1:35 Ordnungs Polizei # 2. Tanks and AFVs mix. Anti Partisan and security service.

Markings of the Ordnungs Polizei in 1:35 scale

According to the name the decal set covers a mixed range of tanks and armored vehicles used by the German police units on security duty in rear areas. It is not a sheet tied to one type of vehicle but to one group of users, which is a substantial difference for a modeler: the markings can be used on various machines. The package holds only markings, the model you obtain separately.

The real subject

The hardware the German police units received in the occupied areas differed from the equipment of the field units. It was mostly older types withdrawn from the front line and captured vehicles of various origins, which were made up in the rear according to what was available. Their outward appearance matched that. The vehicles carried signs of their own, different from the army ones and often rounded out by lettering and improvised solutions, and their make-up was far more varied than in an ordinary armored unit. For a modeler it is an interesting subject precisely because machines that would never have met in an ordinary tank company come together in one place.

Application and painting tips

A mixed sheet allows for vehicles of various shapes, so the markings will go onto flat welded surfaces as well as onto cast and rounded parts. On curved places lay on a decal softener and press the design down with a soft brush from the center outwards, so that no air is trapped under it. On older machines it pays to suggest scuffed paint before the markings are applied, so that the weathering reads as one layer. A final matte varnish will even the whole surface out.

Who the set is for

• modelers of German hardware outside the ordinary combat units
• builders of older and captured vehicles in 1:35 scale
• dioramas of rear areas
• collectors of less usual markings of the Second World War