PYN-UP Decals

1/48 P-38H/J Fork Tailed Beauties Part 1 decal sheet

Product # PYND48001 for $18.99

Product Article by Steve Bamford on Aug 25  2004

 

 

 

This new decal sheet from Cutting Edge Modelworks includes markings for two different 1/48 P-38 Lightnings.  

The first aircraft is a P-38H-5-LO #42-66825 Lightning flown by Capt. Robert L. Herman with 431st FS of the 475th FG out of New Guinea in 1943.  The paint scheme on this aircraft is Olive Drab on top and Neutral Gray on the underside.  The nose art a reclining Brunette in Lingerie with yellow text saying "Thoughts of Midnite" with the "t" in Midnite not being crossed.  For some odd reason the "t" wasn't crossed in the original reference photo of this aircraft's noseart.  There is also a big white "120" on the nose and tail.  There are certain possible unknown variations for the number "120" and these variations are included as decals to cover all options.  There is a white decal to place under the noseart decal to avoid colour bleed through.   

The noseart decals are delicate and two are included for each plane in case you mess up the first ones.  Exacting instructions are included on how to prepare and install these decals…..read these instructions carefully to avoid disaster.  Apparently these noseart decals are very thin and need special care, but once installed they will look very accurate and realistic.  The nose art decals are printed on a one piece decal sheet, so you’ll need to cut the decal free from the rest of the decal film…..patience is the key here.  The noseart decal is beautifully printed with fantastic detail and lovely shading.  

The second aircraft is a P-38J-5-LO # Lightning flown by Lt. Clark R. "Doc" Livingston with the 392nd FS in the 367th FG out of Stoney Cross, England in the summer of 1944.  The paint scheme is a D-Day scheme with D-day stripes on the wings and rear fuselage booms.  The rest of this aircraft is overall bare metal/silver in appearance with Olive Drab for the anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen and on the inside of both engine cowlings.  The top and bottom of the wings and tail surfaces are bare metal/silver in appearance.  The nose art is applied to an white base decal to avoid colour bleed through.  The prop spinners are the same silver colour as the fuselage.   The code letter on the side of the rear fuselage are “K H5” with a blue and silver national insignia between the letters.  On the outside of the left engine cowling is the name "Carol" in black script.

This aircraft has The noseart for this aircraft is a naked naked redhead sitting in a bar glass and the text above this noseart reads "Moonlight Cock-tail!".  Again.....I will refer you to the special instructions mentioned for the noseart decals earlier in this review....these instructions apply to the noseart decals for this aircraft as well.  The decals were flawlessly printed and in perfect registration and the clear carrier film is trimmed very close to the crisply printed colored areas.  You get enough stencils and national insignia for one aircraft. 

The instructions are clear and include 2 views of each aircraft and an extra page of text instructions is included with a small bit of info about both the planes as well as helpful tips for decal application. 

A very nice decal sheet and  sure to please the lucky 300 people that manage to buy one of these limited edition sheets.  

Click on images below to see larger images of the instruction sheets

I would like to thank Cutting Edge Modelworks for providing me with this review sample.

Steve

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford