1-600 USA Pre-War Star & Red Ball Roundels Decals
These 1-600 USA Pre-War Star & Red Ball Roundels Decals provide white star with red center on blue field for 1-600 scale aircraft miniatures representing U.S. Army and naval aviation. The subject covers Interwar period through early 1942; select the marking combination appropriate to the aircraft being modelled.
Decal Information
The sheet provides USA Pre-War Star & Red Ball Roundels markings for 1-600 scale aircraft miniatures.
They are printed on clear-background waterslide decal paper. They need to be individually cut out. Apply over a properly prepared and gloss-coated model surface using normal waterslide-decal techniques.
Key Historical Details
Region / Nation: United States Service: U.S. Army and naval aviation Time Period: Interwar period through early 1942 Primary Marking: White star with red center on blue field Scale: 1-600
Historical Information
The star-based national marking returned after World War I, replacing the temporary tricolor roundel used by American forces in Europe during 1918. In August 1919, U.S. naval aviation formally reverted to the star insignia, and the design became the standard national marking used by American military aircraft through the 1920s and 1930s.
The insignia appeared on aircraft of both the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Navy, with exact size and placement varying by aircraft type and service practice. Its red, white, and blue colors made it visually distinctive on the brightly painted aircraft of the interwar years as well as on the camouflage schemes introduced as war approached.
Representative aircraft carrying this marking included the Boeing P-26 Peashooter, Curtiss P-36 Hawk, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Grumman F4F Wildcat, Douglas SBD Dauntless, Douglas TBD Devastator, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and early Consolidated B-24 Liberators.
After the United States entered World War II, concern grew that the red center disk could be confused with the Japanese Hinomaru. On May 1942, the red center was ordered removed, creating the simpler white-star marking associated with the next phase of early-war U.S. aircraft identification.
