RNZAF PV-1 Venturas
Pacific Theatre No 1 (BR) Squadron,
June and November 1943

Ventura Decals, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com

Ventura Decals hail from New Zealand and have been producing decals for many, many years. Whilst there is a definite leaning toward the aircraft operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force they also produce sheets that will appeal to modellers of other genre.

The release of the new 1/48 scale Lockheed PV-1 Ventura BY Revell has certainly attracted the attention of after-market decal producers. This sheet however has been around for quite some time. It provides markings for two Royal New Zealand Air Force operated PV-1s:

• NZ4512 "Slippery Sam" based on Guadalcanal’s Henderson Field, circa November 1943. It is in the US Navy Mid-War ‘Three Tone Scheme’ of semi-gloss sea blue upper surfaces, non-specular intermediate blue fuselage/vertical stabiliser sides over insignia white undersides. It wears ‘barred’ RNZAF markings in six places and the serial 4511 in yellow on the outer faces of its vertical stabilisers. NOTE With regard to the serial of this airframe, the sheet carries the serial 4511. It was long thought that the serial for this machine was NZ4511 but it has since been found that the machine was actually NZ4512. You can either substitute a numeral 2 in place of the 1 to accurately depict the machine with the name "Slippery Sam" or leave off the names to depict the airframe 4511.
  

• NZ4509, a Whenuapai, New Zealand based PV-1 of No.1 (BR) Squadron circa June to November 1943. It wears the early war blue-gray upper surfaces over light gray undersides US Navy camouflage scheme and sports RAF-style roundels (with a very small red centre to the fuselage roundels). It also exhibits an example of the Disney cartoons applied to some Venturas at the Lockheed factory.
  

The decals themselves are very thin indeed. So thin that the placement guide carries written instructions on how to apply them. I have used Ventura Decals on many occasions and can echo their warning. Make sure that you have plenty of water over a perfectly gloss finish and then put them in place, move them around very, very carefully and move them as little as possible! Follow their instructions though and you will be well rewarded with a beautiful marking indeed.

The placement guide is an A-4 sized sheet that looks to have been printed on both sides of the paper using a home computer. It carries the aforementioned written instructions for applying the decals as well as small side profile colour illustrations of each option.

The decals and the placement guide come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

Apart from the glitch with the serial this is an excellent sheet from Ventura decals that will allow you to finish your new Revell kit in other than US Navy markings.

Footnote

The placement guide carries lists the reference for this sheet as one of their own publications, Ventura Publications Classic Warbirds No. 8 “Pacific Twins”. If you are keen on finding out more about the RNZAF’s operation of the Ventura in WWII then don’t hesitate and grab one. They are excellent value and available direct from Ventura Publications on-line at http://www.venturapublications.com/store/

If you are looking for further reference on RNZAF Venturas (as well as other RNZAF operated aircraft) pay a visit to Peter Mossong’s Royal New Zealand Air Force Pacific WWII Lockheed Ventura page at http://rnzaf.hobbyvista.com/ven1.html

Thanks to Eli from Zotz for the sample

Zotz decals are available from Zotz Decals Website
or Hobby Retailers including Squadron.com

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2012 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 23 April, 2012
Last updated 9 May, 2012

Back to HyperScale Main Page