This is PYN-up Decals initial foray into 1/48 and they have decided on a couple of P-38 Lightnings for this venture. If you recall from the previous review, each of these very limited sheets includes superbly printed and very thin photo quality nose art decals. Two of each are provided so that if you mess one up, you'll have a back-up. The spot where the decal goes on the aircraft is delineated by a white background decal. Kits available for this sheet are by Hasegawa, Academy and Monogram.

First up is 'Thoughts of Midnite', Robert Herman's P-38H-5. This 431 FS/475 FG Lightning served in New Guinea during 1943 and is in OD over Neutral Grey. At this time in the 475 FG, there were not any unit colors as the Group was more concerned with keeping planes running and shooting down Japanese!

The other is 'Moonlight Cocktail', the aircraft of Clark Livingstone. This 392 FS/ 367 FG P-38J-5 is in natural metal with invasion stripes and a red nose. There is a small Black Magic mask provided (not shown) to help with the application of the decals.

As with all sheets in this series, there is a goodly historical background on each subject as well as a bibliography in case you wish to do a bit of research yourself.

Review copy courtesy of