Starfighter Decals 1/72 Pearl Harbor Defenders
By Matt Bittner
In an unusual twist, Starfighter Decals has turned their attention to a specific point in time, instead of the usual single airframe decal set. Instead of providing decals for P-36s or P-40s, etc., this time Starfighter provides a decal set in 1/72 for Pearl Harbor Defenders.
There are seven different aircraft catered for in this set. Those aircraft and markings provided are:
- P-40B, tail number unknown, 2nd Lt. G. Welch, 47th Pursuit Squadron (PS), 15th Pursuit Group (PG), credited with four kills; finished in Olive 41 over Neutral Gray 43
- P-40B, tail number unknown, 2nd Lt. K. Taylor, 47th PS, 15th PG, credited with four kills; finished as the P-40B above
- F4F-3A, Bu. Number 3916, Ens. Daniels, WF-6, finished in USN Blue Gray over Light Gray 602
- SBD-3, Bu. Number 4750, Lt. C. Dickinson/RM1 W. Miller, VS-6, finished the same as the Wildcat
- PBY-5, Bu. Number 2419, Ens. W. Tanner, pilot, VP-14, finished as the other two U.S. Navy birds above
- P-36A, tail number unknown, 2nd Lt. P. Rasmussen, 46th PS, 15th PG, credited with one kill; finished overall in aluminum
- P-36C, tail number 38-2, 2nd Lt. H. Brown, 47th PS, 15th PG, credited with two kills; finished in Olive 41 over Neutral Gray 43
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The instructions are very nicely done and very complete. When there are specific changes that need to be made to the basic kit recommended, the instructions list all those changes needed. For example, while the instructions recommend using the Monogram kit of the P-36A for both machines, the instructions specifically state what needs to be accomplished to build the Monogram kit as the P-36C.
All in all this is an excellent set of decals. And since they're printed by Cartograf you can be sure the registration is spot on, and colors are extremely well done.
I'm looking forward to using these decals, and I seriously hope to build all of them on the sheet. All national markings are provided for each aircraft type, but for the P-40 and P-36, you only receive one set, so if you want to build both of each, then you'll need to source national markings elsewhere.
Huge thanks to Starfighter Decals for not only supplying these for review, but for catering to the between-the-wars ('tweener) builder.