A subject one rarely sees on decal sheets is immediate post war Air National Guard subjects. With the immense drawdown of the military following WWII, it was important to keep a trained cadre of pilots and technicians available in case of what seemed to be an inevitable war with the Soviet Union. For this purpose, the National Guard and Reserves were important. While the National Guard is basically under the control of a state's governor, they can be activated by the feds.

In the 1946-47 time frame covered by this sheet, the most popular aircraft types for the air national guard were the Mustang and Thunderbolt. The Mustang has had a few sheets produced as those tended to be rather more colorful than the Thunderbolt. Iliad Design has produced a very nice sheet that covers three natural metal P-47s, all with olive drab upper fuselage antiglare panels.

The first option is a P-47N from the198 FS, Puerto Rico ANG in 1947. As was the norm with many ANG units, there is no fuselage insignia. This particular unit had the Puerto Rico coat of arms on the fuselage sides.

Another P-47N is one from the 199 FS, Hawaii ANG. Like the previous option, this one does not have a fuselage insignia. These two options are a great way to get that Revell P-47N out of your stash and onto your shelf.

The final option is a P-47D of the 104FS, Maryland ANG in 1946. This aircraft has the dorsan fin fillet typical of late war P-47Ds. It does have the fuselage insignia as well as a buzz number. Note that this and the other aircraft on the sheet have the Curtiss-Electric prop.

The instructions are superb and provide not only placement guides, but detail images showing where the various markings fit over the gear doors and intercooler exhaust doors. These markings have been segmented to assist.  Though the P-47N markings have been designed for the Revell kit, they should fit the Academy version with a bit of adjustment.

September 2015

Thanks to www.iliad-design.com for the review sheet. You can get yours direct from the link.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.