Introduction

I initially saw these on the news section of Armorama and knew that I needed these in my modelling life. I’ve used ‘decal’ weld lines before but always found them to be very one dimensional and prone to breakage.

The Kit

When these were originally mentioned on Armorama I thought they were provided as ‘stiff’ rods. When they arrived I realised that they’re actually soft copper wire, supplied coiled inside Ziploc bags in a box. They are 100 cm in length, and semi-circular in cross-section with a flat side and a rounded, textured side.

The Review

On initial handling they are soft and easily bent, even across the axis - although for a good right angle ‘sideways’ bend you may need a couple of flat nosed pliers to ensure the parts remain straight.

I would suggest that you ignore the scale references. I used both the 1/48 and 1/35 welds on my 1/35 T-55. It all depends on the width of the weld you’re representing. Looking at the profile it obviously lends itself to flat welds across a slat surface, as seen in its use on the front glacis plate weld on the Tamiya T-55. I did use the 1/48 weld lines ‘stacked’ in order to produce concave corner welds but I think you would struggle to do convex welds. I also heated the weld lines which made them softer and more easy to bend – this worked a treat. To complete the effect, I run over the weld with thinned putty and Mr Surfacer.

The Conclusion

Compared to transfer welds these are much more malleable and far less prone to breakage. As the next development by Mirage Hobby I would suggest ¼ circle cross-section welds to allow easy additions of welds of different shapes and sizes