Platz Hobby

1/72 JASDF F-4EJ KAI Black Panthers (Natural Born Modelers) Decal

Sheet Number: NBM21

Reviewed by  Michael Scott, IPMS# 43177

MSRP: ¥1575 (~$17.75) Website: www.platz-hobby.com This is a decal sheet for 1/72 F-4EJ in the JASDF "Black Panthers" scheme. The decals are accompanied by a color sheet depicting side profile views of an F-4 done up with the semi-gloss black paint, showing the placement locations for each decal. Fuel tanks are also shown. The reverse of this sheet in black and white print shows the same for the dorsal and ventral view of the aircraft. All instructions on the reverse side are in Japanese kanji, so I have no idea what it says. As you can see from the photograph, the decal sheet itself has a ton of decals, enough to replicate probably every image, insignia and placard on the outside of the original aircraft. Fortunately, many of the tiny stencils and placard markings are themselves part of one decal, so it should require less than a man-year of labor to apply them. But, be forewarned, there are still a sizeable number of them. The color appears to be spot-on and the resolution of the images and characters is amazing especially considering the tiny size of most of these. The only caveat would be to make sure they go down on a very gloss surface since many decals are composed of tiny stencils and placards separated by (relatively) large expanses of clear film. If I ever get around to building a 1/72 F-4EJ I will certainly do it in this scheme. Different, striking and the addition of these decals would provide a high "wow!" factor. Recommended. Thanks to Platz for the review sample.