Decals:

Some recent kit reviews and suchlike have suggested SAAF 'Castle' decals are rare. Fortunately, not so! All types of SAAF markings are commonly available in South Africa as a generic set. The "SA AIRFORCE / SA LUGMAG" titles came from an older set, but this would be relatively easy to portray using generic postwar RAF lettering sets, such as Modeldecal sheet 33. This just left handpainting of the Mercurius legend on the nose, and the SAAF flag, both on each fuselage side. Because the Halfords acrylic paint is fairly tough, it's easy enough to scrape away any excess overpainting of these details, using a cocktail stick. But on my arrival in South Africa for Nats '01 I obtained a test shot of the SAAF Flag by A. Owen. Needless to say the new decal was appled overnight to be ready for the SAAF SIG display at the SA Nats '01.

Mercurius & Merlin some of the most talked-about models at SA Nats '01.

This article originally apeared in Scale Aviation Modeller Vol 25 No 12 - Feb 2004. Used with kind permission from the author.

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