Iliad Designs Piper L-4 Grasshopper Decals (48041) 1:48

[Mike]

Piper L-4 Grasshopper Decals (48041)

1:48 Iliad Designs

 

 

The Piper Cub was a light aircraft developed before WWII with production continuing throughout WWII and into the late 40s.  In military service as a communications, reconnaissance, or spotter aircraft, it was known as the L-4 Grasshopper, and 20,000 plus were built due to its success in various roles, including trainer and glider tug.  It was powered by a flat-4 engine, and despite the limited power it was agile in the air, with docile handling characteristics and a very low stall speed, which made take-off and landing a simple process, and let the aircraft use strips that were far too short for other types.

 

This new decal set from Iliad in Canada depicts a variety of airframes in the service of different operators on an A5 sheet of decal paper.  There are six decal options included on the sheet with side and top profiles printed on the instructions along with captions and arrowed areas that give additional details to help you make your model more accurate.  They are intended to be used with the new Special Hobby kit, which is truly 1:48.  There is an older kit available that purports to be 1:48, but it is actually closed to 1:50, so the sizing of the decals will be unsuitable in places. 

 

The underwing decals are shown as ghost images on the overhead profiles and vice versa, which both saves space and paper, which is always a good thing.

 

From the sheet you can decal any of the following:

• L-4H ‘Miss Me’ flown by Lt. Merrit Francies & Lt. William Martin, who shot down a German Storch using their sidearms, 11th April 1945
• L-4 flown by Maj. John Humphries, 546th Bomb Sqn., 384th Bomb Group, Grafton, UK 1944
• L-4 stationed at Camp Clipper desert training facility, California USA, 1943
• L-4 Free French Forces
• L-4H A-72 32e Section d’Observation d’Aviation d’Artillerie (SOAA), French 2nd Armoured Division
• US Navy NE-2, 29669 from Army stock in 1944-5

 

 

 

The decals are printed on a pale blue paper in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  There are some large areas of carrier film between the lettering by necessity, but due to the extremely thin nature of the film it should disappear, especially if you ensure a highly glossy surface before application.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of