introduction

As an armor model builder, I am always looking for ways to add to my latest build; couple of dings and scratches, a little dirt here and there, and always some great stowage. The options were, get messy with watered down white glue and tissue, or look for some aftermarket sets, which are very often expensive as they are tailored for a specific vehicle or genre.

the set

Well then along comes Value Gear with generic tents and tarps molded in resin. Value Gear is a new company that has waded into the aftermarket waters of armor modeling. I knew I had a set on the way, and could not wait to get a look at them. Then it arrived, a small package from Ireland and I tore it open to find Value Gear, Tents and Tarps Set #1. Nice packaging, clear plastic bag showing off the pieces, great looking card stock folded around with company logo, and in behind the bag a little piece of paper showing the items painted.

Opening the bag, I found 16 resin molded assorted tents and tarps, just like it said. These items were a very nice mix of different tents and tarps rolled up with straps, some with tent poles included. Some were multiple rolls, some stacked, some single, and all great looking.

So time to inspect. These are molded nicely with great detail, realistic looking folds, and real good looking strap and buckle detail. The moldings are very crisp in a medium to dark grey resin. There was a little bit of flash around the bottom of some of the items from the molding process. Nothing too difficult to clean up. Also on my examples, I found a few bubbles on some of the items, none were very obvious and again easy to clean up. Overall, very great looking pieces.

So I thought I would give a couple them a whirl. I took three, and put them through the painting process. One coated in Tamiya Fine Primer, one I washed in Sunlight dish detergent, the other I just painted, all were painted with Vallejo paints. The primer went on great with no issues, and all three took the paint very well.

conclusion

Overall this is a great product from Value Gear, well molded, nice detail, non-specific to a genre, can be used anywhere, and a great addition to any armored vehicle.

A special thanks to Steve Munsell at Value Gear for providing the samples for review, even mailing them all the way to Canada.