1:72 P-47D of 80th FG Burma 1944-45

Burmese ghosts with a skull on the nose

The 80th Fighter Group of the US Army Air Forces operated over India and Burma from 1943. It had a white skull with open jaws painted on the engine cowlings of its aircraft and proudly answered to the nickname Banshee, the wailing spirit of Celtic legend. From there the heavy single-engined machines covered transport aircraft on the route across the Himalayan ridge and broke up Japanese supply lines.

Seven specific aircraft

The sheet covers aircraft of three squadrons of the group, among them the mounts of commanders and of ordinary pilots alike. Serial numbers, personal markings and tactical codes match photographs from 1944 and 1945, when the colored bands on the tail surfaces served for quick recognition in the air.

Sheet specifications

• seven marking options including personal emblems
• national insignia and stencils for the individual aircraft
• instructions with color placement drawings
• printed for 1:72 scale

The aircraft kit is not included; the set serves to give a lift to a model you already have at home. Cut the sheet close around the motif, as the carrier film is very thin and starts to tear after a long soak, so ten seconds in lukewarm water is plenty. Lay a gloss coat under the decal and unify it again with a matte varnish once it has dried. Check as well that the surface is not grainy: on a rough coat the motif catches only on the tips of the grain and a silvery veil is left underneath that will never go away.