Sheet:

Zotz 48-017: Heavenly Bodies: B-17F at War

Units: See review

Price

$35.00 for the 1/48 sheet - $22.00 in 1/72

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Well folks, this has to be the most extensive B-17F decal sheet I've ever seen. There are no fewer than 14 aircraft on this sheet; all of them F model B-17s. That is the good news. The not so good news is that in 1/48, the only kit made is an oldie from Revell and a check of various on-line retailers here in the US did not find it in any of their catalogues.

The notes that accompany the sheet state that you'll have to remove the outer two fuel filler caps as none of these planes had the 'Tokyo tanks' installed. The Revell ADF antenna is in the wrong position as are the pitot tubes on the later release kits. You also have to check for whether or not the plane you are modeling has the astrodome.

Now this sheet is too extensive for me to give you the usual showing of profiles so I've done about half of them as well as a shot of all the sheets you get in this set. A visit to the Albatros Decals web site will get you those other profiles.

A few additional notes on the decals. One is that you'll notice that all the separate nose art decals have a separate white background. You'll also note several different styles of national insignia available. Finally, there was a misprint of the wheel discs on 'Knock-out Dropper' (they are both the same instead of one being mirrored) so an additional sheet (not shown) will be included. If your sheet is missing them, contact Albatros Decals and they'll supply a replacement.

So, what is on the sheet. Well, let me run through what you can see starting with the top left sheet and working to lower right.

You have 'War Bride/Old Faithful' of the 303 BG, then 'Superman' of the 97th and on the same sheet 'Snoozin Suzan', also from the 97th BG. The last one on the upper right is 'Hells Angels' of the 303 BG.

On the lower row there is 'The Mustang' from the 43 BG, then 'The Shamrock Special' from the 95th BG, and finally, with the red bits, 'Fort Alamo II' from the 483rd.

Those aircraft not shown include 'Memphis Belle', 'Panama Hattie', 'Black Jack/Joker's Wild', 'Knock-out Dropper', 'Two Beauts', 'The Red Gremlin', and finally 'Honi Kuu Okole'.  This great selection of aircraft includes planes from the Pacific, Mediterranean, and European theaters.

Face it, you'll not only never find a more complete and outstanding set as this one, but it WILL sell out very quickly so you need to find yours before it goes away.

This one is also available in 1/72 scales

Thanks to Albatros Decals for the review sheet. You can find this and other products on their website.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has  nearly 300,000 visitors a month, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.