Yanks with Roundels
Part 3 - Hellcat, Avenger, Corsair

Xtradecal, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

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The Hannants’ company, Xtradecal has recently released three sheets in 1/48 scale that provide markings for American manufactured aircraft in service with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm during World War II.

X48104, Yanks with Roundels Part 3 is the last sheet in the trilogy and it provides markings for three aircraft; the details of each are as follows:

• Grumman Hellcat II, (F6F-5) serial JZ391 of Naval Air Squadron 800 based at Naval Air Station Trincomalee (China Bay) in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) circa1945. Coded C3-M it is in overall ANA gloss sea blue with white theatre identification markings in the form of a white fronted engine cowling and white bands around its vertical and horizontal stabilisers and wings. Its national insignia is a little different too in that they have thin white outlines around the ones on the wings and a thin yellow band around the fuselage ones with a further thin white band around the original size fuselage one before it was repainted in a larger format.
  

• Grumman Avenger Mk.II (TBM-1C) serial JZ257 of Naval Air Squadron 849 flying from HMS Victorious as part of the British Pacific Fleet in1945. Coded 373-P and wearing British Pacific Fleet modified national insignia it is painted in US paint shades of ANA 613 olive drab in place of dark slate grey and ANA 603 Sea Grey in place of extra dark sea grey on its upper surfaces and ANA 610 sky on its undersides.
  

• Vought Corsair Mk.II (F4U-1A) serial JT622 of Naval Air Squadron 1834 NAS flying from HMS Victorious in the July of 1945. Coded 125-P it wears British Pacific Fleet modified national insignia and is painted with US paint shades of ANA 613 olive drab in place of dark slate grey and ANA 603 sea grey in place of extra dark sea grey on its upper surfaces and ANA 602 light grey on its undersides in place of sky. The squadron code letter/numerals are red with a thin white outline.
  

The decals have been produced by Microscale. They are all in perfect register, but strangely, even though they have managed to get all of the roundels and fin flashes in perfect register they have produced the squadron code letters/numerals of the last option as separate decals that will require you to apply the red decal over the white decal.

The placement guide is A-4 in size, printed on both sides and provides left and right hand side profiles and upper and lower surface plan views of each option in full colour. The sheet provides information on the painting of US produced aircraft with British equivalent shades – a complex and involved subject in itself – as well as information on (and a warning too) on matching modern Federal Standard shades with wartime ANA shades.

The decal sheet and the placement guide come packed in the traditional Microscale style paper envelope.

All up an excellent quality and well produced sheet from Xtradecal that will provide you with some ‘different’ markings for the Wildcats, Avengers and Corsairs in your stash.

Indeed, the Avenger option is destined to be applied to the Hobby Boss Avenger kit currently partly built on my work bench!

Thanks to Hannants for this sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2012 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 22 May, 2012
Last updated 22 May, 2012

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