Yellow Wings Decals specializes in the “between the wars” period, 1930-1942, when there was a lot of aircraft development and the American military aircraft were incredibly gaudy. I’ve heard that the yellow wings on these aircraft were to make them easier to find when they made emergency landings or crashed somewhere off the field.

The Aircraft

This is the first of a series of special decals which will include more than one aircraft type. This set is for:

• TBD-1 Devastator. VT-8, USS Enterprise 1940
• P-36A Hawk, 77th Pursuit, Moffet Field, California, 1939-40
• SBD-1 Dauntless, US Marines, VMB-2, San Diego 1940
• F3F-1 Flying Barrel, VF-7, USS Wasp 1940

I picked up this review decal sheet at the IPMS Nationals in Orlando. When I got the sheet home, I discovered that I only had a Dauntless. I got the P-36 and Devastator from local friends, and bought the F3F from the LHS, who had to order it for me. Thanks Suzanne.

I started the P-36, and then discovered that there was no mention of the aircraft having yellow wings. I thought this might be an oversight in the instructions, and e-mailed the question. Wayne Tevlin replied the next day that the P-36 was overall natural metal. Hmph. I was expecting yellow wings. So I started the Devastator, because I didn’t have one in my “built” collection, and I wanted yellow wings, by golly.

The Decals

Nicely printed by MicroScale, everything’s in register, everything’s neatly done. The instructions for decal placement are well illustrated and leave no doubt about what goes where. The graphics guy should get an extra coffee break for this good work.

I applied the decals over a coat of Future, using Micro Set under the decal. I was appreciative of the way the wing chevrons and national markings snuggled down in the corrugated areas of the Devastator wing.

The wing chevrons on the Devastator exactly matched Testors Model Master Cadmium Yellow.

A final coat of Future on both aircraft, and I was quite happy.

Overall Evaluation

Excellent. The subject matter is outstanding, the markings are well done, the instructions are flawless, and I only screwed up one of the decals.

Thanks to Yellow Wings for the review decals, and to Steve Collins and IPMS for the chance to build aircraft from a period I don’t usually go into.