5ème RCA Shermans (1)

This set covers the following M4A2 Shermans of the 1ère Division Blindée Francaise, 5ème Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique, while in Langogne, Southern France, August 1944:

• “SOISSONS”, 2ème Peloton, 2ème Escadron,
• “SAUMUR”, 2ème Peloton, 2ème Escadron
• “LYAUTEY”, 2ème Peloton, 4ème Escadron
• “VERDUN”, 3ème Peloton, 2ème Escadron

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; references for the vehicles are given as a cumbersome URL (http://www.military-kits.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=224&page=[page1])
As this link is only available in print, you are supposed to type it in your browser, which resulted in a "page not found" in my case. Perhaps I made an error while typing, perhaps the page has moved. Perhaps one of our readers can help.

Looking at the decals themselves, it is immediately clear that they are printed to a very high resolution, with no visible trace of pixelation; even the smaller items are still readable. 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.
Something very peculiar to these decals (and actually to all of the latest releases by Braille Strike is that the multi-color decals are printed "upside down". In other words, the colors are printed first and the white at the end. This means that you have to flip the decals over when putting them on the vehicle (which is easy) and that it is difficult to judge the quality of the multi-color decals while still on the sheet, as the (translucent) white creates a sort of haze over the rest of the colors. I hope to be able to use them soon and tell our readers how this turns out. Just remember that the decals that are in one color only are NOT upside down.

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.

Conclusion

Braille Scale continues to expand its series of well-printed decals.
While previous sets I had reviewed were well researched, I can only assume this was the case here as well, as the mentioned references to use gave no results. Sadly, you will probably need extra reference material to get an accurate representation of the actual vehicle.

Review sample kindly provided by Braille Strike.

Article Last Updated:
25 April 2020