I have been aware of the company Iliad Design for many years based on their very interesting line of Aircraft Color Charts. I have a few of their sets covering some unique areas – Polish Aircraft, French Aircraft, Condor Legion etc.

I had not been aware that they also produce decals. Upon checking out their web site, I found several interesting sets of decals. Most of them are 1/48 scale but they also have a pleasing selection of 1/72 decals.

The subject of this review is their latest 1/72 scale release. It covers the following;

Among modern aircraft modelers, if they want colorful and interesting paint schemes the aircraft of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) have always delivered. One of the most attractive, and sleek looking aircraft is the Mitsubishi F-2. Having origins within the FSX program in the late 1980’s, it was birthed out of a cooperative effort with Lockheed Martin after selecting the F-16 as a basis for study into a new support fighter. It wasn’t until the mid 2000 that flight test were concluded and delivery started in September of the same year. With a 25% larger wing, longer fuselage, advanced avionics, and 11 hard points it is a F-16 on steroids and provides the JASDF with a 21^stcentury fighter and trainer.

Wingnut Wings has released two decal sheets that provide multiple marking options for their Pfalz D.IIIa kit. The decals, like others from Wingnut Wings, are packaged in zip-lock sleeves along with a comprehensive full color 4-page instruction booklet that includes application instructions, aircraft profiles, top and bottom wing plan views, historical information and a number of period photos of each of the aircraft covered by the decal sheets. These sets exhibit a high level of quality, on par with all of the products marketed by Wingnut Wings.

Set 30019 provides markings for six Pfalz D.IIIa fighters from numerous Jastas. Some of the subjects will require upper and under wing lozenge patterns (and rib tape) not included in this set, but is available from Wingnut Wings in sets they sell separately.

The markings are for:

For those who love modern US Navy and Marine Corps jets, and like camouflage and color, nothing satisfies more than the schemes of an adversary and training squadrons.

VFA-125 also known as the "Rough Raiders" is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The "Rough Raiders" are a Fleet Replacement Squadron flying the F/A-18 Hornet. From the units own home page, their mission “is the indoctrination and training of Navy and Marine Corps personnel for carrier-borne strike fighter squadrons in all phases of F/A-18 employment and, on order, to be prepared to supply replacement aircraft and pilots to the fleet.” They are also the home to the west coast F/A-18C demo team.

Twobobs released this set covering several VFA-125 aircraft providing markings for three “Raiders”:

This decal sheet represents another of the Yellow-Wings “complete aircraft packages”, this time concentrating on pre-WWII and early war Wildcats. Covered are F4F-3s from two Atlantic Fleet carriers from early 1941, USS Ranger’s VF 41 and USS Wasp’s VF 72, and an early war F4F-4 from USS Enterprise VF-6 based on Guadalcanal and flown by ace Donald Runyon, complete with “tombstone” kill tally tail markings. The set contains all the details that we’ve come to expect from Yellow Wings, including squadron badges, propeller tip markings, walkways and fine pin stripes to outline the painted cowl colors. There are minimal stencils, as was the case on Wildcats of the era. As always, the printing (by Microscale) is sharp and in perfect register, and there is a bare minimum of carrier film. Yellow-Wings recommends the Hobby Boss F4F-3 or the Tamiya F4F-4 (suitably backdated for the Atlantic based aircraft).