Travers Decals 1/72nd "Yak Fighters #2" (72-040)

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.]

Travers 72-040 "Yak Fighters #2"

    Although rather difficult to make out in the above illustration (due to the large number of white markings), these Travers sheets offer some very interesting VVS fighter schemes. The execution of this sheet is somewhat unusual in that the various national stars all feature separate white backing star-shaped 'masks' to provide the white areas of the insignia. The decal registration is acceptable, but not up to the standards of SuperScale nor Propagteam. Further, the entire sheet is printed on a single piece of somewhat thicker clear sheet, requiring one to trim the markings carefully before application. But, despite these potential drawbacks, there are some nice markings here.

Schemes

Six individual aircraft make up this sheet, all of them Yakolev fighters.

  1. Yak-9 "White 14", Marcel LeFavre, 303 IAD, 1943:    Nicely done; perhaps not just quite as sharp as the SSI decals of the same type.

  2. Yak-3 "Yellow 15", Semyen Rogov, 3 GIAD, 1944:    A very fine set of decals for this interesting machine.

  3. Yak-9D, Mikhail Avdeyev, 6 GIAP ChF, 1944:    I suspect a mis-print here, as the instructions refer to Maj.Grib's Yak-9 aircraft! The decals are correct for the later appearance of " Orlitsa ", complete with Victory type stars and kill markings on the fin/rudder. The instructions give the color scheme incorrectly-- it should be Medium Grey over Dark Sea-Grey .

  4. Yak-1, Pavel Pokrovskiy, 2 GIAP SF, 1944:    This colorful and delightful machine is well represented with this fine set. There continues a heated debate as to whether this aircraft sported a 'tiger' motif on the port fuselage side, as well as the starboard; but in the case, Travers provides only one such decal! The scheme should be the standard Winter coat of Dark Sea-Grey .

  5. Yak-9, Vano Gugridzhe, 329 IAD, 1944:    The decal set for Gugridzhe's " Za Brata Shota " are fair, but inferior to the same markings provided with the ISM Yak-9 kit. Still, with nothing else on hand they will do. This machine was finished in a Black over Dark Olive Green 'Loops' pattern.

  6. Yak-3 "White 5", Roger Sauvage, Normandie-Niemen IAP, 1945:    Nice decal set for "White 5", though the correct scheme should be the standard Medium Grey over Dark Sea-Grey livery.

    In addition to these markings, the sheet also contains some nice cockpit panel decals and a number of Yak-9 aircraft stencils.

    Though not quite of the quality of some of the sheets examined here, these decals nonetheless are useable, and they will settle down to the model surface with some minor attention. The decal subject matter, of course, is the really exciting feature here, with at least three of the schemes having never been printed before. I suspect we will only see an improvement in the quality of Travers decals over time, but the subject matter is sure to remain an outstanding point of their decal work.