Yellow Wings Decals has released the first aftermarket decal set for the new Revell 1/48 scale Stearman PT-17 kit. (Obviously, the decals in this set also are applicable to the long-standing Lindberg 1/48 scale PT-17 kits). There are no markings for an Army Air Force PT-17 in this set however. Instead, set 48-082 provides colorful markings for two of the U. S. Navy’s version of the PT-17…the N2S-3 ‘Yellow Peril’:

• N2S-3 #317 based at NAS Corpus Christi
• N2S-3 #103 based at NRAB Dallas

Both of these aircraft are finished overall in vivid Orange-Yellow #4 with lower landing gear legs left in natural metal. #317 sports 36” red fuselage and wing bands, identifying it as a Corpus Christy-based aircraft. The corresponding bands for #103 are willow green for an NRAB Dallas aircraft. These identification bands are provided on the decal sheet along with national insignia for wings, U.S.NAVY lettering for the fuselage, aircraft numbers, tail codes, propeller tip warning bands and some stencils (about 50% of what would be required to reproduce all of the original aircraft stencils). See the photo below of the decal sheet. An instruction sheet is included that indicates placement of primary markings and also provides the FS numbers for the paints that were used along with Tamiya color matches.

The decals in this set are custom printed for Yellow Wings Decals by MICROSCALE. They are well registered and crisply printed in vibrant opaque colors on thin film (with minimal carrier film surrounding the printed images). Experience has shown MICROSCALE decals respond well to mild decal setting solutions (like their own SET and SOL products or Gunze’s Mr. Mark Softer) if applied in moderation after the decals are in position and blotted carefully with a soft cloth or Q-tip.

I decided to use this set to finish a Revell PT-17 instead of the kit-supplied decals (which Revell based on restored warbirds with somewhat freelanced representations of prototypical markings). After using the Yellow Wings set I have some good news and some bad news to report. The good news is that the decals measure up to the quality level of any previous MICROSCALE decal set and perform beautifully. They lay down well, conform to surface details and look great on the model. The bad news is that the national insignia for the underside of the lower wings are incorrectly sized. A dotted line indication on the Yellow Wings instruction sheet correctly matches the 30” diameter insignia specified for these markings. However, the decals that are provided in the set don’t match that size. They are sized at 36”…making them a bit oversize for this application. Therefore, I found it necessary to locate and use 30” insignia from another aftermarket sheet to finish my model correctly. In addition to this, although some stencils are provided on the decal sheet (about half of what is needed)), there is minimal indication of where to place them on the instruction sheet. The forward fuselage stencil block and fire extinguisher placard are indicated, but nothing else is clearly shown. To take full advantage of the others on the sheet, a modeler will either have to locate photos of actual aircraft to determine their position, find a USN lettering diagram of the aircraft…or guess.

With knowledge of the concerns I’ve noted, this decal set is recommended to anyone who wants to finish a 1/48 scale USN N2S-3 ‘Yellow Peril” with more prototypical Navy markings than those included in the Revell kit (see the photo of the decaled model below).

My thanks to Yellow Wings Decals for providing the review sample and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this decal set.