The latest 1/48 scale decal set available from Iliad Design provides markings for seven different Korean War-era MiG-15s. The instruction sheet clearly shows six aircraft, but modelers do have the option of doing a seventh (I’ll explain below). Markings are included for four (or five) natural metal and two camouflaged aircraft flown by North Korean, Chinese and Russian pilots. Note that unlike some aftermarket decal companies that provide a variety of unique markings for different aircraft but only one set of national markings, Iliad includes enough national insignias to do all of the aircraft on this sheet. This makes Iliad Design’s modest retail price a real bargain.

The options are:

LPS Hobby is a Brazilian company that has added three more 1:72 scale Republic P-47D decal sets to their growing line. Set # LPM72-15 provides markings for three Razorback Thunderbolts of the 8th Air Force. The set includes three small decal sheets that provide all of the unique markings for the three aircraft and enough national insignias and stencil data to do all three.

As the photos below illustrate, the decals are nicely printed in vivid, opaque colors by Microscale and everything is well registered. They are printed on thin film and, like other Microscale decals, should respond well to mild setting solutions such as Mr. Mark Softer. It is recommend that the decals be applied by ‘floating’ them in place with enough water to keep them from bonding to the surface before they are properly positioned…then gently blotted when they are in place.

The three aircraft are:

LPS Hobby is a Brazilian company that has released three new 1:72 scale P-51D decal sets. One of the latest, set #LPM 72-12, provides decals to finish three different Mustangs from the 357FG that received field-applied camouflage while based in the UK during 1944. Because of this, there is evidence the paints that were used were sourced from British stocks, making these aircraft appear more unique than other USAAF aircraft that were delivered in standard Olive Green over Neutral Gray. That instructions include that information with recommended RAF colors (or ‘colours’ as the case may be).

The set includes a rather small decal sheet that includes all of the unique markings for each aircraft and enough national insignias and stencil data for one aircraft. Therefore, it will be necessary to use national insignia and data markings from kit decals sheets to finish more than one 357FG aircraft from this set.

Thank you to Freedom Model Kits for providing a review copy of an excellent new release of a very unusual aircraft. Thank you to the many Reviewer Corps people who make the IPMS review system work. It is a continuing honor and privilege to be part of the team.

This first release from a new company is a welcome addition to UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) subjects in the scale model world. Freedom Model Kits (FMK) maintains an excellent Facebook presence (see the vendor link above), hosting much good information including corrections, and they set a very high standard with their first offering. I thoroughly enjoyed building this kit for review. The part fit is excellent, construction is very straightforward, and a very nice model may be produced directly out of the box. The model compares well to public domain published literature and internet sources.

Master Model, maker of fantastic turned-metal details, has released a new set of 1/72 probes for the RA-5C Vigilante. The Vietnam-era RA-5C, a supersonic nuclear bomber turned capable reconnaissance aircraft, features a prominent pitot tube with multiple diameter changes along its length. Master’s set includes both the complicated pitot tube and an AOA (angle of attack) probe. The set can be used on any 1/72 RA-5C kit, and should be an outstanding upgrade. In this review, I’ve compared the parts to the Trumpeter kit.