With his usual superb quality and flawless research, these latest collections from John MacIllmurray's AIMS feature rare and previously unavailable Luftwaffe unit badges for the Dornier Do 17 Z and rare and unusual Mistel and Ju 88 G schemes. These really are fine decal sheets.
If you are looking for some original and inventive schemes for the new Airfix Dornier Do 17 then I imagine that you, like me, will be delighted with some of the eye-catching options on John's new Do 17 Z sheet including the stunning 'red devil riding a bomb' emblem of 3./ KG 77 which only recently turned up on some rare Ebay auction photos, below. Other rarely seen subjects include the Do 17 Z-2 of 4./KG 76 photographed crashed at Cambrai in June 1940. The stand-out artworks also feature Wekusta, Nachtjagd and KGr 606 subjects..and will be of great interest to those Luftwaffe modellers looking for something a little different. See the links below for more on these..
AIMs is of course the Ju 88 specialist and the ubiquitous Junkers twin can always be relied upon for variety, which is certainly the case on this sheet featuring the G-1 night fighter. The mixed garb on offer on this sheet is positively inspirational - from cross-hatch reverse mottle (..if you can imagine that..) to a 'standard' splinter in the two greys (!). Some of the options here are decidedly 'whacky' in some respects but bound to guarantee a talking point when on the completed model..
Given the limited operational service and rather esoteric nature of the different Mistel variants it is surprising that John has come up with so many options for this fascinating weapon on this next new sheet - seven different aircraft can be built. The accompanying reference text is extensive and detailed - John explains all his colour choices with detailed analysis of the 'evidence'.
As usual John's sheets include plan views of both splinter and mottled camouflage schemes which obviates the need for too much further 'research' when deciding which machine to build. The printing is top quality and the text accompanying the colour profiles is both informative and entertaining!
below; a rare unpublished image of a Mistel 2 (Fw 190 on Ju 88 G combination) from the personal album of Mistel test pilot Horst-Dieter Lux via Vern Dander for the Luftwaffe blog.
'Project Beethoven' - the first Bf 109 F-4 (CI+MX) and Ju 88 A-4 Mistel 1 combination, Ainring, early 1944
And a reminder that the AIMs Junkers Ju 88 fighters sheet with no fewer than 26 options was previously reviewed on this blog here
It goes without saying that if you have any interest in Luftwaffe subjects then these sheets are a fantastic addition to your reference library - even if you don't intend building 26 Ju 88s . As you can see here all markings options are presented via a series of accurate and well-drawn fully referenced colour side view profiles and detailed text with interesting subjects drawn from various AirDoc, Luftwaffe in Focus and the Stipdonk/Meyer volumes. The decals themselves are by 'Fantasy Printshop' - they are thin, perfectly in register and have minimal carrier film and will of course require a certain amount of care to apply.
These sheets and much more for the Ju 88 fan are available directly from John at AIMS just in time for the Ju 88 Group build over at britmodeller.com
It goes without saying that John is an enthusiast (and very skilled) modeller himself and provides us lesser mortals with a fantastic product at a reasonable price so please do support him!
Also on this blog;
building the Airfix new-tool Dornier Do 17 Z in 1:72nd scale
Dornier 17 handbook illustrations, detail views, interiors, walkaround - reference for the new-tool Airfix Do 17 in 72nd scale
Do 17 Z of KGr 606 over the Channel coast 1940
Refuelling and bombing up a KG 77 Dornier Do 17 - exceptional Ebay shots