Douglas A-24B Banshee N4488N City of Portland Oregon

These are 1/72 scale decals for Douglas A-24B Banshee N4488N, a surplus wartime dive bomber converted for civilian use as a mosquito sprayer for the City of Portland, Oregon.

In the years following World War II, thousands of surplus military aircraft flooded the civilian market at bargain prices, finding new lives in roles their designers never imagined. This A-24B — once a frontline dive bomber built to attack enemy shipping and ground targets — was acquired by the City of Portland and modified to carry agricultural spraying equipment, trading its bomb racks for spray booms to combat mosquito populations across the Portland metropolitan area.

The A-24B's low-altitude performance, good visibility, and maneuverability made it surprisingly well-suited to the precision demands of aerial spraying operations — the same qualities that made it effective as a dive bomber translated neatly into the ability to fly accurate, low-level runs over urban and suburban terrain. Finished in natural metal and wearing civilian registration N4488N, this is one of the most unusual and charming postwar Banshee subjects imaginable — a warbird turned public health worker, protecting Portland's citizens from a very different kind of enemy.

Please allow some time for decal printing and shipping.