Chad Richmond
Reviews By Author
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FA-18C VFA-204 Naval Centennial DecalsPublished:
The Centennial celebration of Naval Aviation has brought about some really colorful modern aircraft, emulating their predecessors from the yellow wing days, and, in particular, the distinctive unit markings of World War Two aircraft. They have made for some truly one-of-a-kind aircraft, and Bob Sanchez has managed to capture them for us enthusiasts. This particular sheet takes us back to the early days of aircraft experimentation and weaponry tests. When you first look at the colorful instruction sheet, you see a red, grey and white F/A-18C of VX-31 at China Lake. This aircraft hauls around a lot of weapons and weapon sensors under its wings, doing a lot of experiments. The second is an F/A-18A of VFA-204 out of NAS JRB New Orleans as it was painted during an air show tour at Ft. Worth… more |
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Blackhawks - Workhorse of the Army DecalsPublished:
For nearly fifty years, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois was the workhorse of the Army, especially during the Vietnam War. It has also served in countless countries, in countless colors and configurations, doing everything imaginable. Now we have Sikorsky’s UH-60 Blackhawk taking over that role in even more configurations and colors worldwide, and performing even more varied missions. Our very own US Army Cobra driver, Floyd Werner, has given us the ability (need) to build up our helicopter stash again. He offers the means of modeling twenty-six separate UH-60’s in use by the US Army. As with his previous decal issue, Floyd provides detailed info and great side views of each of the subject variants, along with notes covering anything particularly different about that tail number. There… more |
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Centennial of Naval Aviation Reference CdPublished:
The Centennial celebration of Naval Aviation has brought about some really colorful modern aircraft, emanating their predecessors from the yellow wing days, and, in particular, the distinctive unit markings of World War Two aircraft. They have made for some truly one-of-a-kind aircraft, and Bob Sanchez has managed to capture them for we enthusiasts. Even if you don’t have the five separate decal sheets that go along with this CD, you will always have a superb reference on hand for F/A-18, and EA-6’s. On the CD label it says there are over 800 photos. I didn’t add up that many, but who cares? These are, however some of the crispest, clear photos that I have ever seen. They are also taken from some places that most of us will never be able to go and without thousands of people around.… more |
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North American P-51 Pt. 1Published:
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… more |
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Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Part 1Published:
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. The four aircraft provided are “A… more |
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Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses 850th BS/490th BG & 851st BS/490th BGPublished:
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. The decals are typical Super Scale Decals that we have been using for so many years. They are extremely thin, nearly no excess decal film, and they appear to be in perfect register. These decals are printed by Cartograf of Italy. Though you get all of the aircraft data markings, wing and fuselage stars and nose art for… more |
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Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVIe Part 1Published:
If you don’t already have a Tamiya 1/32ndscale Spitfire Mk XVI, this decal sheet might be enough to make you want one. This set of decals offers markings for four Mk XVI Spitfires operating during 1946 to 1948. SL721 is the aircraft of Air Marshall Sir James Robb, Commander of the Fighter Command Communications Squadron in Northolt during 1948. The powder blue overall finish is supposedly a mixture of PRU blue and white. It is a unique looking Spit and quite attractive. The second offering is TB900, a MKVI flown by Squadron Leader Raymond A.F. Lallemant of RAF No. 349 (Belgium) Squadron, based in Fassburg, Germany in 1946. It is RAF Dark Green/Ocean Gray/Medium Sea Gray with Sky codes. Spitfire MkXVIe TD231 is also from Fassburg, Germany in 1946, but it is of… more |
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Messerschmitt Me 109 Part 2 (Marseille Special with his Kubelwagen)Published:
Whenever you open the bag for this decal set, you get a bunch of stuff. You get two decal sheets that are crammed with markings for four separate Me 109F-4 Tropical aircraft belonging to Hans Joachim Marseille from his 52ndaerial victory to his 151stvictory. Sadly, though, there are only enough stencils and walkways for one aircraft. The arrangement of the decals keeps you hunting for the partner in the case of two-part decals but this may have been done for printing reasons. The markings for Marseille’s kubelwagen are enough to make you go get a Tamiya kit. The second instruction sheet gives you a detailed history of each of the four aircraft, including where it was manufactured, which kills Marseille had with that aircraft, and peculiarities of the… more |
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F-16I Wheel WellPublished:
The Academy 1/32ndscale F-16I Sufa is a very nicely done kit, with lots of detail and lots of extra bits and pieces. But, Aires isn’t satisfied with good detail, they want great detail. And, that’s what they have done with this wheel well detail set. There are four resin cast pieces to the set, along with four pieces of copper wire to use for various hoses that would be virtually impossible to cast. Although, I’m sure they tried to figure out a way to do it. The main wheel well has so much detail molded in the one piece of resin, that I am still scratching my head on how they made the mold, with all of the undercuts that are present in the casting. What Academy takes seven separate molded parts to do, Aires has done in one. All of the hydraulic lines are there, as are the… more |
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F-100C/D Exhaust NozzlePublished:
Aires continues to produce some very finely detailed resin parts that upgrade the accuracy of model manufacturer’s releases. The Aires Hobby Models F-100C/D exhaust nozzle for the Trumpeter 1/72 F-100 is no exception. It is molded at the correct length, and comes with a very nice turbine complete with fins and a photo etch flame holder, plus a really nice ribbed burner can and exhaust. The interior of the burner can has only one barely perceptive seam on the inside, but I can certainly deal with it being there. When compared with the short, two pieces can from the kit, it’s a no brainer. I’m still trying to clean up the seams in the 1/8thinch space between the internal ridges. And there are no nasty ejector pin marks to clean up, either. I don’t know how Aires made the mold… more |