Flying Colors 1/144 FedEx Boeing 727s

Some of the more recent releases by Flying Colors are sheets covering the current FedEx fleet of aircraft, including the A310, MD-11, and 727. The latter is the subject of this review, and it is timely given the imminent release of the Minicraft 1/144 727 kit. A quick look at the sheet reveals that there is not much there, which is understandable considering that this is a cargo aircraft. Therefore there are no cabin windows to worry about, and the livery is one of the simpler ones out there. You will have to paint the purple on the rear fuselage, but the rest is provided as decals.

One nice feature on this sheet is all the names of the aircraft. There are many names provided, and apparently FedEx has chosen to name their planes after new children of FedEx employees. The instructions provide a comprehensive list of names and registrations, while the decals include enough extra registration numbers to make any one of these planes.

The decals are well printed with excellent register, and double white FedEx logos are included to go over the dark purple tail section, a nice touch. There are a couple of issues with the sheet, though. The first is a typo in regards to the FedEx purple. The instructions state that it is Xtracolour X303, when it actually is X349 (I believe X303 is the earlier shade of FedEx purple). The second is the lack of cargo door outlines. While the door itself was not outlined like the crew doors, a thin black outline would have been nice as none of the kits have this scribed in.

Regardless of those issues, this is a very nice sheet and will result in a nice cargo 727 for your shelves.