Alliance Model Works is relatively young company that produces aftermarket products for aircraft, ships and armor. This particular set is aimed at the modeller interested in German soft-skins (including motorcycles) and half-tracks.
contents
A small plastic bag with header contains one decal sheet and one PE fret protected with a cardboard backer. There are no instructions included.
review
The decal sheet includes both pre-designed license plates that match photographs of real vehicles as well as plenty of empty ones where you can put your random codes according to preferences or references. A wide selection of subjects is covered – Wehrmacht (WH), Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR, train department), Luftwaffe (WL), Police and Hestapo (Pol), SS Schutzstaffel (SS), Navy (WM), civil and military engineering (WT), pre-war Reichswehr (RW), Legion condor (LC, Spain 1936-1939) and Wehrmacht Post (WP). The variety of license plate sizes and forms will allow you to use this set for motorcycles, staff cars, trucks, all possible variants of half-tracks and armored cars (Sd. Kfz. 222, Sd. Kfz. 223, Sd. Kfz. 13). Quality of print is excellent - everything is clearly distinguishable and the carrier film is very thin, cropped really close to the edge of the elements.
The PE fret has many parts and includes various plates, bolts for mounting the plates, stands for rank flags (flags with swastika were not included in decals due to ethical considerations), and fixtures for motorcycles front plates. The fixtures have great rivet detail and must be bend into “C” shape before attaching to the front plate itself, other parts are ready to use.
What makes me really happy is that the PE parts have no connections to the fret, thus making work with them very easy and eliminating the possibility to damage or bend those tiny small parts during removal. Just clean it before priming (or do not prime at all, depending on your preferences), paint, transfer decal and affix it to the vehicle, (or add it first to the vehicle and then paint and transfer).
Conclusion
A great set for the modeller who wants to have realistic-to-scale license plates. This is especially important on small motorbikes, and I am sure that this Alliance Model Works offering will satisfy the target audience.
Moreover, this is the first set I’ve ever seen that was approved by the Association of Elves and Gnomes…and those guys are real pros’ in anything metal related!
SUMMARY
Highs: Great options and extra parts will allow you to use it on many-many vehicles. Since the kit includes not only decals but also PE license plates themselves you can use it with models from any manufacturer.Lows: The only flaw that comes to my mind is absence of instructions and references on pre-designed license plates, but I suppose that AMW will provide additional information on their website later. Verdict: Very highly recommended.
Our Thanks to Alliance Modelworks! 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.
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