| Date of Review |
August 2004 |
| Manufacturer |
Echelon Fine Details |
| Subject |
United States Marine Corps Operation Iraqi Freedom M1A1HA (Heavy Common) Abrams |
| Scale |
1/35 |
| Kit Number |
TM35006 |
| Primary Media |
Decal |
| Pros |
Gorgeous, well-done sheets with COMPLETE marking data and information |
| Cons |
Relatively high prices may scare off some buyers |
| Skill Level |
Basic |
| MSRP (USD) |
$14.50 |
For many years now armor modelers have noticed a great sloughing off of their
interests by waterslide decal manufacturers. Alas for those companies,
in the interim there have been a number of great dry transfer
manufacturers like Archer Fine Transfers that have stepped up
to the plate and cleaned up. Many modelers have now become firm
converts to dry transfer markings as a result.
Nevertheless, there is still a market out there for wet (waterslide) transfers
(decals) and new companies are coming in to meet that need. This
one, Echelon, is from Singapore, which only goes to show the internationality
of the hobby.
These sheets are each 125 x 192 mm (about 5" x 7 ½") but are crammed with a
great deal of markings and information stencils. Each one provides
specific markings for six individual vehicles, all from the USMC
1st Marine Expeditionary Force, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sheet 006 covers four European tri-colored tanks and two Forest Green tanks.
It should be noted that many of the Marine tanks were simply rolled
out of stocks that were pre-positioned for Europe and used in
Iraq, and ergo were not painted sand prior to arrival. Some had
half-hearted attempts at sand paint, but overall it makes the
Marine tanks more interesting from a modeler's standpoint than
the Army ones when it comes to painting and marking. The four
tricolor tanks are "Hermes/Cut Vaseline," "Valhalla," "Angry American,"
and "Lazy-Eye/Kuler Blynd," all from the 1st Tanks. The other
two are "Protest This" and "Nightmare's Witness" from Task Force
Tarawa and 1st Tanks. As with the other sheet, all of the stencils
and warning decals for the APU and other sections of the tanks
are included.
Due to the fact that the company had to work from photographs they do note
that most vehicle serials were not available and they did not
get an accurate accounting of serial to bumper code or name (understandable
given the dust and kit carried by most tanks in Iraq.)
Overall these are great sheets, and now if you are not yet a user of dry transfers
you have an excellent set of waterslide decals to use to personalize
your M1A1 model.
Thanks to Peter Brown for the review samples.
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