Eduard (Propagteam) Decals 1/72nd "Russian WWII Aces, P-39 Airacobra" (72001)

By Erik Pilawskii
 [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.]

Eduard (Propagteam) Sheet No.72-036 "Russian WWII Aces, P-39 Airacobra"

    One of a series of excellent new VVS decal sheets from Propagteam, these decals are absolutely of the highest quality in manufacture. Also fortuitously, the documentation on the markings and colors of these machines is of a much higher order than is sometimes the case with Eduard, and they have here prodcuced a very useable set of VVS transfers. Some questions remain, and we will examine those below.

Schemes

Five complete sets of markings cover this sheet, all depicting well-known VVS Airacobra aces. 

  1. P-39N "White 100", Alexander Pokrishkin, 16 GIAP, 1944:    Considerable debate continues in the case of many of the 9 GIAD's P-39s as to whether the stars superimposed over the US national marking (actually, made from the white star in them) were in fact trimmed with a small red outline, making a sort of Victory Star. In the case of "White 100" I will have to wait for a better photo to say for sure. However, I suspect that this machine's stars did not have Victory-type outlines (really, it's a Modeler's choice in cases like this), but the decal set is rather good in all other respects.

  2. P-39N "White 04", A. Zakalyuk, 104 GIAP, 1944:    Unfortunately this decal set is missing the tactical numeral "04"s that appeared on the rear fuselage of this machine, though it does include the small similar numeral found on the front gear door cover. The rest of the set appears to be fine, and some white "04" decals should not be too difficult to locate.

  3. P-39N "White 45", Aleksandr Klubov, 16 GIAP, 1944:    Very fine decal set.

  4. P-39N "White 01", Gennady Dolnikov, 100 GIAP, 1944:    Beautiful set. Well done.

  5. P-39N "White 50", Kiril Suchov, 16 GIAP, 1944:    The decals for this aircraft appear to be quite fine, but I see no evidence at all of the curious camouflage application cited by Eduard. In fact, all three pictures I have seen of this machine lead me to believe that we see nothing on this P-39 besides a somewhat worn Olive Drab finish.

    Despite the occasional problems with the reproduction of some of the camouflage schemes and some remaining uncertainties, this decal sheet is quite outstanding. The decals themselves are rather thin, well registered, and settle down nicely to produce an excellent effect. Certainly, a winner here.