Take a good hard look at most figures in dioramas, and you'll either see no insignia on the figures, or smudges mean to represent them. Such things are hard to paint since they're so small, and yet they're very noticeable. Eduard to the rescue!
the set
This neat little photo etched fret from Eduard is the answer to a prayer! Badges and insignia can be obtained in the form of decals, or even photo etch, but now Eduard have produced a photo etched coloured fret!
The fret is quite small, but you do get a lot for your money. 100 small badges and insignia..........all perfectly formed and ready to put on your figures! As you can see from the pictures, there is a good selection of badges included, not being an Allied modeller, I'm not really sure what some of them are, but no doubt any Allied modeller could tell you. The ones I spotted are of course the sleeve chevrons, denoting various ranks, MP and medic arm bands, Airborne and Ranger arm patches, US flags, and even a Beach masters arm band for those Normandy dio's! Plus lot's more.
The detail and register of all the colours is extremely good, and upon removing some arm bands from the fret and rolling them up into a ball, and then straightening them again, I was very surprised to find not one crack in the paint, which was my main concern. With that concern out of the way..........I can't fault them!
in conclusion
Given what you can do with these, and what they cost, they must be close to perfect. I certainly can't fault them and will be getting lot's more of them. Very highly recommended indeed!
SUMMARY
A superb set that should find their way into the collection of every modeller who has ever turned out a 1/35th figure!
Our Thanks to Eduard! This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.
My only concern would be getting them to "sit" properly on the figures, ie conform well to the sleeve. Look great and well worth the money.
Thanks for the review Vinnie.
Shaun
If they're anything as good as the Lion Roar 1/16 set, they should be thin & flexible enough to be shaped to the sleeve. Glue 'em onto the unpainted fig, so that once the sleeve is painted, it'll look like it's sewn on.
David, unless you're very careful, I'd advise putting these on after painting. They're coloured, and I don't think the Lionroar ones are. They are thin enough to sit properly on any surface you care to put them on, and as mentioned in the review, the colours don't 'crack'.
Vinnie
Thank you Vinnie. These look really cool. I hope that they will produce more later on. I would like to see some 4th Infantry Division patches.
Thanks again, HARV
I found that the smaller badges don't hold very well when superglued onto a painted surface. Usually (particularly when weathering) pulls off a dot of paint and disappears into the carpet. Also, many dry-fits are necessary in order to bend a sleeve patch to the exact curvature of a shoulder or arm, often you have to press hard to get the right curve, and this might damage the sleeve paint finish. Another way is to use the wet paint as glue and apply the badges directly, but you'll have the same trouble. But my first suggestion is best because when you glue first and paint later, the paint on the uniform builds around the PE patch, making it look like its firmly sewn on. This doesn't matter, of course, with the Iron Cross and other pin-on metal badges. It doesn't matter that the PE is pre-painted because you will have to weather the badges to suit the uniform wear. These are just some of my experiences with the 1/16 PE.
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