Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVI

Parts 1 & 2

Decal Sheets in 1/48 Scale

Lifelike Decals 

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Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

New from Lifelike Decals are two sheets covering the bubble canopied Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI.  Each sheet covers four different aircraft and gives you wartime as well as post-war options.  The sheets are available in both 1/48 and 1/72 scale.  The comments in this review are based on the 1/48 scale sheets.

SL721, which was the personal hack of Air Marshall Sir James Robb RAF.  This is a well-known aircraft and it wore different but similar markings throughout its service life as well as its continuing civilian-operated existence.  The supplied markings depict it at the time when it served as his personal aircraft when he was Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Fighter Command in 1946.  The machine is an overall un-documented pale blue colour.  The placement sheet advises that the exact shade of blue is not known but it might have been a mixture of white and PRU blue.  The supplied markings comprise: 

·        JM – R fuselage codes in RAF sky. 

·        A rank ‘star plate’ consisting of three white stars on an orange background.  Unfortunately, this is incorrect and it should be red but more on this later. 

·        Air Marshal pennants. 

·        SL721 serial in black. 

·        National insignia in the form of type C1 roundels for the fuselage, type C for the wings, as well as 24" 1942 -1947 fin flashes. 

·        Air Vice Marshal J.M. Robb in black lettering for the cockpit door.  The placement sheet advises that the correct lettering is not known and that they have guessed at Air Vice Marshal J.M. Robb.   Nice to see and at least they give you an option. 

TB900, flown by Squadron Leader Raymond A.F. Lallemant of 349 (Belgium) Squadron at Fassburg, Germany during 1946.  Finish is the RAF temperate scheme of dark green, ocean grey upper surfaces over medium sea grey lower surfaces with a sky spinner and yellow wing leading edges.  The supplied markings comprise: 

·        A Squadron Leader’s pennant 

·        DG-E Squadron codes in sky 

·        Nose art consisting of a cock’s head, the name ‘Winston Churchill’ in white, and a scoreboard consisting of white tank silhouettes and six Balkenkruez.  The black of the Balkenkruez is supplied as a separate decal to thwart any register problems.  Why tank silhouettes?  These markings stem from the fact that Lallemant pioneered allied "tank-busting" tactics and scored them whilst flying Hawker Typhoons.  The ‘kills’ were also earned whilst flying Typhoons. 

·        TB900 serials in black.  Note that the left-hand side serial is only partial whilst the right hand side is complete.  This shortened serial was probably bought about when the sky fuselage band was overprinted.  Apparently, these bands (as well as the spinner) were over painted when RAF aircraft were campaigning through Germany, as they tended to negate the camouflage and stand out against surrounding countryside.  Having said that though I always wonder why the white of the upper wing roundels was never over-painted!  Lifelike has supplied the right hand side one as a full serial as there is doubt as to the position of it and what portion of it was over painted.  Further but far smaller and complete serials are supplied.  These latter serials are applied to the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer. 

·        National insignia in the form of type C1 roundels for the fuselage, type C for the wings, as well as 24" 1942 -1947 fin flashes. 

TD231, of 350 Squadron, Belgium Air Force, also based at Fassburg, Germany during 1946.  Finish is the RAF temperate scheme of dark green, ocean grey upper surfaces over medium sea grey lower surfaces with a red spinner and yellow wing leading edges.  The supplied markings comprise: 

·        MN-L squadron codes in white. 

·        TD231 serial in black. 

·        Belgium Air Force black, yellow and red, national insignia in six places as well as 24" fin flashes. 

TE199, another personal hack, this time flown by the Air Officer Commanding 21 (Training) Group (Air Vice Marshal Sir Cecil Bouchier?) at RAF Swinderby in September of 1948.  An unusually marked machine to say the least, it is in overall glossy black with a gold spinner and wing tips.  The national insignia is also unusual in that they are pale blue and pale red.  The markings comprise: 

·        Type C1 national insignia for the fuselage sides and type C for the wings.  There is conjecture as to the colour of the surrounding ring of the type C1 fuselage roundel and a gold one is provided to overlay the integral yellow one if are swayed by the debate. 

·        24" 1942 -1947 fin flashes.

 ·        TE-99 serials in gold. 

·        An Air Vice Marshall pennant (with a white background rather than the more normal light blue). 

Comprehensive stencil data is provided on a separate sheet for a single aircraft with some items being carried on the main sheet as well.  The colour, style and type of stencil data carried by these aircraft varied and the sheet also provides these alternatives.  The stencils carried by the propeller and spinner are also included.  Some of the items are very small and will tax the patience of many.  An example of this is the spinner. It carries eight stencils that are less than 1mm in size but hey, at least they give you the option! 

What lets this sheet down is the fact that the red used for the RAF standard type C national insignia and fin flash is the wrong shade.  As supplied, they are orange which makes them unusable for the first two options.  However, all is not lost as they can be used for South African Air Force markings, as the red in their national insignia was replaced by orange so assign them to your decal bank rather than discarding them.

TD240, flown by Squadron Leader Boleslaw Kaczmarek of 302 (Polish) Squadron from Varrelbusch, Germany in June-early August of 1945. .  Finish is the RAF temperate scheme of dark green, ocean grey upper surfaces over medium sea grey lower surfaces with a black spinner and yellow wing leading edges.  The sky rear fuselage band has been over painted with fresh paint and shows up as darker tones of each shade.  The supplied markings comprise: 

·        Sky WX-V squadron codes. 

