PaulusVictor Watchdog Wingman (PV-005-144) 1:144 F-16A Fighting Falcon & Su-27 Flanker

[Mike]

Watchdog Wingman (PV-005-144)

F-16A Fighting Falcon & Su-27 Flanker

1:144 Paulus Victor Decals

 

 

The Goodwill Games were a short-lived series of four-yearly athletic events that were created to counter the bad feelings that surrounded the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow that were boycotted by a number of nations including America in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  They were created by entrepaneur Ted Turner, and were closed down by Time Warner who had bought the rights to the event in the late 90s, with the last one held in Brisbane Australia in 2001.  The second games were held in 1990 in Seattle USA, and as part of the celebrations, two below-par Sukhoi Su-27s from the Flight Research Institute in Moscow were flown over, and support aircraft were brought with them to take part in joint displays with US jets over the stadiums, with chaperones (likely armed, just in case) watching over them during ferry flights between gigs.

 

 

The Decals

Paulus Victor are a relatively new company to us, and have a unique aspect to their products that include a slew of background information and technical assistance to the modeller that often hasn’t been available in the same envelope with decals before.  They provide stories, not just decals in isolation.  Their packaging is also unique, with a high-quality feel to everything, and attention to detail evident in every aspect of the set.  They arrive in a thick Ziploc bag, with an envelope printed in colour on both sides within, and flaps folded-in to prevent excessive movement of the internals.  On opening the envelope (which isn’t glued closed), you’ll find a small lined area for your own notes, plus colour details of the two airframes covering the inside of the envelope printed on the main area from the usual four angles. 

 

 

• F-16A Fighting Falcon Block-15 (81-0722) 186th FIS/120th FIG - Montana Air National Guard, Great Falls, MT, 1990
• Su-27 Flanker "05 Red" (c/n: 36911024205) Flight Research Institute, Zhukovsky, Moscow, USSR, 1990

 

Each subject has notes and even some small photographs of antennae etc., to help you with your preparation, painting and application of the decals.  There were a couple of sneaky “zaps” applied to the Su-27s almost as soon as they landed, one of which is well-documented because it was left on the aircraft for several years, while the other round one was removed fairly soon after.  If you know what it is, they’d love to hear from you, but my guess is a NASA meatball.  There are a couple of links to a video and an archive article about the games under the text, which I’ve added below:

 

 

 

https://nara.getarchive.net/media/an-f-16a-fighting-falcon-aircraft-from-the-186th-fighter-interceptor-squadron-ba4d95

 

Obviously, links in a printed form are not the ideal format, but they’re by no means the longest URLs ever and I even managed to type the long one correctly first time!  Perhaps these could be added to their site at some point to help users with poor typing skills get there.  A little rectangular bonus sticker is included that’s a reprint of the best-known zap “My other car is a jet” and the ANG logo for you to apply to any passing Flankers, or even a base for your model if you’re more grounded in reality.

 

Now about those decals.

 

 

The decals themselves are printed on a rectangular sheet of blue decal paper at a high resolution that renders all of the main decals legible, providing you have good enough eyesight.  They have good registration, sharpness and colour density, some fine wing walkway decals for the F-16, and crisp stars and BORT numbers for the Flankers.  On one of the envelope flaps, you are given sound advice to check your references to ensure you have chosen the best colours and shades for your model if you are planning on going for the ultimate in accuracy. 

 

 

on the rear outer of the envelope there are a set of general decal handling and application instructions, guiding you through the preparation of the surface, the decals and the application of setting solutions, plus how to seal them for posterity.

 

 

Conclusion

Decal sheets usually come with brief instructions if any, so this new outlook from Paulus Victor is a breath of fresh air, giving you plenty to read, plenty to help you make a more accurate model, and plenty of advice on how to make your painting and decaling process better and more realistic – providing you’re insane enough to model in the braillest-of-scales that is 1:144.

 

Very Highly recommended.

 

(Scroll down the list from the link)

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Too bad its 1:144 I need the Montana ANG decals in 1/72, they would be a good match for my F-15.