Here is something that one just doesn't see every day (or week or month for that matter). A new helicopter decal sheet. Obviously Leading Edge has decided that it was about time for us to have one. The fact that they are nicely colorful Canadian Rescue colors doesn't hurt any either! Before getting into any details, I should mention that for one, this is only in 1/72 (or do you know of a 1/48 H-21 or H-34?). Secondly, the kits that are available for use are by Italeri (and those which have been reboxed by Revell AG and perhaps others). Both of the kits are really quite well done as Italeri has a bit of a reputation as a quality helo kit maker. Finally, I should point out that .jpgs are not the best venue for portraying large areas of red or orange. It tends to make the rather patchy so that is a residue of the image format and NOT a problem with the decals or cover sheet.

The quick among you will have noticed that the decal sheet is actually sheets. Though I have reduced them in size quite a bit, you can see that there is a lot of stuff on there. LE points out that the da-glo decals (da-glo does not reproduce at all well on the computer) are a bit less orange than they'd like, but there is no fix for it as the pigments are very difficult to reproduce. If you don't believe it, try painting a kit with this color.

Anyway, there are a total of 9 possible combinations of markings; 5 for the H-21 and 4 for the H-34. You can build a total of five complete helos using these decals.

For the H-21, you can do one in overall bare metal, and the other four are in the red, white and blue. You can do one of two RCAF color options with the lightning bolt and one of two slightly different helos in early CAF colors.

This same applies to the H-34 though there is not bare metal option. Actually the number of variations in  markings for the H-34 are greater than the H-21, probably due to the fact that they stayed in service later.

As with all Leading Edge decals, the instructions are first rate and offer a great deal of advice on decal application and the colors that should be used. Painting these beasties will be a bit of a trick as the red that you see on some of these schemes is actually da-glo, a color that is very difficult to get on properly. I've done a number of models using da-glo and in some respects it is more difficult than a bare metal finish. However, it is by no means impossible and the results are absolutely stunning. I can anticipate a mini rush on the modeling shops for H-21 and H-34 model kits once this sheet hits the shelves. Again, I have no price info as the web site did not yet have these in their data base. I can anticipate that this one will sell out quickly so if you see it, grab it.

Review sheet courtesy Leading Edge Decals. Thanks for your support

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