US Army M1A1HA Abrams in Operation Iraqi Freedom
Decal Sheet No. T35013
Review by Peter Brown
As with previous sheets this sheet is of excellent quality with clear well printed markings with good colour register and very thin carrier film that is cropped close to the edge of the printed image that should react well with any decal setting solution.
All markings are included, with the tactical chevrons, "stalking big cat" and face designs, bridge class discs, bumper codes and coloured bands around the main gun fume extractor. If that were not enough, there are even the multitude of small items like shipping labels, barrel inspection dates, instructions for operating the External Auxiliary Power Unit, stencilled numbers and letters for vehicle registrations and even the tiny lettering on the louvered thermal ID panels which are not vaguely-shaped blobs but can actually be read. Added even to these there are strips of decal for behind the bumper codes to save you painting them in.
The foursome is for 2nd Platoon of C Company of 3ID’s 3-69 Armor. Each vehicle is named, with the individual lettering for the main gun. Subjects are -
The two plow tanks are -
Each item is on its own separate piece of backing material and has a glossy finish. Instructions show where generic and specific markings are placed using colour drawings with some supporting photos.
It is hard to see what more could be done on this sheet, or what could be improved. The only drawback could be deciding which vehicle to depict, or whether to make them all to make the best use of all you get...
Very highly recommended.
Thanks to Larry of Echelon Fine Details for the review sample.
Echelon Decals are available from Accurate Armour, the UK Distributor.
Page created 5 December 2004