P-61A/B Black Widows Decal Sets

[Mike]

P-61A/B Black Widows Decal Sets

1:48 Super Scale International – Squadron productions

These two sets come hot on the heels of the recent Great Wall Hobby P-61A kit, with the B soon to follow if I don’t miss my guess. The Monogram kit has been with us for some years now, and although the GWH kit eclipses it in terms of detail, at time of writing there is no option of the B model for the GWH kit, or the upper fuselage mounted cannon pack, so if modelling an airframe with the gun pack, you’ll either have to wait, scratch build your own, or steal one from your old Monogram kit.

Each set covers a different squadron, as follows:

419th NFS and 548th NFS (MS481260)

This set covers three all black aircraft from the above mentioned Night Fighter Squadrons in the Pacific theatre in 1944.



P-61A-11-NO #42-45613 “Midnite Madness”, 548th NFS Iwo Jima, 1944

P61A-11-NO #42-5609 “Bat Outa Hell” 548th NFS Iwo Jima, 1944

P61B-1-NO #42-39450 “Lady Luck” 419th NFS Guadalcanal, 1944 - red & white stripes on the tail booms

Each one has nose art, red serials, and crew stencils under the cockpit sills. Also included with the set is a full set of red walkway stripes, as well as a lot of stencilling (mostly in red), prop logos and national insignia that are dealt with on a separate set of diagrams on the opposite side from the main decals.



6th NFS (MS481259)

The second set covers three aircraft of the 6th Night Fighter Squadron in the Pacific theatre during 1944, with two olive over grey machines and one in black.



P-61A-1-NO #42-5527 “Moonhappy”, 6th NFS Saipan, 1944 (4 kills) - Olive over grey

P-61A-5-NO #42-5554 “The Virgin Widow”, 6th NFS Saipan, 1944 – overall black

P-61A-1-NO #42-5528 “Jap Batty”, 6th NFS Saipan, 1944 (2 kills) - Olive over grey

Again, each one has nose art, red serials, and crew stencils under the cockpit sills. Also included with the set is a full set of red walkway stripes, as well as a lot of stencilling (mostly in red), prop logos and national insignia that are dealt with on a separate set of diagrams on the opposite side from the main decals. Jap Batty’s serials are provided in red and yellow, as the researcher couldn’t reach a satisfactory conclusion as to which was correct, so it’s down to the individual to decide based on their feelings.



Conclusion

A couple of great sets depicting some great artwork on the noses of Widows in the Far East, where they were used to great effect. As always with the Black Widow, check your references carefully for installation of the wing tanks supplied with the kit and upper gun turret (not yet available with the GWH kit at this time), as this varied quite a bit between batches. The decals are printed for Squadron by Cartograf in Italy, and colour density, register and clarity are excellent, even under magnification.

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of