Decal Sheet Review:  VVS Fighters, Part III

[ All decal sheet scans have been deliberately skewed and distorted at random angles to dissuade illegal reproduction or Copyright infringement by any such parties. The precise line and measurement of any specific marking, therefore, should not be taken literally from these illustrations. ]

SuperScale International    Sheet No.72-345     "Russian A.F. Aces, LaG-5 and LaG-7"
 
 

    Well, the title alone of this old and classic sheet gives away its age, and the level of VVS understanding common at the time. Still, and despite that, the sheet is really quite good-- and considering when it appeared, rather excellent in fact. The quality of the decals themselves is fine, being somewhat thin and tending to sit down fairly well, and over several copies the registrations seem to be well executed. The painting and color guide should be discarded at once, however, and attention to detail will be required in several cases, as we shall see.

Schemes
    Five schemes are provided on this sheet, including complete national markings for each aircraft.

1. La-5 "White 15", Georgi Kostilev, 3 GIAP KBF, 1945:    As usual, this scheme is based on the appearance of Kostilev's machine as it was photographed in the Leningrad Defence Forces Museum in 1945; the actual appearance of "White 15" in 1943-44 is known, however. The aircraft looks to have been wearing a single-colour scheme, either of Wood Aehrolak or a mix of AMT-11/-12. The shark-mouth decals in this set are rather nice.
2. La-7 "White 27", Ivan Kozhedub, 176 GIAP, 1945: These markings are alas plagued by red borders, both on the star and numerals. A thorough look at "27" can be found here.
3. La-5F "White 14", Ivan Kozhedub, 240 IAP, 1944:    Not useable, and of no value.
4. La-5FN "Yellow 01", Vitaly Popkov, 5 GIAP, Winter 1944-45:    Useful set for Popkov's famous La-5FN in the case of the yellow colour interpretation.
5. La-7 "White 14", unknown:    I have yet to figure out what machine this decal set represents. It is probably based on some spurious artwork of the period.

AeroMaster     Sheet No.D 72-037      "Stalin's Cobras"
 
 

    A very fine looking sheet from Aeromaster, these decals are also of high quality manufacture, being thin and setting well to a prepared surface. Fully eight VVS P-39 schemes are provided here, and the fidelity of the markings is typically quite good on this sheet. With so many choices available, let's have a look at them individually.

Schemes
    Eight sets of individual markings cover this sheet, all depicting well-known VVS Airacobra aces.

1. P-39N "White 100", Alexander Pokrishkin, 16 GIAP, 1944:   As a default note for the entire set, the national insignia did not have a blue surround. An examination of this matter can be found here. Happily, this sheet supplies the star markings themselves, which makes them prefereable to other similar sheets. These markings look fine.
2. P-39N "White 19", unknown, 255 IAP SF, 1944:    The numeral "19" in this set is inexplicably rendered in silver (some Russian artists have chosen yellow, which is possible, but my guess is white), and will have to be replaced. All of the remaining markings are present and are useful.
3. P-400 "White 16", Ivan Bochkov, 19 GIAP, 1942:  The numerals have been interpreted as white or yellow, so this set supports the latter view.
4. P-39N "White 53", Nikolai Gulyaev, 22 GIAP, 1944:    I was not aware of the presence of a "2" on the fin of this machine, so perhaps Aeromaster are working with a new photograph of this aircraft. If so, this is quite outstanding.
5. P-39N "White 50", Kiril Suchov, 16 GIAP, 1944:    The decals for this aircraft appear to be fine, but I cannot agree with the painting guide here. In all the time I have looked over pictures of this aircraft, I have seen no evidence to my eye of such a camouflage scheme.
6. P-39N, Sultan Amet-Khan, 1943:    Many drawings exist of this aircraft, but I have seen a photograph of it. Thus, I cannot comment further on the scheme.
7. P-39N, Vasili Sirotin, 17 IAP, 1945:    His personal emblem looks very nice in this set. I do not know if his machine carried a tactical numeral, and can unfortunately comment no further.
8. P-39 "Yellow 46", N.I. Protenkov:    I am not familiar with "Yellow 46" and can offer nothing in addition.

T.I. Decals     Sheet TI-72.02      "Chasseurs Des VVS"
 

    Another fine TI sheet of VVS decals, #72.02 provides some classic aircraft schemes. All of the depicted aircraft hail from 1941-42 period, and thus provide some welcome markings for early war machines.

Schemes
    5 individual aircraft are represented on this sheet.

1. I-153 "Red 9", unknown, 526 IAP (2 GIAP), 1941:    This set represents a machine in a pre-War AII Aluminum dope finish in service in the Fall of 1941. It correctly includes six Circle type stars.
2. MiG-3 "Red 1", N. Esten, 3 OAE KBF, 1941:    It has subsequently emerged that parts of this aircraft are spreserved in the Finnish Aif Force Museum. The numeral is trimmed in a light blue-green colour, possibly IMUP. Quite odd.
3. P-40C (Tomahawk II)  s/n AH965, 126 IAP PVO, 1942:    Another good decal set.
4. MiG-3, unknown, 1942:    An interesting machine of an unrecorded IAP in 1942 bearing the inscription, "Death to the German Occupiers!". The national stars are quite odd looking, and the extremely thin border is white in color. One has the impression that all of the markings were applied ex-factory. The scheme is a known AII Green/Black application.
5. Hurricane Mk.IIb "White 46", unknown, 1942:    This machine was possibly from the 2 GIAP, and served in 81 Squadron prior to that. This aircraft appears to have a Sky-S band and spinner, and black-bordered stars. Unfortunately, this set includes spuriously colored numerals.