Thanks again to Ross at SAC for providing IPMS USA this review set. As usual, we are more than grateful for your support. And thanks to IPMS USA for providing it to me.

This set is one which fits a real need for a kit upgrade. First, the Trumpeter Skyraider is an excellent kit for an early SPAD…the requirement to remove the later-in-life” armor plating on the external forward skin is not there, so if it is an early blue Skyraider you want to build, here’ s your starting point.

The one thing that needs to be replaced in this otherwise excellent, well-fitting kit is the main landing gear. Some odd shortcuts have been used, and the SAC gear addresses those. As you can see, the follow-up struts on the upper portion of the gear are molded as a solid item on the kit gear. SAC corrects this by providing separate A-frame items and retraction cylinders for the main gear. Take your time, pull out your references, and build on.

As a bit of background, and from Wikipedia, the Maschinen Krieger universe is a science fiction universe created by Japanese artist and sculptor Kow Yokoyama in the 1980s. The franchise originally began as the science fiction series SF3D which ran as monthly installments in the Japanese hobby magazine Hobby Japan from 1982 to 1985. To develop the storyline, Kow Yokoyama collaborated with Hiroshi Ichimura as story editor and Kunitaka Imai as graphic designer. The three creators drew visual inspiration from their combined interest in World War I and World War II armor and aircraft, the American space program, and films such as Star Wars, Blade Runner, and The Road Warrior. Inspired by the ILM model builders who worked on Star Wars, Yokoyama built the original models from numerous kits including armor, aircraft, and automobiles.

A direct descendant of the German V-2, NASA's Saturn V rocket was – and still is – the most powerful rocket in the world. It was developed over a period of seventeen years, with its final name and design being accepted in 1963.

Apollo 11, the subject of this Dragon kit, was in some peoples’ estimation the greatest achievement of mankind. The mission itself was the fifth in the Apollo program and the second with an all-veteran crew. Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin comprised the crew, and Apollo 11’s LEM landed on the moon on July 20th, 1969. The first to step on the moon was Neil Armstrong who said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.. The command module is currently located in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Today there are three Saturn V’s which survive, one in Huntsville, Alabama, the second at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the third at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The Aircraft

The DC-3 was a development of the earlier DC-1 and -2, with each one getting a little larger and faster. The DC-1 was a result of a request by TWA for a Douglas airliner, as United had the production of the Boeing 247 sewed up and TWA needed a suitable airliner. The original aircraft after the DC-2 was the DST, Douglas Sleeper Transport, built for American Airlines to replace their Curtiss Condors. The DST first flew on December 17, 1935, the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight.

The huge advantage the DC-3 had was its greater speed and range. You could fly New York to LA in 17 hours, with 3 fuel stops. LA to New York was 15 hours due to prevailing winds. Previously, the practice was to fly passengers partway, put them on a train at sundown, and back on another plane at dawn.

Warbird Decals is known for its aircraft decal line, and now it is making new strides into real space subjects.

Upon opening the ziplock bag, you find two letter-size decal sheets which includes lower surfaces and upper surface/rudder tiles, and one single page with a 4-view drawing of the Space Shuttle with a decal map. The decal sheets provide extra decals, but the instructions do not tell you what for (more on this later).

I built the Tamiya Space Shuttle a few years back. You can find a review of the kit at http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/space-shuttle-atlantis. It is a nice kit, but certainly has room for improvement, mainly due to the lack of tile detail in the lower surfaces.

These decals are very glossy and conformed to the surface perfectly, without needing to use any decal solution. They were easy to move around for good alignment, too.