1:144 B-24D Liberator

Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy and Happy

The set of machines named after the seven dwarfs came about in the 343rd Bomb Squadron and was striking enough to be written about during the war. This sheet gives four of its members. Sneezy has the serial number 41-23795 and Happy carries 42-40256. The remaining two aircraft are more interesting in that the supplier lists them under a pair of names each: 41-11776 as Bashful and also as Jersey Jackass, and 41-11761 as Sleepy and also as The Squaw.

Double naming was nothing exceptional among American crews. The painting on one side often referred to the home state of the navigator or the pilot, while the other side kept to the common line of the whole unit. A modeler can therefore choose which guise to have on his own example, or tell the two sides apart.

The nicknames of this unit do not revolve around the fairy tale alone. Jersey Jackass points to the American state of New Jersey, the name The Squaw comes from quite a different quarter, and so Disney characters stood side by side in one squadron with ideas entirely of the crews' own. For the finished display case this means that the choice of name changes the impression of the model more than the shade of the camouflage does.

A tiny scale, high demands on printing

On a fuselage a few centimeters long at this scale, the sharpness of the printing decides the result. The artwork on the sheet is therefore drawn with thin outlines and in a registration that does not blur the lettering of the serial numbers. Before applying, it is a good idea to polish the surface, release the decal in lukewarm water and move it into place with a brush, not with a finger.

The sheet is reckoned for kits of the B-24D bomber. The rest of the material, that is, plastic parts, paints and the clear coat for evening out the sheen at the end, the modeler obtains separately.