1:72 Allied Star Insignia White

The recognition mark of Allied columns

The white five-pointed star appeared on Allied equipment in North Africa, and from the Normandy landings onward practically every tank, carrier and truck on the Western Front carried it. It served above all their own air force, which from altitude could not tell one type of vehicle from another but never missed a white patch on an engine deck. In time an outline circle was added to the star, because the points alone broke up visually when a vehicle was moving and the circle held the shape together.

Practice in the units was, however, more varied than it is usually painted today. Crews often let the marking get dusty or oversprayed it partly, because from close up it worked as a convenient aiming point for anti-tank defenses. That imperfection is the most interesting part of it on a model.

Contents and use

• Two forms of the marking, the bare star and the star set in a circle.
• Intended for ground vehicles, not for aircraft; the series is a military vehicle one.
• Feel free to cover the star partly with pigment or overspray it; historically that is perfectly defensible.
• On roughly cast metal the film goes on better over a layer of gloss varnish.

The consignment holds a printed sheet. You build the vehicle the marking belongs on from a kit of your own.

One more connection modelers often miss: the star was not painted only on the engine deck and the sides. It belonged just as much on the roof of a turret or on the tarpaulin of a truck, because from the pilot's point of view that was the only place he could see at all. Anyone who chooses a view from above, on a diorama with a low-level attack for example, should allow for that when laying the markings out.