Eduard P-38J Over Europe Decal Sheet (D48107) 1:48

[Mike]

P-38J Over Europe Decal Sheet (D48107)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

Eduard’s decal range just keeps expanding, and as with their PE sets, they arrive in resealable foil bags with instructions to the front and the decals to the rear with a sheet of translucent paper protecting the printed adhesive side.  The decals are printed by Eduard and are in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. 

 

 

This sheet is for the Lockheed P-38J Lightning, concentrating on subjects that flew and fought in the European Theatre of Operations, where they were something of a lower-profile participant unless you happened to be piloting a German aircraft at the time, although there were times when the tables seemed to turn against the Forked Devils.

 

There are five decal options in total, and each one has a full side of A4 devoted to four-way profiles plus inner tail surfaces and the fuselage pod, plus a list of Gunze paint codes that you will need to paint your model.  From the sheet, you can depict the following, providing you have enough kits:

 

1. P-38J-25-LO, S/n:44-236627, 1st Lt. Sam Plotecia, 392nd FS, 367th FG, Juvincourt AB, France, 1944
2. P-38J-15-LO, S/n:44-680004, 1st Lt. Clark R Livingston, 392nd FS, 367th FG, Juvincourt AB, France, 1944
3. P-38J-10-LO, S/n:44-67685, Maj. Joseph Myers, 38th FS, 55th FG, Nuthampstead AB, England, 1943
4. P-38J-10-LO, S/n:44-67940, Lt. Jack M Jarell, 485th FS, 370th FG
5. P-38J-25-LO, S/n:44-328677, Maj. Robert C Rogers, 492nd FS, 367th FG, Peray, France, August 1944

 

 

I’m a purist when it comes to Lightnings, so my favourite is the mount of Lt. Jarell with an olive drab topside and D-Day stripes, the tops of which are either faded or overpainted badly with thin paint.  The nose art is a pink little piggy relaxing lasciviously under the banner ‘My Little Pig’.  Paint me like one of your French girls.

 

Don’t forget that as of 2021, the carrier film from Eduard decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier-free, thereby making the decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a substantial amount of work.

 

 

Conclusion

Useful, varied, and colourful sheet for your Tamiya Lightning in 1:48 that will allow the modeller to go off-piste without breaking the bank and with detachable carrier film that makes the job so much easier. 

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of