K7/1: Bomber Command - Canberra and Washington
As part of a new series - "Kits at War" - Dutch Decal have decided to branch out into non-Dutch subjects, and this latest batch all have a decidedly all-British slant to them.

Their first sheet is a Canberra bonanza wit what promises to be the first of a two-part set in 1/72.

Options are provided for six aircraft in total, those from 12, 23 and 45 squadron are all in an overall silver finish with colourful markings for the fin leading edges. The camouflage finishes start with 35 squadron in dark green/dark sea grey/silver, an unusual 617 squadron Canberra in medium sea grey/dark slate grey with PRU Blue undersides and a 15 squadron machine in medium sea grey with black undersides. The sheet provides full roundels and underwing serials for all the aircraft. All great stuff, pity there is no straightforward way make the classic 'British" Canberra other than converting B-57's - a missed opportunity in 1999 by both Airfix and Italeri perhaps..?

The last item on the sheet is the mighty B-29A Superfortress, or Washington B.1 as it was in RAF parlance. The sheet depicts an example from 15 squadron in overall natural metal with black undersides - a very attractive scheme for the Academy B-29.

K4/1: Sabre, Mustang and Tempest
Stepping up to 1/48, DD kick off with a feast of colourful post-war RAF fighters, the most striking of which is "Dooleybird" a Mustang IV of 19 squadron in an overall metal/silver finish - echoes of the old Matchbox 1/72 P-51D! The instructions quote the anti-glare panel as being dark blue whereas the old Camouflage and Markings book has a photo showing the upper section to be in olive drab. The aircraft also featured yellow leading edges, something the instruction aren't to clear about (though it's featured on the cover). Photo's also show Dooleybird fitted with the P-51K style Aeroproducts propeller which can be found in the Hasegawa kit. Bearing these point sin mind, the decals are fine and should result in a good looking model.

A quartet of bright Sabre F4's from 4, 71, 93, 130 squadrons and the Sabre Conversion Flight make up the bulk of the sheet and set the pulse racing with a variety of finishes from the dark sea grey/dark green/PRU Blue camouflage to bare metal. The 4 Squadron aircraft in particular would look great parked next to a 1/48 Harrier from the same unit.

The final item is a Tempest Mk.II of 33 squadron based at Kuala Lumpur in overall silver with red spinner and code letters, just the thing for any modellers who combining the Eduard kit using the MDC conversion.

K4/2: Spitfire, Hurricane and Seafire
More decals for your quarter-scale fighter collection, kicking off with two early Spitfire Mk.1's of 19 squadron in the dark green/dark earth/silver finish with large A1 roundels on the upper wings and yellow or red '19' numerals on the fin. Grab yourself a twin bladed airscrew and unarmoured windscreen and these will make striking alternatives for the Tamiya Spitfire Mk1 kit.

Decals are also provided for a Hurricane Mk.1 of 111 squadron in a similar camouflage finish but with large underwing serials. The instructions note the Watts two-bladed prop fitted to these early version but don't make any mention of whether these aircraft had fabric or metal wings - references seem to point to the former, in which case some major conversion work of either the Airfix or Hasegawa kits will be required.

Sticking with the conversion theme, the rest of sheet is taken up by a Seafire IB and Seafire IIC of 731 and 880 NAS, both tying in with recent MDC conversions for the Tamiya Mk.VB kit. Both aircraft are in the typical extra dark sea grey/dark slate grey/sky finish.

The last two Spits options are a pair of float plane prototypes in extra dark sea grey with yellow or sky undersides, presumably for the Hasegawa/Gartex kit. Overall a nice choice of unusual finishes - if you're a Spitfire fan, you'll not want to miss this set.

K4/3: RAF Flying Fortress, Liberator and Mosquito
Some real heavy metal on this sheet all with a 100 Group theme as well. A pair of B-17's from 214 and 223 Bomber Support Squadron and a single B-24 Liberator Mk.IV also of 223 BSS, all from 100 Group grab the attention. The 'Forts' are in the standard bomber command camouflage while the Liberator is just black all over. The decals are designed to be used in conjunction with the Paragon conversions for the Monogram kits (and a copy of Martin Streetley's excellent Aircraft of 100 group book if you have one!) and will certainly result in large and impressive models - the Liberator in particular will give weatherers a challenge.

The rest of sheet is devoted to two Mosquito's, a yellow-coded FB.IV of 1592 Flight Bomber Support Development Unit in the usual dark green/medium sea grey scheme and a B.Mk.IX of 105 squadron in the dark green/ocean grey/medium sea grey camouflage (with unusual light blue codes - they are correct) and two-stage Merlin engine, the latter taking advantage again of the Paragon conversions sets for either the old Airfix or recent Tamiya kits.

The design, printing and layout of the decals cannot be faulted, DD have crammed the sheets to bursting point, the trapping and registration is excellent and the colours all look good. Each set comes with a colour cover and double sided instructions with side and plan views for decal placement and camouflage schemes in black and white. Apart from a couple of slight errors, it's all well researched stuff as well, in fact one or two of the UK decal producers should take note of Dutch Decals's overall presentation and value for money.

Good to see some new stuff from Dutch Decal again - now where did I put those kits...

Special thanks to Ron Firth of Plastic Kit Constructor magazine - for subscription details, contact Ron at PKC.