From the folks at www.platz-hobby.com comes a new sheet in 1/48 for the F-22A Raptor. The US aircraft on the sheet is from the 1st FW at Langley AFB and has markings for two planes. One is the 1 FW boss bird with another being a standard line bird. There is a set of markings in 1/72 as well as the 1 FW decals are duplicated in a smaller size. These markings include decals for the intake covers.

An even nicer touch is that there are markings for every JASDF unit that has ever flown a fighter, providing a plethora of 'what if' markings for Raptor fans. This is a pretty cool addition and adds some spice to an already nice sheet. I notice that there are enough common markings to do one aircraft with all the stencils (actually, the F-22 doesn't seem to have a lot of them) with insignia enough for one US plane in both scales and one Japanese version. The sheet is superbly printed by Cartograf so you know the quality is first rate.

There are good kits in both scales so finding something on which to fit these won't be a problem. My thanks to Platz Hobby for the review set. You can get this on-line at www.platz-hobby.com once it has been entered into their database. Ask your local shop to start carrying the line as they have a number of other sheets in their catalogue.

December 2009

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