1:48 US National Insignia June 1943 to July 1943

The star with a red border, the insignia of a single summer

The American national marking went through the most conspicuous change of the whole war in 1943. White rectangular bars were added at the sides of the white star in a blue disc, so that the insignia would be more recognizable from a distance, and the whole assembly was given a pronounced red border. The red color, though, soon proved to be a problem, because at a fleeting glance it brought the Japanese sun disc to mind.

An order followed to remove the red surround and to replace it with blue. The insignia with a red border therefore stayed in service for only a few weeks of the summer, which makes it a delicacy for a modeler and at the same time a trap: it can be used only on a machine documented from precisely this stretch. The sheet offers a whole range of diameters from twenty to sixty inches, that is sizes from small fuselage insignia to large wing ones.

• Nine sizes from twenty to sixty inches
• The form with white bars and a red surround
• The short transitional period of the summer of 1943
• Usable across types of American manufacture
• Sharp edges between the blue, white and red areas

Before building, check the date of the photograph of your machine, because the red border makes sense only in a narrowly defined period. Lay the insignia symmetrically with respect to the axis and with large diameters split the work into two parts, so that the film does not fold over. The red surround is thin and tears easily when drawn over, so support it with a damp brush. Smaller diameters for the side of the fuselage can on the other hand be laid down in one go, only the surface must be perfectly dry and free of grease. The package is made up of the decal sheet alone.