·        Black TD240 serials.  The serials are in full so they must have been re-painted over the painted-out rear fuselage band. 

·        Polish flags with the word ‘Poland’ for either side of the nose. 

·        Nose art consisting of a boxing bulldog. 

·        302 Squadron insignia 

·        The name ‘Janetka’ in white 

·        Type C1 roundels for the fuselage sides and the upper wings, with type C for the under sides of the wings and 24" 1942 -1947 fin flashes. 

The placement guide advises that there is some doubt with regard to the individual-aircraft-in-squadron-letter V.  Lifelike advises that the letter could be either ‘V’ or ‘W’. 

TB625, flown by Warrant Officer Murray J.C. Lind of 485 (NZ) Squadron from Fassburg, Germany during June-August of 1945.  Finish is the RAF temperate scheme of dark green, ocean grey upper surfaces over medium sea grey lower surfaces with a sky spinner (that has red bands), and yellow wing leading edges.  Individual marking comprise: 

·        Sky OU-V squadron codes. 

·        Black TB625 serials.  The serials are supplied in full but the placement guide artwork shows that the left-hand side one is partially over painted.  The placement guide advises that their reference photos show it this way but it is good to have a complete serial should you opt to model the aircraft before the code was over painted. 

·        Nose art consisting of the New Zealand fern leaf insignia on a black shield. 

·        The name ‘Rongotea’ in white with yellow shadowing. 

·        A white ‘V’ on a orange (should it be red?) shield for the front of the lower cowling. 

·        Type C1 roundels for the fuselage sides, type C for the wings and 24" 1942 -1947 fin flashes. 

SL718, of 612 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1949.  The markings depict it when it took part in the Cooper Air Race at RAF Elmdon in 1949. Finish is the RAF temperate scheme of dark green, ocean grey upper surfaces over medium sea grey lower surfaces with a red spinner, and yellow wing leading edges.  On top of that, it wore a wide yellow race-marking band around the rear fuselage.  The rear Individual marking comprise: 

·        White RAS-D squadron codes.  The ‘D’s are shown partially over painted by the yellow race markings but are supplied as full letters should you opt to model it before the race markings were applied. 

·        Black SL718 serials for the fuselage and larger ones for the lower surfaces of the wings. 

·        Nose art consisting of a 612 Squadron badge on an orange (again, should it be red?) circle background. 

·        Black ‘6’ race numbers for the fuselage band and the upper surface of the left wing. 

·        Post-war type D roundels in six places and 24" post-war fin flashes. 

RW396 of the Central Gunnery School, Leconfield, Yorkshire during the period 1946-1947.  The machine is in overall natural metal finish (or was it ‘high speed silver’ lacquer?) with a red spinner and cannon barrels.  Markings consist of: 

·        Black FJW-L squadron codes. 

·        Black RW396 serials for the fuselage and larger ones for the lower surfaces of the wings. 

·        Type C1 roundels for the fuselage sides; type C for the wings and 24" 1942 -1947 fin flashes. 

Again, a single full set of stencil data is supplied on a separate sheet with the alternative and further (read different) items. 

The same error with the red for the national insignia is present on this sheet except that the red for the centres of the D type roundels (which are a brighter red than the wartime ones) has been incorrectly printed in a darker red which, by default, makes them suitable to be used for the smaller C type roundels.  The blue of the D type roundels are a bit on the light side too. 

Lifelike Decals' Keishiro Nagao advises that the decals themselves have been printed by Microscale and the use of the wrong colours for the roundels on both sheets was explained as an error in research on Lifelike's behalf. 

The placement guides are A-4 in size and printed on thin card in full colour.  They show left hand side profiles of each subject as well as smaller scrap views of wings and right hand side details as appropriate.  The notes provided for each machine are quite comprehensive and advises you of any doubtful points that may exist as well as where they got their information from that their decisions were based on.  It also lists the seven different references consulted. 

The decal sheets and the placement guides are packed in the ubiquitous clear plastic zip-loc bag. 

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The recommended kit in 1/48 scale is the ICM one (the ICM Mk XVI is the pick of their Spitfire kits as they had their quality control problems sorted out by then) whilst the 1/72 scale one is the Heller effort.  From memory, the Heller kit features to of the options on these sheets as the kit decals. 

I built a Mk XVI using an Otaki kit and a Missing Link resin conversion quite a few years ago and I remember the hassle that I went through trying to research markings for it and the gathering of decals from several different sheets to complete it.  This sheet does all the hard work for you as well as providing unique artwork in 1/48 scale that you wouldn't otherwise find. 

Look past the problems with the national insignia as they are easily replaced.  Hopefully, this will be addressed when the sheets are re-printed. 

Even with the above mentioned problems, both sheets are recommended.

Recommended.

Thanks to Keishiro Nagao of Lifelike Decals for the review sample.

Lifelike Decals are available by email at lifelike@eos.ocn.ne.jp or from

2-8-7-202, Kameari, Katsushika, Tokyo 125-0061, Japan
fax: +81-3-5680-6733