Rudu Brinzan may be best known to many of us one of the finest pattern-makers in the business, and the mastermind behind a plethora of innovative modelling tools and accessories.

But new to me is his range of decals aimed fairly and squarely at Romanian aviation subjects. This of course opens up some fascinating modelling projects that include not only Romania's own aircraft designs, but the wide variety of foreign types flown by the Forţele Aeriene Române.

The latest sets feature Romania's cross-style national insignia, as used during WW2. The two sheets available, '008 and '009 contain 960mm and 860mm markings respectively, and are available in three scales priced as follows:

1:72 – RB-D72008 and RB-D72009 €3.50 each
1:48 - RB-D48008 and RB-D48009 - €.5.00 each
1:32 – RB-D32008 and RB-D32009 - €.6.50 each

The sheets are custom-printed by Fantasy Printshop, one of the premier decal producers in Europe, so the quality is top notch with the individual items beautifully thin and glossy, with minimal carrier film and in perfect register.

The national markings include separate cross-bars and circles to allow you to produce different style markings, a nice touch which allows Radu to make maximum use of the available space on the sheet. Even so (in the 1:32 samples provided) there's still not quite enough room to squeeze everything in, so a small supplementary sheet is included. Along with the crosses, the sheets include Mickey Mouse insignia in a choice of yellow or white, the former as a separate overlay.

Rather than try to describe the uses of the markings myself, I'll leave it to Radu, who's kindly allowed me to quote him and can do a much better job than me:

"These decals represent the “Stencil Type” of Romanian King Michael Cross, which was limited use while Romania was involved in World War 2 on the Axis side. This type of cross was the closest representation of the Royal Cipher of King Michael 1st of Romania. Later, the cross was simplified and such markings will be the subject of subsequent decal sheets.

The 960mm crosses were used on Hawker Hurricanes fighters, the upper wings of some Heinkel He.111 bombers and some Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighters.

The 860mm crosses were used on the Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighters.

The decal sheets include a number of elements that allow the modeller to create a variety of types of crosses with segmented and solid elements. Also included are small blue bars that represent the Roman numeral “1” that were added between the “legs” of the “M”, one on each arm of the cross, as seen on a number of He111 bombers.

The decal sheets also include the “Mounted Mickey Mouse” emblem, often seen on fighters wearing this type of cross. Recently discovered photos indicate that these emblems were painted using the same colours as the national insignia such as red/white/blue or red/yellow/blue. A separate yellow layer is provided to convert the red/white/blue emblem into the red/yellow/blue emblem. More information in relation to the aircraft decorated with such crosses and emblems can be found in the book "Romanian Fighter Colours 1941-1945" by Teodor Liviu Morosanu and Dan Alexandru Melinte published by MMP Books in 2010, a book that I was involved with as a translator, researcher and author of the sections on colours, markings, ranks and unit formation.

Also included in this package, you will find a small airbrush self-adhesive paint mask with numbers for a Romanian Hawker Hurricane decorated with this type of crosses and emblem. More information can be found in the above-mentioned book. This is a separate “custom paint mask” service that I offer in my store for a very small fee and I invite my customers to enquire about adding such a mask to their decal order. This will allow the customer to create a unique/one-of-a-kind model of their choice. Please use the book "Romanian Fighter Colours 1941-1945" for inspiration."

There were no instructions included with the sample sheets. I don't know if Radu intends to include some with the production versions. If not, you'll need to arm yourself with references to determine the precise size and position of the markings carried.

Along with the decals, Radu sent a sample of his custom-paint masks, in this case the numerals for a Romanian Hurricane. These are very neatly die-cut from self-adhesive film and represent a bespoke service that Radu provides for his customers. You can contact him HERE for full details and quotations.

Conclusion

If you want to build Romanian aircraft, RB Productions offer everything you need, with decal sheets covering the insignia from the earliest days through WW2 and the Cold War to the present day, plus a service to produce individual markings for a truly unique model. Recommended.

Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.