Naval T-Birds

LifeLike Decals, 1/72 scale

S u m m a r y :
Catalogue Number:	Iliad Decals Item No. 72012- Naval T-Birds
Scale:	1/72
Contents & Media	Decals for five subjects with a colour-printed painting and markings guide.
Price:	Available online from Iliad Design for Can$12.00, Hannants for £8.00, and Squadron US$9.00. Click here for currency conversion.
Review Type:	First Look.
Advantages:	Good production quality.
Disadvantages:	None apparent.
Conclusions:	This is a well-produced set of decals. The instructions are attractive to catch a buyer’s eye, but offer no more than is needed. The schemes provided are appealing and cover the range from simple and clean-cut, to colourful and gaudy. Overall, this is an attractive and good quality package offering some interesting T-Bird schemes. I definitely recommend it.

Reviewed by Mark Davies

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

The T-33 is a true classic and a justifiably popular modelling subject, so a new decal sheet covering some interesting schemes is sure to be welcomed; especially as the Naval variants (TV-2) of this widely used aircraft are relatively uncommon. This latest release from Iliad Design will compliment the fairly recent Sword and Platz kit T-33 kits in particular; not to forget the still nice but old Heller example.

The decals come supplied in an A5-sized zip-lock plastic bag with the folded instructions providing the bag-art. The colour instructions clearly indicate markings placement, and provide US military paint names like “Engine Gray” and cross-reference these to FS-595. The instructions list details of each aircraft’s unit and the historical time period three cases out of five. Useful notes also expand on the painting guidance provided by the illustrations.

The decals have very good registration and appear to offer good opacity. A nice touch is that each scheme on the sheet has its full complement of national insignia. However there is only sufficient safety stencilling for one airframe, although this potentially applies to three of the five subjects.

The subjects covered by this sheet are:

• TV-2, 138977, attached to NAS Glenview, Illinois.

• TV-2, 131885, Drone Controller of Guided Missile Group 1 (GMGRU-1) in mid-1959.

• TV-2, 130777, of Marine Air Squadron 32.

• T-33B, 137952, US Marine Corps Naval Air Training Command, NAS Glynco, ca. 1974. (Listed as T-33B in the instructions, but marked as a TV-2 above the aircraft serial number.)

• TV-2, 141532, US Marine Corps, MCAS El Toro, October 1961.

This is a well-produced set of decals. The instructions are attractive to catch a buyer’s eye, but offer no more than is needed. The schemes provided are appealing and cover a range from simple and clean-cut, to colourful and gaudy.

Overall, this is an attractive and good quality package offering some interesting T-Bird schemes. I definitely recommend it.

Thanks to Lifelike Decals for these samples.

Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Mark Davies
Page Created 4 August, 2014
Last updated 4 August, 2014

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