Recently Andy Moore needed some new decals for his Takom
Mk.I tank. A Russian company called New Penguin Decals supplied
them, and what better way to review them than to apply them to a kit? Let’s see
how the decals went on and what is covered with the three releases he looked at…
In action report –
Andy uses the new Penguin Mk.I Decal Sets
Set Numbers – #35005, #35006, #35010
Scale: 1/35th
Price - €6 from New Penguin Decals
Recently New Penguin Decals from Russia kindly supplied us
with three new 1/35th scale decal sets intended for use with Takom's
newly released British Mk.I Male and Female kits. I hadn't come across the
company before, and I was eager to try out the decals on my own Mk.I build, but
first a run through of just what each set gives you.
The sets come packaged in cellophane wrappers and each
include a detailed A4 printed sheet showing the decal placement along with
colour call outs, and any specific information related to the particular scheme
in question, including any modifications to the tank.
You also get a colour leaflet, which is common to all three
sets showing profiles for some of the included schemes. Paint call outs are for
AMMO colours, mainly coming from their WWI British and German set.
Set 35005 Mk.I Male
Western Front 1916-1917
This first set covers Male Mk.I's on the Western Front
during the period, when the tank made it's combat debut, but goes further than
that, including options for factory trials vehicles.
Included options are;
1: Mk.I No. 742 Factory trials (without sponsons), overall
stone grey
2: Mk.I No. 743 Factory trials (without sponsons), overall
stone grey
3: Mk.I C.19 HMLS CLAN LESLIE, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
4: Mk.I D.20 HMLS DAPHNE, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
5: Mk.I Summer 1916 (without steering tail), overall stone
grey
6: Mk.I D.7, Somme 1916, hull in Soloman camo, sponsons in
stone grey
7: Mk.I C.15, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
8: Mk.I D.17, Somme 1916, hull in Soloman camo, sponsons in
stone grey
9: Mk.I D.12 No.716, Arras 1917, Soloman camo
10: Mk.I Supply Tank B.37 No.712 DODO, Arras 1917, overall
khaki brown
11: Mk.I Supply Tank No. 746, Messines 1917, overall khaki
brown
There's a very nice range of subjects on this sheet,
covering most of the colour schemes that these tanks wore (which wasn't many).
Some of the included options will require a little modification to the kit, and
in the case of the factory trials vehicles, you'd need to show the interior of
the tank.
Period photos of some of the tanks in this release featured on this sheet;
Set 35006 Mk.I Female
Western Front 1916-1917
Like the previous set, this one covers tanks on the Western
Front, but in this case the machine gun equipped Female version.
Included options are;
1: Mk.I A13 “WE'RE ALL IN IT”, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
2: Mk.I A17 “OH, I SAY”, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
3: Mk.I C.16, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
4: Mk.I C.6 “CORDON ROUGE”, Somme 1916, Soloman camo
5: Mk.I A Company Field Trials, France 1916, Soloman camo
6: Mk.I Supply Tank D.17 “DONNER BLITZEN”, France 1917,
overall khaki brown
7: Mk.I D.23 No.528, Rollencourt Tank Park 1917, overall
khaki brown
8: Mk.I Wireless Tank No.527, France 1917, overall khaki
brown
Period photos of some
of the tanks featured on this sheet;
Set 35010 Mk.I Gaza
Tanks, Palestine Front 1917
The last set covers the Mk.I's sent to Palestine, and
provides the marking for all eight tanks from that front, four Male and four
Female.
Included options are;
1: Mk.I HMLS WAR BABY (Female)
2: Mk.I HMLS TIGER (Female)
3: Mk.I HMLS OTAZEL (Male)
4: Mk.I HMLS SIR ARCHIBALD (Male)
5: Mk.I HMLS OLE-LUK-OIE (Male)
6: Mk.I HMLS NUTTY (Female)
7: Mk.I HMLS KIA ORA (Female)
8: Mk.I HMLS PINCHER (Male)
All in overall khaki
brown
Period photos of some
of the tanks featured on this sheet;
In Use
I was able to test these decals out on my build
of the Takom Mk.I and found them, for the most part, to be very good.
In one instance I encountered some fogging from the decal's adhesive, and in
general the decals did need to soak longer than average before they detached
from the backing sheet. The one decal that experienced the fogging did improve
with a clear coat over the decal, and the others went down without incident.
The bulk of these decals are white, and I found the colour density to be very
good, with no underlying colour showing through.
After-market AFV decals aren't exactly commonplace when
compared to what's available for the aircraft market, so it's great to see a
new company releasing sets like these, and they're very timely with all the
interest around WWI modelling and, of course, with the release of Takom's Mk.I
kits. Hopefully New Penguin will expand their line to cover more early amour
subjects in the near future.
Highly recommended
Andy Moore
Thanks to New Penguin
decals for sending these for us to review and for Andy to use with his
kit.
