Iliad Design, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman

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This is the most recent offering from Iliad Design of Canada; a quite small company that has produced some fine decals of some unusual subjects.  I recently use marking from Iliad’s “Strange Hurricane” sheet and found that the decals were easy to apply and reacted quite well to Micro Sol and Micro Set decals setting solutions.

The decals are well printed and in register, but there is no indication of who printed them.

The four offerings in this set from Iliad are:

1. Spitfire Mk. I, AR213 coded JZ*E.  As depicted in its Ocean Grey, Dark Green and Medium Sea Grey livery, this aircraft served with No. 57 OTU. The spinner and nose were striped in bright red, white and bright blue, as the aircraft was used to “bounce” student pilots.  According to the notes, this aircraft was flown for a time by F/O ‘Ginger’ Lacey.

2. Spitfire Mk. IXe, coded  8J*GG.  This aircraft was flown by Capitaine Gabriel Gauthier, Commandant of GC II/7, which was part of No. 326 (Nice) Squadron, May 1945.  The aircraft carries the “GG” code, which Gauthier carried on his D520.  The scheme is Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey.

3. Spitfire Mk. Vc, JK764 “L” of 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron at Vis Airfield (Croatia), 1944. Again, the scheme is Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey.  This aircraft carries the Yugoslav markings of the Partisan Air Force.  First note that the profile artwork shows an incorrect serial number. The artwork indicates JK784, but the decals themselves correctly have JK764.  Also, you will need to use the yellow surround from the markings for the Spitfire IXe noted above.  Only one set of yellow surrounds for the two aircraft.

But what are decals without some conflicting information. Lift Here decals from Serbia also has a set of decals for this aircraft, but I do not know which set is truly correct.  Let me describe the differences and make some observations.

The first item is the color of the markings. The Lift Here uses the brighter Yugoslav colors. The Iliad uses RAF colors for the roundels and other markings. I cannot determine which is correct, as I have not come across a color picture of this aircraft, and it is hard to determine from the black and white pictures.

The next item is the size and location of the serial number.  Lift Here’s are larger and begin on the fuselage band, but extend beyond it.  Iliad’s are smaller and are located within the confines of the fuselage band.  Having found a few pictures of similar Yugoslav Partisan Spitfires in this unit, I believe Iliad’s is correct.

Another issue is the wing-top roundels.  Lift Here shows them as a red star on a white background with a blue surround.  Iliad has them as a red star applied on the RAF blue base.  Again, looking at pictures of aircraft said to be in this Squadron at about the same time and in similar markings, it seems Iliad has the style correct.

Finally, there is the slogan on the nose.  Lift Here has the second, and lower placed, word spelled “SRBIN”, while Iliad has left out the “I”.  Not knowing Serbo-Croatian, ……

4. Mk. Vc, AA963.  This spitfire was shipped to the United States in the Spring of 1942 for evaluation by the USAAF at Wright Field Dayton, Ohio.  The aircraft was repainted in Olive Drab and Neutral Gray and received US markings, but retained the original serial number.  The fabric tail control surfaces may have had a very light application of OD, or have faded.

The illustration shows the application of Medium Green “splotches” to the trailing edge of the rudder and elevators.  However, close examination of a color picture of this aircraft appears to show that they were also applied to the leading edge of the fin and the trailing edge of the wings.  Given the way that Medium Green was applied to other aircraft, such as the P-40, one could expect that the Medium Green splotches were also applied to the leading edge of the tail-planes and main wings.

Although Iliad gives you, and indicates to use, US national markings for six positions, my guess would be that they were carried in the USAAF standard four positions (each side of the fuselage, top of left/port wing and underside of right/starboard wing), similar to other Spitfires in USAAF service.

Finally, it is interesting to note that the last number of the serial (‘3’) appears to be crooked, as seen in the picture, but not on the decals illustration.  So be careful if you use these marking according to the picture, if you enter your model in a contest

This very nice and most interesting set of decals from Iliad Design will allow modelers to do a “slightly different” Spitfire or two.  The 57 OTU aircraft would make a particularly striking model.  The only down side is that we still don’t have a 1/48 kit of the Mk.Vc. 

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Bob Migliardi of Iliad Decals for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2008 by Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman
This Page Created on 16 January, 2008
Last updated 16 January, 2008

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