Often times there are famous aircraft that have been portrayed on decal sheets, but don't always have things right. This set from Lifelike Decals covers four planes that fit into this category.

The first one is probably the most famous Mustang of all time, Don Gentile's 'Shangri La'. This option portrays the plane near the end of its existence and so you have several markings options depending on the time frame. The set includes a mask in case you wish to paint the yellow background to the nose art.

The second is one of Gentile's War Bond tour planes and the one most photographed. Over the years more and more photos of this plane have come forth, each time adding more information to the proper markings for this aircraft. This option provides separate white checks in case you wish to paint the underlying red.

Third option is 'Man o War' which has been produced several time. However, most have shown the 'tiger stripes' as being black when they were probably a dark green. These markings were not on the plane for very long as they tended to draw unwanted attention from foe and friend alike.

Finally we have 'Dirty Dick' from the 348 FG in the Philippines. This somewhat colorful plane has the black bands worn by aircraft in this theater as well as a multi-color spinner to denote the group commander's plane.

The set includes superb instructions with lots of information on each option as well as a full upper and lower surface diagram. A complete stencil/data instruction sheet is provided and there are enough of these for one plane. The decals themselves are superbly printed with some of the sheets by Cartograf and others by Microscale. The recommended kits are by Tamiya.

June 2016

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My thanks to Lifelike Decals for the review set. Check you local hobby shop for availability.

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