1:48 Black U.S. Letters & Numbers

A whole alphabet, not only numbers

Besides a serial number, the machines of American squadrons carried letters: the abbreviation of the unit, the individual letter of the aircraft, the postwar buzz numbers along the side, and dozens of items of lettering that ground crews stenciled on at the airfield itself. Anyone building a particular machine of a particular unit usually finds no ready-made sheet for exactly that. A set from which the markings can be assembled character by character is therefore more universal than any type-specific sheet.

Focused on large formats

This sheet is black and its emphasis lies on large character heights: 28, 32 and 36 inches, with one small row added. Sizes like these belonged on the sides of the fuselage, on the upper and lower surfaces of the wing and on postwar identification lettering that had to be legible from a distance. For small technical markings around filler points and service hatches there is a separate set with finer graduation. The drawing of the letters matches the stencils of the period, so it differs from ordinary printing faces, most noticeably in the curves of the characters R and G.

Assembling lettering on the model

Work character by character and mark the spacing in advance in pencil or with a strip of tape, because once dry a letter cannot be moved. The film is thin, so two neighboring letters must not overlap, otherwise a visible step appears. It pays to work over a glossy base and leave the finished lettering alone for a few hours, only then covering it with matte varnish. The package holds the sheet itself; the model and painting supplies do not belong with it. Store the remainder of the sheet dry.