Aeromaster 48-057: Wings over the Sahara

Units: various

Price

$

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Aeromaster did not do many sheets like this and that is a bit of a pity as I like sheets where you have multiple type options. Thankfully, there are decals makers who still provide multiple types on one sheet, though few of these do it in 1/48.

This particular sheet provides markings for five aircraft that flew the skies of North Africa. Both the Commonwealth and German planes are in the standard desert camo schemes for their sides.

First is a Kittyhawk III from 2 Squadron of the South African Air Force. The sheet include orange vice red bits for the insignia as which was carried is unknown.

Next is a Tomahawk IIb from 112 Squadron with its famous shark mouth. This was inspired by a German Bf-110 unit and went on to inspire the Flying Tigers.

The Hurricane IIb is from 73 Squadron one of the few RAF units to use the prewar unit markings on the fuselage.

Moving on to the 109s the first is an F-4 from 5./JG 27 with yellow lower cowling and rudder. Usual white theater markings.

Finally, with a nice squiggly pattern over the usual desert camo is this G-2 version from 2./JG 77. It has no yellow markings and a white rudder.

A bit of editorializing here. I know that some readers think that posting older sheets is a waste of space. They cite difficulty in finding them as well as questionable viability in something 30 years old. These are logical concerns. My response would be that it is nice to know what has been done as it adds another option when it comes to a hard-to-find scheme. There are also people who collect decals, with no plans on ever using them. Finally, I have used really old decals before without too much trauma. One does have to test the sheet with a marking one won't use to see how it reacts and if it breaks, then a coat or two of decal film will usually cure that issue.

October 2017

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