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Archer Transfers M4A1 Sherman
bill_c
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Posted: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - 11:38 AM UTC
Bill Cross reviews Archer Fine Transfer''s M4A1 Sherman (late) "Battling B*tch" dry transfers.



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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
Big-John
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Posted: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - 03:40 PM UTC
Bill,

Thank you for the kind review!


John Hale
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Posted: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - 03:58 PM UTC
I think what you said in the article about people's spares box filling up is so appropriate. I'm amazed there are not hand fulls of classified ads full of Archer, Echelon, Bison sheets with 1 vehicle's worth of decals/transfers missing.
bill_c
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Posted: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - 04:46 PM UTC
John, thank YOU for taking the time to help us get this right.


Quoted Text

I'm amazed there are not hand fulls of classified ads full of Archer, Echelon, Bison sheets with 1 vehicle's worth of decals/transfers missing.


I was happy to send a sheet of Bison USMC Abrams decals to a modeler in Germany. I knew I wasn't going to build another, and he's an Abrams nut (self-admitted). He was kind enough to send me some items specific to USMC tanks in Iraq.

Sometimes I think if we all just spread our decals and transfers around....

But then the folks at Archer, Bison, Echelon, Eagle Editions, Zotz and others would be out of business.
pseudorealityx
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Posted: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - 01:01 AM UTC

Quoted Text

John, thank YOU for taking the time to help us get this right.


Quoted Text

I'm amazed there are not hand fulls of classified ads full of Archer, Echelon, Bison sheets with 1 vehicle's worth of decals/transfers missing.


I was happy to send a sheet of Bison USMC Abrams decals to a modeler in Germany. I knew I wasn't going to build another, and he's an Abrams nut (self-admitted). He was kind enough to send me some items specific to USMC tanks in Iraq.

Sometimes I think if we all just spread our decals and transfers around....

But then the folks at Archer, Bison, Echelon, Eagle Editions, Zotz and others would be out of business.



Yes, I was reading your thread when you build the USMC Abrams. I've posted a few times, both looking for, and selling some AM decals, and have gotten surprisingly little interest.
barkingdigger
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Posted: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - 02:50 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I think what you said in the article about people's spares box filling up is so appropriate. I'm amazed there are not hand fulls of classified ads full of Archer, Echelon, Bison sheets with 1 vehicle's worth of decals/transfers missing.



Ha! I just had recourse to my "decal spares" box the other day - and they said hoarding would never pay off...

I treat decals the same way I treat Sherman kits - they are just pre-packaged collections of spares waiting to find a project. In fact, my most recent Sherman build is mostly cobbled together from spares (both plastic and transfers). This sheet has lots of generic goodies to plunder!

I like to think of the extras as a source of future custom projects. Then again, as my friends point out, I am turning rapidly into the poster-boy for Sherman-related AMS...

Tom
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Posted: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - 03:59 AM UTC
Sure, in that case it makes sense.

But for instance, I built a French Char Bis that was converted to a German flamethrower using the Echelon decals. I have zero intention of making other German captured French Char's, so that decal sheet wasn't real useful for spares. I built my M8 HMC using all leftover decals, as American stuff is fairly generic.

Another example. I was building Dragon's M2 halftrack, and posted a WTB ad for anyone who might have the Archer transfers for the dash. That particular set has dials for 4 vehicles. I offered to pay half the $ of the full set for just *1* vehicle's worth of dials. Nothing.
barkingdigger
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Posted: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 - 07:58 AM UTC
Fair enough - captured French tanks are a bit of a niche market! I'm surprised about the lack of offers on the M2 dials though. Sadly I haven't built a half-track in decades...

Tom
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