Syrian Panzers

This set covers four vehicles:

• Panzer IV Ausf. H, Damascus, 1956.
• Panzer IV Ausf. H, Damascus, 1956.
• StuG 40 Ausf. G, Damascus, 1956.
• Jagdpanzer IV L/48, 1954.
  

Modelers should be aware that the drawings used in the instructions are only meant as a help for placing the decals, and not for the specific features of the tank. This artistic licence is taken very far in this set, as the drawing for the StuG III Ausf.G is actually an Ausf. F and the Jagdpanzer IV L/48 is an L/70, for instance. In case of the StuG this is actually troublesome, as the largest decals need to go on an additional armored shield for the commander, which is not shown in the drawings. (See pictures below for more details.)
References are given for these vehicles, mostly Concord's "Tank Battles of the Mid East Wars", but online searches will also provide useful information.
A Youtube link is also given in the instructions for the Panzer IV and StuG, but it would have been practical if these links would have been available on the website as URLs as they are very cumbersome to type. To help our readers out, here it is (go to the 0:59 mark for the Panzer IV and 1:32 for the StuG).

Looking at the decals themselves, it is immediately clear that they are printed to a very high resolution, with no pixelation whatsoever; even the smaller items are still readable (even though you might not even notice that they are on the sheet). The only thing that gives them away as not being printed by the big decal companies is that they are printed on continuous film. Being laserjet printed, it is also wise to protect them before weathering starts on the model.
I am not quite sure why the black bars are on the sheet, as they are not mentioned in the instructions.

My scanner always has trouble scanning white decals on a blue background, that's why the image from the Braille Strike website has been included on the right.

Something very peculiar to Braille Strike's recent series of decals is that the colors are printed first and the white at the end. This means that you have to flip the multi-color decals over when putting them on the vehicle.
On Braille Strike's website and on the instructions we can read "WARNING: Color decals are printed in mirror, please flip them over when applying on the model.", which might be confusing as they don't apply to the white-only decals (there are no color decals in this set). Many modelers will not be fluid enough in Arabic to tell the difference, I imagine.
To cut a long story short, in this set the way the decals appear on the sheet is the way they should be applied.

Matt Reeves recently used these decals and found them to be very thin, conform well, with the white being slightly transparent.

Model by Matt Reeves

In all, a very nice addition to Braille Strike's ever-growing range, with an undisputed appeal to modelers who want to leave the beaten track.

Review sample kindly provided by Braille Strike.

Article Last Updated:
24 April 2020