Decals
The availability of accurate decals for these aircraft is a concern. Decals Carpena has at least two sets of markings available. The first Carpena sheet Indochine 1er Partie includes the following: SB2C Helldiver, Ki-43 Oscar, PBY-5A Catalina, Spitfire LF.IX (x 2), Mosquito FB.VI, C-119C Flying Boxcar, AAC.1 Toucan, F6F-5 Hellcat, F8F Bearcat (x 2), B-26 Invader (x 2), and C-47 Dakota (x 2). The second sheet, titled Indochine 2em Partie includes: Aichi E13A1a Jake, Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, Douglas C-47 Dakota, and deHavilland Canada L-20 Beaver. This sheet also includes numerous VNAF subjects. Though the decals are printed relatively well (i.e. the cocardes are generally in register), the research on the subjects is poor in places, particularly for the well documented VNAF aircraft. I have also run into problems with the decals disintegrating upon contact with water, and poor colour density on markings without a white backing. These sheets were unavailable for some time, but have been recently reissued. One source is Hannants in England, who carry the complete line in their catalogue. I ordered mine through Northstar Hobbies in Canada.
It's quite possible that other Carpena sheets include relevant aircraft- I've never seen a complete listing of the subjects covered by their decal sheets. I am aware of applicable decals on a Mosquito sheet, and the Exotic Spitfire sheet (72.17) includes an LF.IX of GC2/4 la Fayette. Superscale covers a few aircraft, with markings for an F8F Bearcat on their Bearcat sheet, and a C-119 on sheet 72-0563 (Thanks again to James Walker).
Model Art Decal Systems offers a line
of decals covering numerous French subjects. As well as covering basic French insignia, they've
also done Dakotas, Invaders, Hellcats, Bearcats, Spitfires, Sea Otters, and Whirwinds.
There is an unofficial
A few kits include relevant markings- the Heller Ju-52 3M/AAC.1 kit, Toko P-63C, and the Monogram and Sword Bearcats spring to mind. Of course these aren't aftermarket decals, so they're not super thin, or guaranteed not to silver.
Beyond that, one has to make use of the spares box. Heller kits are a useful source of cocardes, however their decals are often thick, and even more often out-of-register. Some of the latest re-issues, such as the Fieseler Storch/MS.501 include two-piece cocardes with separate centres, which would be quite helpful if the red ring weren't off-centre in the yellow ring! Other kit's feature markings which can be easily adapted, such as the Italeri F4U-7 and the Matchbox Privateer. One note about all these markings is that they differ considerably in details such as the shade of blue for the cocardes. I don't have any really reliable colour references for this, but I suspect that Heller's shade is closer to the mark than say, the latest Matchbox/Revell Privateer markings.
This page was created June 20, 2002.
This page was last updated June 20, 2002.