Iliad Designs makes a bunch of decals with really great schemes in all the popular scales. The object of this set is the P-38J with several kits being available. I had a Tamiya kit looking for some markings so I jumped at the chance to review the decals.

Inside the package there is a single sheet of well printed decals with two full color instructions sheets with profiles of the plane and details associated with the plane as well as top and bottom profiles. There are markings for five planes covering everything from natural metal, OD over neutral gray and one with medium sea gray and a black bottom. Note that ONLY the markings are included. Stencils and all need to be sourced from the kit or elsewhere. The markings are:

• P-38J, 79th FS, 20th FG June 1944, “Gentle Annie”

• P-38J, 80th FS, 8th FG, New Guinea, Late 1944

• P-38J 7th FG, United Kingdom, Experimental Intruder scheme (Medium Sea Grey and Black) “Miss Ann”

HAD Models is a group out of the Budapest Hungary and specializes in decals and masking sets for aircraft kits in the all-major scales from 1/144 to 1/35. They range from WWII to modern era planes. This set is in 1/48th scale and covers F-14A’s from the VF-41 Black Aces. Markings are included for seven unique planes:

The Indian Air Force celebrates 90 years of existence in October 2022. As the fourth largest air force in the world, and one of the few with nuclear capability, the subject is interesting and important both historically and in the context of its future role on the global stage. Its position in Asia, sharing a border with China, only serves to heighten the significance of this air service.

This is another paint set by the prolific Ammo by MiG concern out of Spain. I’m sure many of you already use these acrylic paints and so are familiar with their ease of use with both brush and airbrush. The featured colors come in the familiar yellow-capped 17ml dropper bottles and include the necessary colors to paint the SH-2 Seasprite, SH-3 Sea King or SH-60 Seahawk, and many other post-war US Navy helicopters.

The colors themselves look good for the applications required, and have, apparently, been slightly lightened for scale effect. Each bottle contains a small stainless steel ball bearing to aid mixing, which is a great idea that ought to be copied by other manufacturers. The paints are water-soluble, odorless and non-toxic; they can be thinned using distilled water, but Ammo recommends using their proprietary thinner.

Colors included in this set are:

The Kit

This is a reissue of the AFV Club F-5E, first released in 2010. This version includes parts for an early F-5E, with the original nose and short leading-edge extensions (LEX). It focuses on the markings for the Yemen Arab Republic Air Force. There are six marking options, four depicting various schemes used by Yemen, and two schemes from the Republic of China Air Force. The kit consists of seven gray plastic trees, one clear tree, one tree consisting of four polycaps, a small photoetch fret, and one decal sheet. The upper main fuselage and afterburner cans are molded separately and not attached to a parts tree. The surface detail consists of engraved panel lines and rivets. The kit is packaged in a sturdy cardboard box, and a print of the box art is included.