1-600 WWI USA Expeditionary Force Decals

These 1-600 WWI USA Expeditionary Force Decals provide tricolor national roundels for 1-600 scale aircraft miniatures representing Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces. The subject covers World War I / 1918-1919; select the marking combination appropriate to the aircraft being modelled.

Decal Information

The sheet provides WWI USA Expeditionary Force 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: Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces Time Period: World War I / 1918-1919 Primary Marking: Tricolor national roundels Scale: 1-600

Historical Information

The United States originally entered the war using a white star with a red center disk on a blue circular field. In February 1918, however, American aviation forces in Europe adopted the tricolor roundel to reduce the chance of confusion with enemy markings and to conform more closely with Allied identification practices.

The new roundel was used by the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Forces during the intense final campaigns of 1918. American pursuit, observation, and bombardment units operated largely with French- and British-designed aircraft while rapidly expanding in strength and experience.

Representative aircraft carrying U.S. Expeditionary Force markings included the SPAD XIII, Nieuport 28, de Havilland DH-4, Salmson 2A2, and Breguet 14. Marking proportions and placement could vary according to aircraft type, manufacturer, and field application.

Following the Armistice, the roundel remained in use only briefly. In 1919, U.S. military aviation returned to the familiar star-based national insignia, making the 1918 tricolor roundel a distinctive marking for American aircraft of the closing months of World War I.