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In-Box Review
135
German A7V's (Krupp)
German A7V's (Krupp)
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by: Bill Cross [ BILL_C ]

introduction

Decalomaniacs is really one maniac: Georg Eyerman. Georg loves the oddball and obscure, and has found a niche as a decal manufacturer providing markings for tanks and other AFVs that are either obscure (FT-17s from different armies around the world, including Brazil, China and the US), or else insufficient ("Char B1's of the 3rd DCR" for those of us who love the Tamiya kit). When Georg sees a hole in the decal offerings, he often steps in, as in the case of the A7V from Meng.

Meng has brought out a number of WWI tanks, including the A7V with Krupp armor. The kit has received overall positive reviews, but one complaint all around is that it comes with markings for only a single tank: Schnuck, whose 5.7-cm Maxim-Nordenfelt gun resides in the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, UK. Decalomaniacs has stepped into this void with a set that includes four vehicles (#540-543) and a variant for two of them.

the review

In the usual Decalomaniacs Ziploc baggie is a small square of decals and a set of placement instructions for six different options.The decals are produced on a continuous sheet of decal film, so it's important to cut out the marking as close to the decal as possible in order to avoid silvering or excess transfer film. Some modelers will be concerned that the decals themselves are less-robust in color than those from commercial manufacturers like Cartograf. This is due to their production on a laser printer and not a large commercial press.

However, once the decals are applied to the kit and weathered, they will look excellent, and will give the builder options unavailable with the kit alone.

Those options are four vehicles with six total variants:

#540: Heiland ("savior")
#541: (Unnamed) with two different death's head flags
#542: Elfriede
#543: Hagen/Adalbert (there is some dispute about the name used)

Various sources offer differing nicknames for differing chassis, but modelers should have more options with Decalomaniacs' set. Why these vehicles? According to Eyerman, the Krupp-produced A7Vs have different armor that had to be split in order to apply it to the vehicle. So he limited his set to the tanks that conform to the Meng kit.

conclusion

The explosion of vehicles, guns, planes, ships and other models based on the Great War is a revelation to the hobby, and it's vital to see after market companies like Decalomaniacs supplementing the kit manufacturers like this. If you are thinking of building an A7V, then this set is well worth getting, especially at its very reasonable price of $10.

Thanks to Decalomaniacs for providing this review sample. Be sure to mention you saw it reviewed on Armorama when ordering your own.
SUMMARY
Highs: A valuable addition to the Great War build options with six additional marking variants beyond the single one in the kit.
Lows: The decals are not a vibrant as those from large commercial printers like Cartograf, so modelers should not compare them to expensive commercial sheets.
Verdict: Another niche filled by Decalmaniacs. And a very attractive price, too.
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: DM-058
  Suggested Retail: $10
  PUBLISHED: Jun 20, 2015
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 90.08%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 75.83%

Our Thanks to Decalcomaniacs!
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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About Bill Cross (bill_c)
FROM: NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES

Self-proclaimed rivet counter who gleefully builds tanks, planes and has three subs in the stash.

Copyright ©2021 text by Bill Cross [ BILL_C ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Hi All, The decals can be had my E-bay webstore Regards, Georg
JUN 20, 2015 - 06:08 AM
Keep up the good work, Georg!
JUN 21, 2015 - 07:06 PM
Hi All, The last lot of decals sold out on the E-bay webstore, so I've had to re-list them. You can go there by clicking this link. Regards, Georg
JUN 25, 2015 - 02:51 AM
   
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