Yellow-Wings Decals 1/48 TBD-1 Devastator Complete Aircraft for VS-42 and VS-71 Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Yellow-Wings Decals has revised their TBD-1 sheet with two new examples. You can look here at the original release. Like the original, this set comes with all of the markings you'll need to render two aircraft including the sixth section leader of VS-71 and the third aircraft of section six from VS-42.

The decal set provides national markings, wing section ID chevrons, fuselage band, propeller tip warning colors, propeller manufacturer logos, and outline stripes.

The two aircraft covered by this set are:

• TBD-1, BuNo 0296, 42S-18, VS-42, USS Ranger
• TBD-1, BuNo Unk, 71-S-16, VS-71, USS Wasp

With some careful mixing and matching, you can also render the sixth section lead from VS-42 and the third aircraft from sixth section, VS-71. The instructions also show that you can render the second aircraft from the sixth section of either squadron, but you don't have the proper numerals for the overwing '17' on the sheet. What is curious is the three Japanese kill markings included on the sheet. Since these are pre-war aircraft, and anyone who has served in the peacetime military knows that your career is over for shooting down or sinking a vessel without a damned good reason, so those kill markings might be a bit premature and would definitely strike up some conversations at the contest table!

This set is intended for the Monogram 1/48 TBD-1 kit which is currently out of production but readily available at kit swaps or eBay, and it shouldn't be priced in the collector's market since it was re-released not that long ago.

Yellow-Wings Decals can be purchased directly from their website at www.yellow-wingsdecals.com.

My sincere thanks to Yellow-Wings Decals for this review sample!

For a better understanding of US Navy pre-World War II ship and section colors as well as their markings, take a look at our article here.