Brasil Decals 1/144 Eastern European Airlines Boeing 737-300/400

There is a wide assortment of available airliner decals for almost all of the mainstream airlines. Most of the big name airlines now flying have been covered either through a kit decal or by an aftermarket release. What do you do if you want something that is a bit out of the ordinary? It’s times like these that a company like Brasil Decals steps up and delivers options that would not have been expected a few years ago. I have a modeling interest in the airliners flown in Eastern Europe, especially in Lithuanian markings. When I saw that Brasil Decals had a sheet that covered airliners from that region, I could not resist. Brasil Decals cover three different airlines on their sheet BD144-34/A. What does one get with the sheet?

There are three complete sets of markings covered on the large 9 inch by 12 ½ inch sheet. There are enough decals on this sheet to do three complete models. The decals comes with the cockpit and passenger windows and decals for the various passenger and cargo doors for all three aircraft. However, there are only two sets of emergency walkway decals for the wings. Perhaps one of the aircraft shown does not use them? There is also two large yellow ribbons on the decal sheet but these are not shown on any of the three aircraft. The silkscreened (?) decals are thick, but this should not cause any problems. The colors are vivid, and match well to the reference photos listed on airliners.net.  The instruction sheet is a full color line drawing of each aircraft with all decals numbered to help with placement. While the overall quality of this sheet is good, there are a few small problems that I uncovered. Here’s the rundown on each subject:

Balkan: The subject of the sheet is LZ-BOC, named The City of Varga.  The markings are the green/red stripes used by Balkan for most of the 1990s. While decal number 171 is a small “Boeing 737-300" title for the fuselage, my references show LZ-BOC to be a 737-500. Balkan flew a mix of 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft in the 1990s, so this may be the source of the confusion. This will require that either the Daco 737-500 kit be used or the Minicraft kit be modified if you want to use the registration.

Estonian Air: In a trend started with the decals for the Balkan 737, the decals for the Estonian Air cover ES-ABD, another 737-500. There is also a Boeing 737 logo for the fuselage, but I am unable to determine if it has -300 or -500 as it is a white decal on white decal paper. The scheme for the Estonian Air 737 is simply elegant. The colors of the aircraft are a dark blue crown with light blue trim. The trim is given on the decal but it is left up to the modeler to paint the dark blue.

Lithuanian Airlines: Finally, there is a aircraft covered on the decal sheet that actually is as listed! Fortunately for me as it was this subject that motivated me to purchase the decal sheet. LY-BAG is a 737-300 flown by Lithuanian Airlines. The color scheme on the sheet is the latest scheme worn by the aircraft from Lithuania. The sweeping three color stripes do look good on a 737. By the way, the choice of yellow, green and red for the stripes mirror the Lithuanian flag. The long stripes may be a challenge to lay down correctly, so an option could be to cut and apply the stripes in segments. All is not perfect as the name of the plane painted on the nose of the real aircraft is not given on the sheet.

Even with these small problems, I would recommend this sheet highly. It’s a great way to add some unusual and colorful airliners to your modeling shelf!