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September 23rd 2023
Hello everyone, Thanks for supporting Ventura over the years. I’ve put up another short video on YouTube. This one is about the post-war RNZAF Territorial Air Force P-51D Mustangs. I’ve followed the life of one Mustang from the time it arrived in the country, through the “Checker board” markings, then on to duty as a target tug and finally the “melting pot”. It’s only 12 minutes long and includes some early photos of Mustangs being painted with roundel-and-bar national insignia. Here is ...Continue Reading
September 10th 2023
Hello everyone, Thanks for supporting Ventura over the years by subscribing to our News Letter and using our decals. I'm going to give YouTube a go as a method of talking about short topics that may be useful to modellers who choose our books and decals. The first short video is about the shade of blue in RNZAF Pacific Theatre roundels. I'm confident that several shades of blue were used with the pressure of the war time situation being the reason, as much as a desire to create more effectiv ...Continue Reading
August 4th 2023
Hello Everyone, They keep popping up. A fifth New Zealand "Donald Duck" Corsair has come to light. It's NZ5251which is the same NZ52xx batch of aircraft as the other four. Perhaps an enthusiastic Ground Crew member was "on a mission"? The photo is from the J.E.L. Baldwin personal collection which has been scanned into the RNZAF Museum collection. The fifth "Donald" The five “Donald Duck” nose art Corsairs are; - NZ5248, No.21 Squadron, May 1945 - NZ5251, ...Continue Reading
May 26th 2023
Hello Everyone, Some time ago we released a 1/72nd scale decal covering the four RNZAF Corsirs with "Raging Donald Duck" nose art.Two RNZAF Corsairs - Ventura Publications We have just released this is 1/48th scale for all four machines and for two in 1/32nd scale. The four illustrations were very similar but not all identical. There are photos of all of them in our book "Pasific Corsair" first published in 2021. The four “Donald Duck” nose art Corsairs - NZ5248, N ...Continue Reading
March 3rd 2023
This week... I'm please to advise "Pacific Corsair - The Vought Corsair in New Zealand Service" has been reprinted. I have swapped out a small number of colour profiles so that more Corsairs with "Donald Duck" nose art, from Ventura decal V7295, could be included. RNZAF C-47 NZ3505 that preceded the No.14 Squadron Corsairs to Japan is also illustrated; decals V7299 and V40109. The books are listed on [1]TradeMe in NZ$, on [2]eBay in US$ and our own [3]web site ...Continue Reading
February 10th 2023
Hello everyone,V7299 image We have now released a third RNZAF C-47 / Dakota decal in 1/72nd scale. This sheet also includes RNZAF FG-1D Corsairs of No.14 Squadron, post war in Japan, 1946-48. - Douglas C-47A NZ3505, No.40 Sqn - FG-1D Corsair NZ5659, “Doris”, 1947 - FG-1D Corsair NZ5660, “Gremlin”, No.14 Squadron, 1946 - FG-1D Corsair NZ5639, “Kathleen”, 1946 Long story short: [1]Click here for our on-line shop in $US. and [2]click here to the decals on eBay and, [3]click ...Continue Reading
October 19th 2022
Hello everyone, We have now released the long promised Royal New Zealand Air Force C-47 / DC-3 Dakota decals. There is a "fern leaf" option in 1/72nd scale and "Kiwi roundel" options in 1/72nd and 1/48th. Long story short, [1]click this text to link to the decals in our on-line shop to purchase in $US. and, [2]click this text to link to the same decals on the TradeMe site for NZ based modellers. I hope you like what you see and will add these decals to your col ...Continue Reading
May 24th 2022
Hello Everyone, There were four RNZAF Corsirs in the Pacific Theatre recorded with "Raging Donald Duck" nose art. We have just released a 1/72nd scale decal for all four machines. The illustrations were very similar but not identical. There are photos of all of them in the book "Pasific Corsair" published last year. The four “Donald Duck” nose art Corsairs NZ5248, No.21 Squadron, May 1945 NZ5255, No.4 SU, July 1944 NZ5262, No.30 SU, 1945 NZ5277, No.21 Squadr ...Continue Reading
December 8th 2021
Hello everyone, The revised edition of "Pacific Corsair" is now available. Some photos have been replaced with different ones, some captions and illustrations have been tweaked after receiving new information. "In the light of Japanese successes following the outbreak of war in the Pacific there was an urgent need to equip the Royal New Zealand Air Force with modern combat aircraft. But this was easier said than done. Eventually the RNZAF received 424 Corsairs under the Lease ...Continue Reading
November 25th 2021
Ventura Publications have released decal sheets for No.6 Sqn. RNZAF Consolidated PBY-5 Catalinas, Pacific Theatre 1943 - 1945. Both 1/48th and 1/72nd scale versions are available. Each sheet includes four options... - NZ4011, No.6 FB Sqn. Lauthala Bay Fiji, 1943. - NZ4015, F/Lt Ian Scott, No.6 FB Sqn. Halavo Bay, Solomon Islands, March 1944. - NZ4021, F/Lt Ian Scott, No.6 FB Sqn. Halavo Bay, March 1944. - NZ4012, “The Naughty Nine” F/Lt Guy Rogers, No.6 FB Sqn. Halavo Bay 1945. All ar ...Continue Reading