Republic F-84F 'Dash 4'

Royal Netherlands AF

Thunderstreak Stunt Team

Dutch Decal

Reviewed by Dale Smith

'Dutch Decal' is a company located in the Netherlands that produce decals mainly based around subjects of the Royal Netherlands Airforce. In the range you will find subjects on nearly every aircraft that the KLu have flown, as well as squadron badges and military roundels in the main scales of 1/72, 1/48 & 1/32. Other products in the manufacturers range are the 'CloudMaster' civil aircraft decals, and the 'Kits at War' decal range which covers WWII subjects as well as post war aircraft. For full information on the range, check out their website at www.dutchdecal.nl

The latest releases from this manufacturer are for the Royal Netherlands Air Force 'Dash 4' Thunderstreak Stuntteam that were the winners of the 'World Congress of Flight' that was held at Nellis AFB in the US in 1959. Other stunt teams that were also performing at the same event were the USAF 'Thunderbirds', the US Navy 'Blue Angels' and the Italian Air Force 'Frecce Tricolori'. The F-84F aircraft that were used by the team were ex. USAF Air National Guard aircraft.

The decals come enclosed in an airtight ziplock bag, with an A4 size sheet of instructions that include artwork and a brief outline of the aircraft subject. There are enough decals per sheet for one aircraft as well as a number of stencils. Reference is made in the instructions for placement of all the decals, as well as a number of decals that are required to be used from the subject kit decals. To achieve the right artwork profile for the 'Dash 4' marking on the nose, two decals are placed over the top of the main nose decal . I haven't used these decals as yet, but they are very thin and much care will be needed in their placement and handling to ensure no damage occurs.

Both my samples for 1/72 & 1/48 scale, were very well printed with a good colour density across the surface of the decals. One decal in my 1/48 scale sample did not have complete coverage, with the ink colour missing very slightly in the very top corner of the tail marking. This was an isolated incident on all the samples of the range that 'HyperScale' was provided with. Register was very good, with only a small mismatch on the yellow ink on the canopy warning on the 1/72 scale example. The main national markings are made up of 4 individual decals so careful alignment will be paramount in this area. One area that was a little confusing, is that the USAF ANG markings on the nose are still slightly visible under the 'Dash 4' markings of the stuntteam. The artwork indicates these markings are in white, but are not supplied on the decal set. Whether these markings are supplied in the suggested kits, I was unable to ascertain.

Recommended kits are the Revell / Italeri / Airfix kits in 1/72 scale and the Monogram / Revell / Heller kits in 1/48 scale.

These decals are a pleasant change from the normal offerings from the mainstream manufacturers and should dress up that F-84F you have stashed away in the modelling cupboard. The natural metal finish with orange markings looks quite stunning.

Recommended.

Thanks to Luuk of Dutch Decals for the review samples.