Kagero bring
you an alternative to your glum old decals that came in your He-IIIP kit in this
the latest of their “Red Series” of decals – we review them and test them on
our “board of decal truth” ….
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Maciej Góralczyk,
Softcover landscape - 12 pages
Decals in 1/72 + 1/32nd of 3 schemes
Decals printed by Cartograf.
Available from Kagero Directly at this link
Kagero continue with their “Red Series” of decal booklets with the 1/72 % 32nd scale He-111P bomber firmly in their sights. This book – the second in their “Red” series of books, follows on from the pacific mustangs of their first edition in a new theatre and a completely different Airforce – it covers the He-11P’s of Kampfgeschwader 27 "Boelcke" in the Luftwaffe in WWII.
The 72nd package on the left anf the 32nd on right - you can tell how much bigger the deals are by the size comparative to the A4 booklet.
KG 27 "Boelcke” took part in the operation in many
different theatres in WWII until changing to another unit (renamed Erg.KGr.(J)27)
in 1944 – the unit fought in the Polish campaign of 1939, and then as part of
Luftflotte 2 the Battle of France. It is this early part of the war when KG 27
had the “P” model of the He-III that these three decal schemes and accompanying
booklet focus on.
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This book is the same
for both releases both in 1/32nd and 1/72nd scales. There
is no 48th scale edition for a very good reason – there are
currently no 48th scale injection moulded plastic aircraft kits to
match this unit and marque currently on the market.
The booklet – like the poshest decal instruction sheet you
ever had – is twelve pages of A4 landscape printed on semi-gloss paper. After
the cover image we have a three way (ohh as well as the underside markings)
profile of each of the three subjects on the decal sheets. The profiles are of
an excellent quality and show you decal placement as well as aircraft colour.
This includes any particular aircraft colours as well. The three aircraft all
wear a standard splinter RLM 71/70/65 colour scheme which was standard in
1939/40.
That is all that is standard however – as the three “ships”
of KG 27 are colourful birds for Luftwaffe standards…
This aircraft had a large witch on the tail called “Brockenhexe” which may or may not as the text tell us be
derived from pilots of the Spanish civil war – the P has red spinners anf a
large red “F” ID on the wingtip and fuselage.
- He 111 P-2; coded ‘1G+BB’ of Stab I./KG 27, flown by Oblt. Paul
Hollinde, Gablingen, late autumn-winter 1939/1940;
This “P” has some historical influence painted on it. Along
with the identifying light green spinner caps and large green “B” identifying
letter it had an interesting portrait of Frederick the Great on the port
fuselage along with “Fliegergruppe Hannover Telf” which was the unit’s base
upon it’s genesis.
- He 111 P-2; coded ‘1G+DL’ of 3./KG 27, crew: Uffz. Otto Wehmeier
(pilot), Uffz. Arthur Voigt (observer), Uffz. Otto Miklitz (flight engineer),
Uffz. Manfred Kisker (radio operator); Münster-Handorf, 10 May 1940.
This He-IIIP is captured in not just profile and decal form
but in some interesting pictures in the centre of the book which show it in a
sorry state indeed after it was wrecked in 1940
The aircraft had a large white outlined pig on the side with
“muß man haben” – or “Sometimes you must have luck”, and a large
white pig on both sides along with the large bomb emblem on the starboard. The
aircraft was further identifiable by it’s yellow spinners and large “D” in
yellow on the fuselage and port wing tip.
How do I know all of these facts? Well there is a page of
information about all three of these aircraft after the profiles – just when I thought
the book was a “booklet” I got the information I was after – I am very
satisfied with the research as they have used sources well known to people who
know anything about Luftwaffe aircraft. They are listed on each profile’s page.
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None of these schemes have previously been printed by any
other decal makers – and Kagero have got the industry leaders Cartograf in to do
their printing – I can rattle on and say they are in register and that the
whites are not translucent and that even the finest detail is clearly readable –
but I wanted to see them applied..
You can see the minimal carrier film used - just between letters when possible
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Below are the 72nd scale decals in close up - compared to my "giant penny trick" you can see how small and clear the printing is
You can see the minimal carrier film used - just between letters when possible
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I have a board painted in Tamiya olive green to try them out
on – I can say they performed very well and there was a little carrier film –
it is also printed thickly on semi-matte decal. There are national markings
included which is a massive help with the Revell kits as they do not have a
swastika included.
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…But without even applying microset/sol to them I could see
that it would disappear under that coating – so as long as you have some of
this you are set with some excellent decals of a not done before trio of
aircraft.
Well as a combination this decal and book set works very
well – I mean you aren’t going to get a history of the unit – but a glimpse
into the three aircraft on the decal sheets. If you have this kit in 72nd or 32nd
scale and were uninspired with the decals you had gotten with the kit - and if
you like any of these three marking choices you really don't have a choice –
you need to get them – as I cannot see anything wrong with this package.
Well done Kagero.
Adam Norenberg
