Always a favorite with me, Carpena of France produced several dozen sheets before going out of business. I understand that they re-emerged in Portugal, but I've seen none of their more recent sheets. All the ones I have are about 20 or so years old, though still in excellent condition.

There are a considerable number of subjects on each sheet and while I'd like to show you profiles of each one, they are spread out over many pages and not that well done. However, I can list what is on the sheet so you can see the considerable variety that is there. This is one of the few Carpena sheets I have that do not yet have bits missing from them!

From the immediate post-WWII era there are a number of French operated aircraft that include:

An Aichi 'Jake' of 8S, SBD-5 from 3F, L-20 Beaver of ELA.52, C-47 Dakota from GT. 2/63.

Then there are South Vietnamese AF planes, starting with a Fi-156 sporting the original circular roundels. When the US started supplying aircraft, the insignia changed to match. These planes include T-28, A-1H Skyraider, A-1E Skyraider, Alouette III, A-37B Dragonfly, C-47, B-57B Canberra, C-119G Boxcar, U-6A Beaver and O-1E Bird Dog.

There are a variety of kits recommended for these markings and many of them are not exactly new, Like Heller T-28, Airfix Beaver, Italeri B-57, Hasegawa 'Jake' and so on.

The decals themselves are quite colorful, though I did notice registration problems with the insignia on the larger sheet. This sort of thing was quite common and is the reason that nowadays, companies will print these in sections. It does take care of the registration problems, but at the expense of doing additional subjects.

A fine sheet nonetheless and one you should seek out if you get the opportunity.

September 2007