dutch decal 1/32 Dutch Decal PBY-5(A) Catalina MLD / RNNAS

[JeroenPeters]

1:32 PBY-5(A) Catalina 

Marine Luchtvaart Dienst / Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service

 

Limited Run

 

Manufacturer: Dutch Decal

 

Catalogue # 32020

Available from Dutch Decal: www.dutchdecal.nl

 

 

 

Let's start this review with our standard lines about Dutch Decal:

Celebrating their 25th birthday, Dutch Decal has been around since 1986. It is run by the Dutch graphic designer Luuk Boerman and has been producing decal sheets of aircraft from all Dutch armed forces. Every now and then a foreign nationality slips through. More than 100 sheets have been released to date. Most of them are sold out now but a few much requested sheets will be reprinted in the near future depending on demand. The decal sheets are silkscreen printed and accompanied by English instructions. Dutch Decal sheets come in all scales: 1:72, 1:48 and 1:32. The 1:32 sheets can be identified by the broad black band at the bottom of the packaging.

 

 

   

Let´s have a look what we get:  

Packed in the usual plastic zip lock bag is one sheet of decals, a booklet showing the four versions that can be chosen from and one paper template. More about that later. A close look at the decal sheet itself reveals a very nice register and sharp, crisp detail.

The four versions the modeler can choose from are:

 

• Consolidated PBY-5, Y-45, No 321 Squadron Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service, Rose Bay Australia, 1943

 

• Consolidated PBY-5A, Y-75, No 321 Squadron Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service, 1941

 

• Consolidated PBY-5, Y-69, No 321 Squadron Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service, Australia, 1942

 

• Consolidated PBY-5A, K/Y-75, No 321 Squadron Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service, RAAF Ceylon (VIP Transport), Ceylon, 1943

 

• Consolidated PBY-5A, P-85, No 7 Squadron Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service, Dutch New Guinea, 1947

 

Needless to say, this sheet is intended for the HPH models Catalina

 

A little intro:

During the dutch colonial reign the need for flying boats was evident. The dutch indies cover almost 2 million square KM and consist out of thousands of scattered islands. The dutch navy used several flying boats in their struggle to protect the dutch interests. Two that stand out are the Dornier 24 and the Catalina. Whereas the Do24 was mainly used for transport missions, the Cats also performed missions like: bomb runs, mine dropping and providing air cover for ships. During the war (after the japanese took over the dutch indies) dutch Catalina crews formed two Catalina squadrons with the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. Only a small number of Catalina planes survived the escape from japanese forces. They performed missions during the rest of the war from Australia and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

 

So, If you're looking to build a Catalina in more exotic markings, and heavily weathered Pacific Theatre look, this might be it for you.

 

 

Paper template:

A paper template is provided to cut the masks for the huge orange triangles and background for the dutch flags. This will prove much easier than laying these on with decals.  

 

 

Consolidated PBY-5, Y-45

This specific plane has some stories to tell. Entered service in 1940 and performed recon missions from Ambon. In 1942 it was transferred to Soerabaja and performed fleet protection missions. During one of these missions the Y-45 made the headlines by rescuing 79 souls!! 

You don't  believe it? Here's a pic:

 

 

After escaping in march 1942 from japanese forces the Y-45 struck a reef and was pulled on land by 100 locals. Here it was made-do mended with… cement! After these repairs the Y-45 finally reached the safety of Australia in Freemantle. The rest of the war the Y-45 performed clandestine secret service missions and at the end of the war this plane was the first to drop food over the starving population of Java.

Here's a pic of the crest on the nose of the Y-45:

 

Consolidated PBY-5A, Y-75

This particular plane was a little less 'fortunate'. While in service with the 321 squadron hit a reef in 1943 and sunk immediately. The crew managed to get out in time. The plane was however raised and it took a total of 5 months to fully repair it again. A tough job, since the salt water had eaten away at the wiring. After it was restored the Y-75 was transformed to a passenger plane, meant to transport high officials over long distances. The Y-75 was therefor nicknamed 'Skysleeper'.

Here's a pic of the Skysleeper. 4th man from the left is A.V.M. Sir Alan Leeds:

 

 

Consolidated PBY-5, Y-69

After the Pearl Harbour attack the Y-69 was confiscated by the americans and returned to the dutch after the war. I was not able to dig up much more interesting facts about this plane, except some photo's of the Y-69 during repairs. These photo's (www.maritiemdigitaal.nl) show the heavily weathered appearance.  Here are some pics of the Y-69:

 

 

Consolidated PBY-5A, P-85

This plane entered dutch service on 20-11-1942. It survived the war and in 1953 it was re-numbered to P-219. In 1954 it was destroyed in a fire on Biak. The P-85:

 

 

 

Conclusion:

As we have come to expect from Dutch Decal, the research is well done and the artwork is on the mark. 

This sheet is available directly from Dutch Decal or the Aviation Mega Store.

It's a limited run edition, so If you want it get it while you can.

 

Highly recommended

 

Cees Broere and Jeroen Peters

 

Our sincere thanks to Dutch Decals´Luuk Boerman for providing the review sample used here. 

 

 

Reference used: 

• http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl

• http://kw.jonker.co/

[rkranias]

so when is the review build going to start?  Jim?

[timvkampen]

Great set by Luuk and I have the HpH beast which is the best multimedia kit in 1/32 in my opinion!