Mitsubishi Zero Fighters
Part 4

Lifelike Decals, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Floyd S. Werner Jr.

With the new Zero kits from Eduard and Fine Molds, there is no better time for some new decals.  Enter Lifelike Decals with FOUR separate decal sheets.  This is the fourth one and features FIFTEEN aircraft, with at least one variant of the Zero represented.  There are eight Type 21s, a Type 22, a Type 32, four Type 52s covering all the variants, one Rufe is also on the sheet.  What more could you ask for? 

Packaged in a zip lock baggie are the decals and the comprehensive FIFTEEN page instructions. 

The decals are on three decal sheets printed by Microscale.  They are in perfect register and very thin.  The color saturation is exceptional.  Since they are printed by Microscale you know they will react well with MicroSol and MicroSet. 

You may think that the decals are the focus of this sheet, but I found that the eight A4 pages on the camouflage colors and markings to be a great resource.  Utilizing the research from noted Zero researchers such as Nicholas Millman, there is a great discussion on what is the correct color and designations that will provide the modeler with a wealth of information.  Everything from early war silver dope to the end of the war.  Of course, Ameiro is discussed in detail.  Was it light grey or caramel colored?  Well Lifelike helps you with that.  There is a small swatch that explains the color and how it ages.  This alone may be worth the cost of the decals to modelers. 

These eight pages discuss Amerio but also the other colors used such as the Hinomaru red paint, Dark Green, and cowling colors.  Individual components such as landing gear, wheel wells, propellers and cockpit interiors are discussed.  Differences between Mitsubishi and Nakajima produced Zeros are discussed as well.  For those that like the trainer aircraft these are discussed, along with the markings of China based two tone aircraft. 

The rank structure of the Japanese Navy pilots is discussed.  An explanation of the Data Plate used on the rear of the fuselage and how certain aircraft were assigned to certain pilots are all touched on.  How an aerial kill was allocated, and aircraft wireless radios are mentioned as well.  An exhaustive reference of 26 references for how the information was derived is shown along with links for computer based references. 

I can’t tell you how informative these pages are for a modeler, especially one with a limited Japanese reference library.  These pages alone are worth the price of the decals. 

But wait there is more.  I only mentioned the eight pages of references.  There are an additional SEVEN pages to describe the history of each aircraft and pilot.  So that means there are 15 sheets of just instructions.  One of the things I love about Lifelike Decals is that they provide you with the reference that they used to determine colors and camouflage.  In this case, there are 58 references used to determine the camo of the subject aircraft.  That is a lot of research.

In addition to the instructions, swatch and decals there are three masks for the rear fuselage where the stencils go.  This will provide the modeler with a great starting point when painting. 

Now let’s check out the decals themselves.  They are in perfect register and opaque.  Since they are printed by Microscale so you know they are thin and will react well with Microsol and Microset.  There are three sheets in this release.  The first one is large and is predominantly yellow, red and black with the markings, including the tail codes and stencils.  The next sheet is smaller printed with white and red and enough stencils on here to do two aircraft.  The last sheet is large as well and contains all the Hinomaru that you’ll need.  This sheet is actually the special sheet that Lifelike sells separately for those interested in doing more than one aircraft.  Trust me, you’ll want to build more than one aircraft.

In summary, you get impeccably researched colorful aircraft in all the major variants AND world class decals with a bonus of a mini-summary of Japanese aircraft colors. 

The inclusion of the Amerio color swatch is a Godsend.  The Microscale decals are beautiful as usual.  This is a great sheet with excellent research. 

The instructions alone are worth the price of the decals, but the inclusion of the swatch and masks makes this a remarkable value.  Another winner from Lifelike Decals.  If you have all four sheets of the Zero, then you’ll have 56 aircraft to choose from. 

So, the only downside is trying to decide which aircraft to build. 

If you want to build more than one aircraft, thankfully Lifelike also produces an extra sheet of Hinomaru. 

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Lifelike Decals for these samples.

Text and Images Copyright © 2025 by Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Page Created 3 July, 2025
Last updated 3 July, 2025

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