Review Author
Chad Richmond
Published on
July 19, 2011
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$18.00

Lifelike Decals has produced a 1/48thscale Mustang sheet for four aircraft that I have not seen before, except “American Beauty, possibly. I’m certainly no expert on every decal sheet that has been previously released, but they all look new to me. The instruction sheet says they are designed for the Tamiya kit. All four aircraft are natural metal, with three of them from the European Theater and one from Okinawa.

The first aircraft is P-51D-15-NA flown by Captain John Voll of the 308thFS in Italy in 1944. These markings are for his aircraft after his 21stkill in November of 1944.

Captain Raymond Wetmore’s P-51D-10-NA, “Daddy’s Girl” at the time when the aircraft was being repainted, and the kill markings were being moved from the canopy frame to the fuselage.

Review Author
Chad Richmond
Published on
July 19, 2011
Company
Lifelike Decals
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$18.00

It seemed that there was a great surge in the release of 1/72ndscale B-17 decals as a result of the release of Revell’s B-17G, so you would think this decal sheet was a result. However, that’s not true. Life like’s release is based on the Minicraft and Hasegawa kits, and one of the bonuses you receive is a sheet with the scale drawings of the placement of the cabin windows on the real aircraft, the Minicraft kit and the Hasegawa kit. After looking at it, you have to wonder how the model makers arrived at their finished product.

There are four aircraft provided on three separate sheets. All of the markings are extremely thin, with little or no excess decal film. The artwork for the nose art is very crisp and in sharp detail.

Review Author
Chad Richmond
Published on
July 19, 2011
Company
Squadron Products
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$12.00

Squadron Products has released a new sheet that is perfect for Revell’s 1/72ndscale B-17G. Both of the aircraft on this sheet are natural metal. “Carolina Moon” is a B-17G-75-BO assigned to the 851st BS/490thBG, stationed in Eye, England, July 1944. ‘Bobby Sox” is a natural metal B-17G-50-VE assigned to the 850thBS/490thBG at Eye, England in August 1944, which was later transferred to the 94thBG in May 1945.

Book Author(s)
Yefim Gordon & Dmitriy Komissarov
Review Author
Hub Plott
Published on
July 18, 2011
Company
Hikoki Publications
MSRP
$56.95

This is a very large book covering Soviet and Russian test and research aircraft from the late 1930s to modern times. The book contains eight separate chapters of varying lengths devoted to specific areas of research and testing. The Russians and Soviets have developed many interesting designs over the years and this book gives us a look at some of the most unusual.