IPMS Canada has once again come out with a really super decal sheet. This time it is in 1/48 and covers the P-40s of 111 Sq. Allow me to paraphrase from the instruction sheet. "111 Sq originated in 1932 , with the establishment of No 11 (Army CoOp) Squadron (Auxiliary) at Vancouver, BC. In November of 1937 it was renamed 111 Sq (Coastal Artillery Co Op) Squadron. 111 Sq was mobilized on 10 September 1940  and moved to Patricia Bay (Vancouver). It started with a complement of four Lysander IIs. On 1 Feb 1941 it was disbanded.

In November of that year, it was reformed as a fighter squadron and with Kittyhawks at Rockcliffe, Ont. and in December returned to Vancouver. In June of 1942 the first aircraft arrived at at Anchorage, Alaska and at that time the squadron codes were changed from TM to LZ. It remained there until August 1943 when they returned to B.C. Several months later, the squadron was sent to England and renamed 440 Sq, flying Typhoons. During its time in Alaska, the squadron flew 598 sorties, destroyed one enemy aircraft, and won one DFC and four US Air Medals.

The sheet itself is beautifully done and crisply detailed. I saw no registration problems. Some of the decals are in several layers in order to keep registration problems to a minimum. Not shown is a smaller sheet with serials and yellow surrounds. There are five aircraft on the sheet. Unless mentioned, all are in US equivalent colors of  Dark Earth, Dark Green over Sky Grey. All but one are Kittyhawk IAs (P-40Es).

First is TM*N from Patricia Bay in May of 1942. Like other US painted Kittyhawks, it has a sky grey spinner. It also has the large roundels. The aircraft letter 'N' is on the lower intake lip.

Next is LZ*D from Anchorage in the Summer of 1942. It is in a scheme very similar to the previous plane except the yellow surround of the fuselage insignia is over painted. It also carries a totem marking on the nose.

LZ*V is also from the same time period as the previous plane. Like that plane, it has the over painted roundel, totem markings and pale blue fuselage band. Below is an image of a model I built of this plane using their earlier 111 Sq 1/72 sheet using the Hasegawa P-40E. Yeah, I got the underside color wrong. Sue me; it was over ten years ago.

The odd one of the bunch is this P-40K in full US colors of OD over Neutral Grey. It was used when at Kodiak Island in January 1943 and carries rather unusual tail markings consisting of an oversized fin flash with the US serial placed over it. The fuselage band is in Neutral Grey.

Finally, a named plane, 'Bitsa' coded only with the letter T. This aircraft is also from the summer of 1943 and has kept the yellow surround to the fuselage roundel, though the squadron code letters have been painted out.

Now, how do you get this sheet? Well, you have to get it from IPMS Canada. If you are a member, then it is $6.00 plus $2.00 for shipping. If you aren't, it is $12.00 plus $2.00 shipping. If you join IPMS Canada, you can also order the sheet and also pay only the $6.00 rate. BTW, all prices are in Canadian Dollars, but any US folks feel free to send dead presidents (US Bucks) as it goes to a good cause. The run on this sheet has been limited to 500 copies (actually, only 499 left as I have one).

To order, send your loot to: IPMS Canada, Box 626, Station B, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1P 5P7.

Review sheet courtesy IPMS Canada. Become a member. Now.

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