This sheet is the third of three limited edition sheets produced by Lifelike Decals for the Hasegawa 1/72 Ki-27 Fighter (code-named “Nate” by the Allies). The sheet provides markings for seven different aircraft from the Japanese Army. The set includes color side views of all six aircraft illustrating the left side markings of each aircraft and overhead views showing the wing markings of the various aircraft. One of the aircraft features a cool scalloped black tail that also covers the horizontal stabilizers and Lifelike includes a paper template that you can use to make masks for the tail of this aircraft.

Five of the aircraft are overall light grey and one is dark green over light grey. Each aircraft has very distinctive markings that will provide you with an interesting choice of which to use. As with the first sheet, the aircraft depicted are from a wide variety of units and several are directly associated with specific pilots as noted in the instructions. Inside the instructions, 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 these is a listing of the materials referenced at the end of the descriptions for anyone looking for some good resources for Japanese aviation in World War II. 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 to be applied. As with the first sheet, this set 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 markings are actually comprised of two decals that are applied on top of each other to ensure the markings are opaque or to permit the re-creation the thin outlines present on some of the markings, which will require careful placement of both layers of decal.

As with the first sheet, the instructions do not include any color call-outs anywhere to assist you in determining the correct colors to paint the aircraft, so you will need to do a little research on your own to determine just what colors to use.

This sheet 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.