This set provides decals for four Curtiss Goshawk section leader’s aircraft, and includes a few surprises in the way of markings that are pretty rare for the Goshawk.
The aircraft covered include:
The Albatross was to be a replacement for the Grumman Goose; it began life as the XJR2F-1 Pelican with a Navy designation as the PF-1 and an Air Force designation of SA -16A. The SA-16B – the subject of this kit – was an upgraded machine which had 100 inches added to each wing in two separate plugs. A seventy-inch extension was grafted outboard of each engine nacelle, with a thirty-inch one near the tip. It also had a slightly wider horizontal stabilizer and a taller vertical fin. The B model had a wingspan of 96 feet 8 inches and was 62 feet 10 inches long with an empty weight of 22,883 lbs. It was powered by two Wright 1820-76A-94 engines of 1425 horsepower each, and boasted a speed of 236 MPH, with a range of 3465 miles. At least 19 other countries operated the Albatross besides the United States.
The Predator was developed between January, 1994, and June, 1996, as a medium-altitude-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle. The complete Predator system has three components – the air vehicle, the ground control station, and the date dissemination system. One system is made up of 4 RQ-1A air vehicles. Each has a max weight of 2250 pounds, and is powered by a 115-horsepower Rotax engine, so no wonder it needs a 5000-foot runway to take off.
The kit consists of 2 sprues with about 23 finely-molded and flash-free parts with recessed panel lines, and includes a nice decal sheet by Cartograf. To start, I removed the major pieces and was wondering what the pieces of cardboard around the stabilizers were for. Well, be careful – they’re to protect the fine protrusions which stick out of the stabs, which I believe are either counterweights or vibration dampeners.
A while back, I purchased RBF (Remove Before Flight) flags for a Skyraider and they gave the aircraft that final detail which changed it from bland to grand. The RBF flags added a few more degrees of realism.
Now, Eduard has come out with these RBF Flags for aircraft modeled after Israeli units, such as the F-16. Included in this set are 18 red exterior flags, 14 yellow interior flags, and 4 placards for ejection seats, all in Israeli writing. These are also colored and printed on both sides which enable them to be “posed” in any position, such as twisting them to make them appear to be blowing in the wind or just falling naturally in the cockpit.
I highly recommend these RBF flags to anyone building an Israeli aircraft for that extra effect.
As always, my thanks go out to Eduard for submitting this product for review.
Osprey is a prolific publisher that has coupled excellent authors with fantastic artists that have combined their talents, mostly under Editor Tony Holmes’ direction, to produce hundreds of mostly soft cover “must have” books for serious modelers and history buffs. Any ‘good’ model show will have someone selling Osprey books and any modeler who has started his own reference library, owns Osprey books. Over the years, Osprey has divided them into several subcategories like ‘Aces,’ ‘Elite Units,’ and so on. One of the newest categories is the “Duel Series” where for example, one famous aircraft or tank is pitted against one of its contemporary enemies. I own many titles authored by IPMSer Steve Zaloga and every one written by Chris Bucholtz. I’m sure many more authors are IPMS members too that I’m just not aware of.
I would like to thank Yellow-Wings Decals for this review sample and IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it.
The U.S. military had some of the most colorful aircraft ever prior to WWII. There were bands of bright colors on the fuselage and chevrons on the upper wings to identify section leaders. The rudders had red, white, and blue stripes. Bright tail colors were added to identify squadrons or assigned carriers. The national insignia was a large blue roundel surrounding a white star with a red roundel in the center. Added to all this were the orange-yellow wings and horizontal stabilizers. The color schemes could not get more garish. But, they did. Enter the Boeing P-26.
Designed and built by Boeing in the early 1930s the P-26 was the first all-metal monoplane production fighter aircraft used by the United States Army Air Corps, USAAC. However, it was a transitional design retaining the wire-braced wings, fixed landing gear and open cockpit of previous designs.
One thing you can never say about Dragon kits is they don’t give you a whole bunch of plastic for your outlay of freshly printed samolians.
I’m sure the aftermarket folks will work their magic in resin and brass for this kit, but in reality, little of it is necessary to the builder who wants a neat, well detailed miniature of the prototype for his collection. It’s all right here in the box.
As we’ve said, if you like lots of plastic, there must be half a dead dinosaur in this box. Beaucoup interior parts including the requisite cockpit goodies are there along with nose cannon bay, multi-part wheel wells and two very nice “bonus” engines, which you do not have to use if the mood doesn’t strike you. There are no corresponding “open” cowling pieces to go along with them, so without modifying the closed covers it’s pretty much an all or nothing proposition if you want to mount one or both Daimlers exposed.
If you’ve ever spent time at Hurlburt Field, Florida, near Mary Esther, and mostly surrounded by Eglin AFB, you probably know something about Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The first time I was there, they had AC-130s, HH-3s, and MC-130s. Each time I went back they had something new and more esoteric. I haven’t been back since they got the Ospreys, but I’ve seen one fly, and they are a hoot.
This book is aimed at the modeler and aviation enthusiast interested in the less-traveled and publicized areas of the modern Air Force. Each chapter contains a few pages of text, with photographs which illustrate and flesh out the subject of the text. Then come side color profiles of the aircraft, and finally a walk-around showing all those things we’re interested in and those details we can’t find photos of.
The contents are, by chapter:
If you attended the Nationals in Omaha and had occasion to stop at the National Office Managers Table, you have probably seen these on display with a notice that they were soon available. Well, soon is now. Fellow IPMS member Ray Beyers has beautifully crafted this set of markings to fit the 1/32nd scale Trumpeter F-100D in both schemes (P32-025 for the 1965 show season and P32-026 for 1967). Each set of markings comes with 4 separate sheets and a partial containing the extremely complex flag markings, as well as the Thunderbird logo. Even a pilot’s helmet decal with the logo and scallops is included. These decals are custom-printed by Microscale Decals.
Prior to this book, very little had been written in detail describing the RAF Harrier GR3 operations during the 1982 Falklands War. This book fills that void very well, providing a wealth of detail in describing the lead up, deployment and day-to-day combat operations of the small contingent of Royal Air Force attack Harriers. It makes a fitting companion to Sharkey Ward’s earlier narrative Sea Harrier over the Falklands.
