Archer Fine Transfers 1/35
M2/M3 Halftrack White Stars

I was admiring the new dry transfers from Archer produced to 'fix' the politically correct markings included in the Trumpeter 1/35 BR 52 locomotive kit. Ray Mehlberger did a review on these and that prompted me to pick up a set from Archer's website for my own BR 52 project.

While I was there, I noticed that they've also released a series of dry-transfer sets for the new DML M2A1 half-track and decided to pick up a number of them since we'll be seeing a variety of US half-tracks coming from DML, Trumpeter, Tamiya, and others. Here is one of them.

This set provides white stars of a variety of sizes and styles for the hood and sides of the vehicles. The printing is nicely done.

So what's the big deal about dry-transfers? There are a number of pros and a few cons with these type of markings:

Pros:

• Markings rub on to the surface of the model
• There is no clear backing on dry transfers, the decals end a the edge of the color
• Dry transfers will go onto any clean surface
• No need to gloss coat your flat paint to avoid decal silvering

Cons:

• Once the markings are placed, you can't move them
• Difficult to apply to compound surfaces or surfaces with heavy detailing

Archer's dry transfers are nicely done and are in perfect register. I highly recommended these to all modelers with a little building and finishing experience.

I bought these directly from Archer Fine Decals.