1-600 WWII USN Fin Flash Decals

These 1-600 WWII USN Fin Flash Decals provide WWII USN Fin Flash markings for 1-600 scale aircraft miniatures. Use them to reproduce the corresponding national, service, or recognition markings on aircraft appropriate to the design and period.

Decal Information

This sheet provides WWII USN Fin Flash markings for 1-600 scale aircraft.

WWII US Navy Fin Flash

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

Nation / Region: United States Service: U.S. Navy Period: Early World War II, 1942 Marking: WWII USN Fin Flash Scale: 1-600

Historical Information

U.S. Navy aircraft carried horizontal red-and-white rudder stripes during the opening months of the Pacific War. The striped tail was a conspicuous recognition feature on early-war naval aircraft.

Instructions issued in January 1942 specified thirteen alternating stripes, with seven red and six white. These stripes were used alongside the contemporary national star marking on the aircraft.

In May 1942, the Navy ordered the red disc removed from the national star and the rudder stripes eliminated. The striped tail therefore represents an early-war scheme rather than a marking appropriate throughout World War II.

Use this sheet for an aircraft whose date and photographs support the striped rudder. Check the outline of the movable rudder and fit the stripes to that surface rather than extending them across the whole vertical tail.