanks teamed up in a diorama.

The Set

This set “Syria tanks in the sixties” from FC Modeltips covers extensively the subject above. The options we have are below with all vehicles painted in some shade of green/olive/grey, expressed in Vallejo Model Air codes.

Panzer IV at the Golan heights 1967: 5 versions are available here mostly with Arabic language texts on the turrets plus aerial identification (which is circular so can be easily masked and painted as well). The instructions point out the different colors depending on the origin (Spain or France) but it is not noted which decal goes with which color, so photographic reference is handy here.

Jagdpanzer IV: one version in olive drab.

M4A2 Sherman, turretless: one version in olive drab – without specifying the purpose of this vehicle.

T-34/85 Czech production: 7 soviet green tanks mainly with Arabic text and in 4 cases with some additional markings. Unfortunately it is not clear whether the aerial identification should be added to all tanks or not.

T-34/85 1945 production: further 2 green tanks with Arabic text for the turrets.

The quality of this decal set seems very good to me, the prints are sharp on the sheet with good colors, and the carrying film looks reasonably thin. The use of softener and fixer is highly advised for the rough turrets of the T-34 tanks.

My only complaint is the instructions sheet, it is sometimes a bit confusing, especially with the aerial identification as we have six different versions in the set but all of them are labeled as #21 in the instructions not specifying what should be used exactly. Some additional information on the vehicles (year, unit) would also have been nice.

Conclusion

All in all this is a great decal sheet with a good number of options but it should be used with proper reference material.