Value Gear out of Ireland continues to add to its list of quality aftermarket armor accessories, featuring plastic representations of tents, tarps, backpacks, crates – just about anything you might find piled high on a busy AFV, or anywhere else for that matter.

Their website is intuitive and easy to navigate. The home page describes Value Gear's Goal:

The Value Gear idea is to give model builders (me included) a more useful spares box! Creating and casting sets of Generic/Universal stowage. No helmets no weapons and nothing to keep you from using it in a wooden cart, a chariot, a truck, or a Panther tank. "Any Army, Any Era!" is my motto… the Army lives under canvas!

The Value Gear Promise is to have the best customer service, and constantly improving and innovative quality and new ideas. All sets will have the minimal amount of cleanup before use and no huge pour plugs to saw off and potentially ruin a piece like we have all done in the past. A little scraping and a little sanding is all you will ever need with Value Gear.

Each set offered by Value Gear comes in a sturdy plastic bag, backed by a piece of cardboard for strength. As the contents are basically finished chunks of solid plastic, there is little to no chance of damage occurring during shipping.

Inside each bag are a number of loose items and a handy insert containing painting suggestions, personal anecdotes, tips on how to heat and mold some of the longer tarps (if desired) to wrap around shapes, etc. The ‘Tents and Tarps’ sets each have a color picture showing the finished items – and the website has a complete set of these same photographs.

Tents & Tarps Set #5

This is basically your generic set of rolled up duffle bags, tarps and backpacks. You get a lot of items (16). I selected five items to finish for my review. (see image)

Tents & Tarps Set #11

This set includes tents with tent poles, adding another visual element to the mix – very nice. You get 11 items in this bag. I selected three items to finish for my review. I painted the poles with Tamiya Metallic Grey and washed them with Mig Wash Brown.

Sherman Engine Deck Set #4

This is a departure from the more generic sets, but could still fit on just about any surface and look fine. Since these were larger, more dramatic pieces, there are fewer in the set (5). I selected three items to finish for my review. The larger piece features a tarp thrown over a set of crates that peek out on the sides and back.

Painting

Since all of the products come ready-to-use, there is little to do short of painting and weathering, which brings me to the main reason I wanted to do the review. I must have two dozen paints that might be appropriate for this kind of job, and I wanted to do a little experimentation to find out what looks/works best and what doesn’t.

In summary, Vallejo and Tamiya paints, thinned with their own thinners, worked best for brush painting. Model Master Enamels required several coats but offered better color choices. Mig and Windsor Newton oil paint filters and washes, thinned with Mona Lisa White Spirit, worked great.

A pre-shade coat of Vallejo Black caused the overall finishes to be darker than I wanted them to be. Next time I think I will pre-shade with a lighter colors – perhaps darkened versions of Vallejo Canvas or Vallejo Light Brown for the lighter packs..

The following colors were used, with my favorites highlighted (*)

340 Vallejo Highlight Afrika Korps *
314 Vallejo Canvas *
986 Vallejo Deck Tan
312 Vallejo Leather Belt
70977 Vallejo Desert Yellow
70950 Vallejo Black
XF-56 Tamiya Metallic Grey *
XF-49 Tamiya Khaki
XF-65 Tamiya Field Grey *
XF-51 Tamiya Khaki Drab
XF-64 Tamiya Flat Brown *
XF-61 Tamiya Dark Green
XF-58 Tamiya Olive Green *
1702 Model Master Field Drab
2051 Model Master Faded Olive Drab *
2013 Model Master Afrika DunkelGrau 1942

Conclusion

I highly recommend these products for any modeler – Value Gear has a good idea, a solid website, and quality products offered at a good price. I would like to thank Value Gear for providing the products for review, and IPMS/USA for giving me the opportunity to review them.

Reviewer Bio

Eric Christianson

Eric Christianson is a father to two boys (Reed and Dean), the President of the Seattle Chapter of IPMS, and a long-time Little League umpire. He is also a devoted husband and companion to a wonderful woman named Jackie who enthusiastically supports his passions. Recently retired as a programmer, his home office has been scratch-built into ‘a perfect model room’. Modeling since he was a boy, Eric mostly builds armor these days, but still dabbles in 1/32nd aircraft and other types of models from time to time. He also enjoys presenting seminars on weathering and technique at local shows. Many of Eric’s kit reviews can be found on the IPMS USA website.