Zotz Decals 1/48
Heavenly Bodies
B-17F At War

The name is ZOTZ (from the Mayan word for Vampire). Behind ZOTZ is the well known name of Eli Raphael who has given us many colorful decal releases under the Albatros brand. This time, Eli has released a set that is beyond belief and was obviously a labor of love.

In this set, we have a collection of nose art B-17F Flying Fortresses that are simply incredible. Some of the subjects you'll recognize, others have been researched out of some interesting places. According to the references listing, he's been into 30 different sources to get these markings right.

Within the set, there are 13 pages of full color profiles of 14 different aircraft - one B-17E and thirteen B-17Fs! The decals themselves come on nine sheets. Four of these sheets contain the unique aircraft identification markings and some of the nose art. Two sheets contain the high fidelity nose art and the white backgrounds for these decals. One sheet contains some of the national markings and one complete set of maintenance stencils. The last two sheets are the remaining national markings that cover the entire period of USAAC/USAAF operations in Europe.

The aircraft covered in this set are:

• B-17E, 41-9244, 64 BS/43 BG, 'Honi Kuu Okole'
• B-17F-1-BO, 41-24380, 340 BS/97 BG, 'Superman'
• B-17F-1-BO, 41-24381, 63 BS/43 BG, 'Panama Hattie'
• B-17F-10-BO, 41-24444, 340 BS/97 BG, 'The Red Gremlin'
• B-17F-10-DL, 42-2981, 414 BS/97 BG, 'Snoozin' Suzan'
• B-17F-15-BO, 41-24485, 324 BS/91 BG, DF-A, 'Memphis Belle'
• B-17F-20-BO, 41-24521, 63 BS/43 BG, 'Black Jack/Joker's Wild'
• B-17F-25-BO, 41-24554, 403 BS/43 BG, 'The Mustang'
• B-17F-25-BO, 41-24577, 358 BS/303 BG, VK-D, 'Hell's Angels'
• B-17F-27-BO, 41-24605, 359 BS/303 BG, BN-R, 'Knock-Out Dropper'
• B-17F-50-BO, 42-5360, 358 BS/303 BG, VK-G, 'War Bride/Old Faithful'
• B-17F-60-BO, 42-29573, 358 BS/303 BG, VK-H, 'Two Beauts'
• B-17F-60-BO, 42-29591, 336 BS/95 BG, LL-Z, 'The Shamrock Special'
• B-17F-65-BO, 42-29696, 840 BS/483 BG, 'Fort Alamo II'

Just check out these decals for yourself!

Since most of the decal producers are now in the limited run business these days, you only get one chance at buying a certain set of decals before they are gone forever. Such is the case with the Zotz Decal line, but if there is any hint of a B-17 in 1/72 scale (set ZTZ72017 - $22.00) or 1/48 (ZTZ48017 - $35.00), this is one set to definitely stash away for your Flying Fortress projects. This set is highly recommended!

For more information about this set and the other releases from Zotz Decals, visit their website at http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/albatros/.