This sheet is the first of three limited edition sheets produced by Lifelike Decals for the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-27 Fighter (codenamed “Nate” by the Allies). The sheet provides markings for seven different aircraft, six from the Japanese Army, and one from the Manchurian Air Force. The set includes color side views of all seven aircraft illustrating the left side markings, and overhead views showing the wing markings.

All of the aircraft are overall light grey with very interesting and colorful markings for aircraft from a wide variety of units. Inside the directions Lifelike provides a summary description of each aircraft, including any particular pilot that the aircraft was associated with. The descriptions also include references to published photographs of the aircraft and there is a summary listing of the references used at the end of the descriptions. A nice touch for some of the special markings is an explanation of what the markings meant to the Japanese pilots.

The colors side views are very helpful in decal placement, as each decal is numbered and the numbers are shown on the instructions pointing to where the decal is applied. Interestingly the sheet only provides the main markings for each aircraft, but no stencils, so you will need to dig into your decal stash to find some appropriate stencils if you want to go beyond the decals provided.

The decals are well printed, on register and very thin. Some of the more colorful smaller markings are actually comprised of two decals that are applied on top of each other to ensure the markings are opaque or to permit finer detail to be provided with a multi-layer decal.

My only concern is that there are no color callouts anywhere in the instructions to help you decide what colors to use.

This is a great sheet and includes enough Hinomarus for two models. I highly recommend the sheet to anyone with an interest in World War II Japanese Army aircraft.

Thank you to Lifelike Decals for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for the opportunity to review it.