1:48 White U.S. Letters & Numbers

White where camouflage goes dark

Carrier aircraft in a blue gray finish, machines in olive drab and night bombers in matte black shared one problem: dark markings would disappear on them. Technical lettering, unit codes and numbers were therefore painted on them in white or in a very light gray. Anyone building such a machine needs a white character set exactly as much as a matter of course as national insignia or invasion stripes. On a finished model that difference is even more pronounced than in a photograph, because a reduced dark character merges into the base practically at once.

Eight grades for small markings

The graduation here is deliberately dense: 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 inches. The two lowest grades match service lettering around filler points, warnings by walkway zones and tire pressure data. The middle rows come into play on flight markings and on small numbers on the engine cowling. The highest of the eight grades handles codes along the sides of the fuselage on machines where they were not excessively large. The scale does not rise evenly; it follows the regulations of the period for individual kinds of lettering.

What to watch out for

A white layer tends to be more translucent than a dark one, so on mottled camouflage the border between two shades can show through it. Lay a character on a uniform area wherever possible. Use lukewarm water and leave the sheet in it only long enough for the character to be movable, not long enough for it to float away by itself. No air must stay under the film, otherwise the edge turns white once dry and starts to peel. At 1:48 a three inch piece of lettering comes out at just under two millimeters, so have tweezers with a fine point ready. The model and paints do not belong with the sheet.