Yellow Wings | 32-022, 32-033 and 32-035: P-26A Peashooters
Reviewed by David Jones
Yellow Wings Decals, long known for their pre-war and early war subjects, have recently released three new sets of decals, all for the venerable Hasegawa P-26 Peashooter kit. The American Boeing P-26, nicknamed the "Peashooter", was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first monoplane used by the USAAC. The prototype flew for the first time in 1932 and Peashooters were used by the Air Corps as late as 1941 in the Philippines. Although faster than previous US combat aircraft it would soon become all too apparent that much more sophisticated aircraft were being developed in Europe and Japan as WWII loomed on the horizon.
These three new decal sets represent P-26As from the 17th Pursuit Group as flown in 1934-35. It should be noted that the research compiled by the folks at Yellow WIngs indicates that these were all OD Green #22 with Orange/Yellow #4.
The first set, #32-022, is for the 17th PG, 34th Pursuit Squadron.
It should be noted that these images were edited to a common width for this review so the sheets won't necessarily match each other in the sizes of the decals.
As with previous releases, Yellow Wings has had these sheets custom printed by Microscale. The color and registry are outstanding and the decals themselves appear to be very thin so they should go on very easily. Microscale decaling solutions are recommended.
The second set, #32-033 represents an aircraft from the 17th PG, 73rd Pursuit Squadron.
The third set, #32-035 represents an aircraft from the 17th PG, 95th Pursuit Squadron.
As this is already an image-intensive review I won't include scans of the instructions for these sets. Suffice it to say however that the documentation included with each set is thorough and detailed! Complete painting guides and detailed placement diagrams for all stenciling and markings are included on multiple pages.
In conclusion I must say that I was never a very big fan of the Boeing P-26. After seeing these schemes I've decided I have to re-evaluate that opinion! These are all very colorful schemes that are bound to be show-stoppers.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Yellow Wings Decals for providing the review samples!
These sets can be ordered direct from Yellow Wings.
© David Jones
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This review was published on Saturday, July 02 2011; Last modified on Wednesday, May 18 2016