White Dog Decals

#721003 1/72 PB4Y-2 Privateers of VPB-121, SW Pacific
$6.95

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

(Click on decals for a larger image)

The Privateer is one of the neater-looking 4-engined WW2 planes, in my opinion, and this sheet gives a bit of history along with the decals. The three PB4Y-2s depicted are all from VPB-121 and according to the insert included with the sheet, two of them had a rather unique occurrence in the last missions of the Second World War.

Starting with the most basic one, Y495 was a PB4Y-2 from VPB-121, BuNo 59495. While bland in appearance, the history behind this plane is rather unique, as it was the last 4-engined plane to be shot down by the Japanese in the Second World War. After a furious attack by Zeros, Y495 crashed into the ocean. Miraculously, most of the crew survived.

The markings for this Privateer shot it as a heavily weathered plane (and at the end of the war, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Privateer that wasn't heavily weathered), with "Y495" on the nose in black outlined in white. Tail markings of the type and BuNo are the only other markings for this plane.

Flying wing to Y495 on that fateful mission was "Tail Chaser", the second choice on this decal sheet. This one is also heavily weathered, but it's far from being bland. With a name like Tail Chaser you can expect some interesting nose art and you definitely get it, being in the form of a leaping nude woman wearing an Indian feather headdress. Again the nose art is done by Archer Fine Transfers using Woody Vrondacek's excellent Photoflex method, so you end up with a marking that actually looks like it was painted on.

The last PB4Y-2 is "Ol Blunderbuss", BuNo 59564. This plane also has some interesting nose art, but rather than take their queue from a Vargas painting or a girlfriend back home, this one pays homage to Disney with the seven dwarves holding up a blunderbuss. There is a lot of intricate detail in that decal and once it's on the model it will really look neat. Again, this Privateer is heavily weathered like the other two. Another interesting tidbit about this one is the highhat turrets, which the instructions point out.

This sheet has been very thoroughly researched and will definitely add some spice to the Matchbox kit.