One thing about the RAF in WWII is that it was a cosmopolitan bunch. With a need for pilots, it accepted qualified applicants from all over the world. This included a goodly number of men from those countries over-run by the Germans. Many of these units included pilots from Poland and since Techmod is a Polish decal company, it is not unusual to see these units as subjects for their sheets.

This particular sheet covers three Spitfire IXs in the standard camouflage of the day: Dark Green/Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey. They also (unless noted) have Sky spinners and fuselage bands with yellow wing leading edge ID bands. None of these aircraft are identified by pilot. The recommended kit is like the 1/48 sheet, by Hasegawa. Again, there should be no reason why these wouldn't work on another 1/72 Spit IX.

First up is a plane from 316 Sq in the summer of 1943. The drawing shows the later elevators, though I'm not sure when those became the norm.

Next is an aircraft based at St. Denijs, Belgium in 1944 as part of the 2nd TAF. This aircraft has a number of mission markings on the nose and invasion stripes on the lower fuselage.

The third is from 318 Sq in Italy during 1945. This one has clipped wing tips and the later upper wing roundels. It also has a red spinner and no fuselage band.

A really nice addition to this set are masks for the canopy and for the wing leading edge ID stripes. You get two sets of ID masks, one for the regular and one for the clipped wing. There is also a full stencil suite with an outstanding placement guide. There are enough insignia and bands to do one aircraft, though you can always use kit decals if you wish to do another option on the sheet.

The decals themselves are superbly printed and quite thin, making for a logical choice for your next project.

December 2006

Review copy courtesy of  Adalbertus, Techmod sole export representative
www.adalbertus.com.pl