The third 1/72nd B-24 sheet from Lifelike contains more colorful nose art. If you are a fan of pinups and nose art these sheets are really impressive.

The decals are contained in a 6”x9” ziplock bag along with two A4 full color instructions. The decals themselves are printed by Cartograf and Microscale. Between those two decal printers you know you have some of the best printed decals in the world. But what about the research? Lifelike is well known for their research. Even Lifelike can make errors as they acknowledge. Lifelike basis their findings on the latest information available and when the information is lacking they base their finding on educated guesses. Some would find this a weakness in the decals but I think it is an asset. They let you know what is known and what is conjecture.

The first aircraft is a B-24D “Doodlebug” operating out of China. It is probably one of the most famous B-24 flying missions over the Hump. Painted in olive drab and neutral grey with nose art on both sides. Original markings have naked nose art without kill markings. Eventually a commander decided that there should be no naked women in his unit. The nose art eventually got swim suits. They are not sure if the swim suits were blue or red so they provide you with both to be added over the nude nose art. In essence this makes two different aircraft. Combat markings were added prior to the aircraft touring the States.

The second aircraft is out of Okinawa with a famous nose art inspired by a 1944 musical movie starring Bing Crosby. The aircraft is overall natural metal. There is an interesting story to go along with this aircraft’s last mission.

One of my favorite B-24s is “Pistol Packin Mama” out of Italy. It has nude nose art on both sides of the nose. In addition to the nose art there are some additional caricatures around the nose. The olive drab over neutral grey nose art along with the yellow markings on the tail and red “Y” makes this a colorful machine. Like the other aircraft the nose art became slightly more modest with the addition of clothes. The later version has mission markings added as well.

The final aircraft is “Puddle Jumper II” which is finished in overall natural metal finish. Besides the risqué nose art there are red mission markings to add color to the aircraft.

Like the rest of the Lifelike’s decals these subjects are really unique with some excellent nose art. They are printed by the world leaders in decals. Researched by a manufacturer who is driven by a passion for excellence. You can not ask for much more in a decal sheet.

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Lifelike Decals for the review copy. You can obtain your copy by contacting them directly at http://www.lifelikedecals.sakura.ne.jp . Let them know you heard about it here.