These two A6M decal sets from Lifelike continue the series of markings for the A6M Zero provided by earlier sets 48061 and 48062. Part 3 (48063) contains markings for 14 aircraft: 2 Type 11s; 7 Type 21s; 4 Type 52s and 1 A6M2-N Rufe. The specific aircraft include:

• Type 11 12 Air Group 3-141, Lt. Minoru Suzuki, Hankou, China, May 1941
• Type 11 12th Air Group 3-112, Hankou, China, June 1941
• Type 21 263rd Air Group #187, PO 2/C Sakae Uchida, Matsuyama, Japan, November 1943
• Type 21 Zuiho Air Group EIII-117, Lt. Moriyasu Hidaka, Oct. 1942
• Type 21 Tsukuba Air Group 1193, Tuskuba, Japan, 1944
• Type 21 Tsukuba Air Group 1193, Tuskuba, Japan, 1944
• Type 21 3rd Air Group X-182, Lt. Zenjiro Miyano, Kandari, Indonesia, Feb, 1942
• Type 21 3rd Air Group X-108/128, Lt. Tamotsu Yokoyama, Takao, Taiwan, Dec. 1942
• Type 21 582nd Air Group #2185 Lt. W.O. Kan-ichi Kashimura, Russell Is., Mar. 1943
• Type 52 265th Air Group 8-13 CPO Mitsuyasu Ozaki, Saipan Is., June, 1944 (captured aircraft)
• Type 52 653rd Air Group Zuikaku, 653-117, Philippines, Oct, 1944
• Type 52 721st Air Group #136 Ballale, Solomons, 1945
• Type 52 261st Air Group 61-106, Saipan Is. 1944 (captured aircraft)
• A6M2-N 452nd Air Group V2-101, Lt(.jg) Shunshi Araki, Shumshu Is. Aleutians, Sep.-Oct. 1943

Part 4 (48064) contains markings for 15 aircraft: 8 Type 21s; 1 Type 22; 1 Type 32; 4 Type 52s and 1 A6M2-N Rufe. The specific aircraft include:

• Type 21 51st Koku Sentai HQ Flight, 741-37, Atsugi, Japan, 1944
• Type 21 201st Air Group WI-165, Central Pacific, 1943
• Type 21 Akagi Air Group AI-101 Lt. Saburo Shindo, Pearl Harbor, Dec. 1941
• Type 21 341st Air Group #125, CPO Yoshiteru Uraie, Japan, 1944
• Type 21 Ryujo Air Group DI-108, PO 1/C Tadayoshi Koga, Aleutians, June, 1942
• Type 21 Junyo Air Group 2-1-128, Buin airfield Bouganville, April, 1943
• Type 21 Tinian Air Group V-141, PO 2/C Yoshisuke Arita, Bali, Indonesia, Feb.,1942
• Type 21 Konoike Air Group #170, Konoike, Japan, 1944
• Type 22 204th Air Group, Rabaul, New Britain, 1943
• Type 32 Yokosuka Air Group #153, Yokosuka Japan, 1943
• Type 52 203rd Air Group 3-6, Lt. Com. Kiyokuma Okajima Kasanohara, Japan, 1945
• Type 52 252nd Air Group 252-166, Lt (jg) Saburo Abe, Koriyama, Japan, Aug.,1945
• Type 52 653rd Air Group 653-80, P.O. 2/C Sadao Sanno, Sep., 1944
• Type 52 302nd Air Group #126, Atsugi, Japan, Feb., 1945
• A6M2-N 802nd Air Group NI-119, Jaluit, Marshall Is., Aug. 1943

In addition to aircraft markings, both sets contain the corrected Hinomaru decal sheet 48-SP-01. There are enough Hinomarus for a half dozen different aircraft, including some with white surround (wide and thin), no surround, and some with green overpainted surround. This new Hinomaru sheet includes the addition of upper wing green overpainted surrounds for Type 22 and 32 A6Ms printed on the main sheet, and not included as an addendum sheet as with sets 48061 and 48062.

I used the decals on a testbed Hasegawa A6M3. They are thin, with minimal carry-over of the carrier film (approx. 1mm). They come off the paper quickly, were easy to adjust into place, and reacted well to Solvaset decal softener to conform to surface bumps and panel lines. Printed by Microscale, the whites and yellows were opaque and all markings and Hinomarus were in perfect register.

Each set includes a left or right side color placement profile for each aircraft (some with a landing gear cover and/or a top wing view for specific painting reference), as well as a stencil placement guide. Also included is a wealth of detailed descriptive information for individual aircraft markings, pilot histories, plus overall aircraft color information for camouflage colors, Hinomaru colors and sizes, cowl colors, cockpit interior and canopy colors, landing gear, covers, wheels and wheel wells, propellers, trainer colors, as well as differences in Mitsubishi and Nakajima built aircraft, and much more. Last but not least, a set of 4 color swatches is included to represent the shade of Zero grey color J3 at various stages of an aircraft’s operational lifetime, from roll-out until after a few years exposure to the elements. Keep in mind that these are high-resolution 4-color offset printed swatches, not actual paint samples, so they’re only indications. However, they do give you a good idea that Zeros were never simply painted “light grey”, but the colors started out as one tint, and would often change and vary over time.

With all the information contained in these sets, there were only a couple of minor nits to pick: The stencil diagram, with a top, bottom and side view, is only 5 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches and its particularly hard to see how some of the smallest markings are oriented. Other than this very minor issue, these decals were a dream to work with, and I look forward to using the other Lifelike decals that I have on a number of kits in my stash.

I gratefully thank Lifelike Decals and IPMS for the opportunity to use and review these decals.