Kagero from Poland bring us the much awaited “Red Series” of decals and accompanying 8 page reference – are the decals any good? Is the reference worth having? Let’s apply the decals to the kit and have a look to see what you get with this new “Red Series”
Kagero Decals Red
Series Pacific Mustangs Part 1
text/research by: Stanisław Jabłoński, Jacek Pasieczny,
Arkadiusz Wróbel
Pages: 8
Decal
schemes: 3
Decal
scales: 1/72, 1/48 & 1/32
Available
from: The Kagero Web shop online
1/32
12.00 Euros
Kagero bring us something new from them – their “Red series”
of decals – now are these a decal set or a book set? The line greys and thins
here more and more as we depart from the MiniTopcolours series which is around
18 pages of book and decals for three or four aircraft in all three major
aircraft/armour scales through to this – a series of decals for three aircraft
in three aircraft scales - 1/32/48/72 accompanied by eight pages of reference
from these colourful mustangs from the WWII Pacific Theatre
Well I say there is no ISBN number so these are decals!
The three schemes on these decals are:
• P-51D-25-NA,
44-72671, 2nd Lt. William Saks, 457th FS, 506th FG, North Field, Iwo Jima, June
1945
• P-51D-25-NA, 44-72570, Lt. Ralph S. Gardner and 2nd Lt. Chester Jatczak, 457th FS, 506th FG, North Field, Iwo Jima, June 1945
• F-6D-10-NA, 44-14841, Capt. William A. Shomo, 82nd TRS, 71st TRG, Hill Field, Mindoro, 12th January 1945
The decals to suit - lets have a look at them..
1:72 (180 x 100 mm sheet)
The 1/72 decals held against the light
1:48 (180 x 155 mm sheet)
The decals held against the light again in 48th
1:32 (180 x 260 mm
sheet)
The 1/32 The sheet held to the light so you can see the thickness
There are enough national insignia here to make ALL THREE variants represented in these books which is the first pleasant surprise – secondary they are printed by Cartograf from Italy who really no lies here print some of the best decals in the market (along with Zotz and Aviaeology.) Cartograf’s decals are of a thicker nature and glossy to look at – at first glance they seem to be too thick but with some Micro Set on the top of them they grip really tight and look welded on - I have applied some to my poor old test plane to show you how they stick on to rivets and seams of the aircraft – these are shown with some Johnson’s Klear…
The decals applied on a weathered and beaten aluminium surface
The decals applied on a high-shine aluminium surface
I can say – because I have used them here and you can see how they adhere – (none of this “should do” here) that the 72nd 48th and 32nd decals are all of the same good quality when it comes to sharpness and register, all have strong colours and the whites especially on the areas like national insignia are not opaque.
The decals applied on a camo'ed wing
The booklets that come with them are of a great quality as well – they are the same publication for all three scales ( just in case you needed to know – I did) and all have double page spread of the aircraft in all profiles – left, right, top down and the underside of the wings. You need not worry about applying the wrong decal in the wrong position here – at least there is no excuse now for doing it!
While the instructions show you just where to put your decals the aircraft colours are given in actual ANA and FS standard colour codes. (Mostly Aluminium, Olive Drab anti-glare strips & Willow Green)
The profiles themselves are illustrated by Janusz Swiatłon
with a great deal of care and attention to detail. On each double spread are a sketch
of the pilot and any little detail you may need to be aware of highlighted in a
larger picture window. There are also some pictures of the aircraft themselves –
something that frankly you can never get enough of.
While the two P-51d’s here shown have some very lovely looking nose-art the third aircraft ( a Recon F-6) is shown typically in plain markings – these aircraft were lone flyers and relied on speed and subtlety to get them through enemy defences so I understand them being rather plain.
The whole make up of these new decal sets from Kagero :
Red Series - decals + 8 page booklet
Blue Series – decals + 4 page booklet
White Series - bare bones national markings and aircraft
stencils
Let’s hope they are all as good as these decals which held on to the aircraft and were accompanied by great references – if you are after a colourful mustang (I bet a few out there are) these are a great choice.
Thanks to Kagero for supplying us with this decal and book combo