Flat Iron UH-1V Medevacs

In the beginning of 2008 Fireball Modelworks released a decalsheet in four scales with markings for the unique white Flat Iron UH-1V and the green Flat Iron Medevac UH-1Vs. It also includes bonus decals to build Medevac Hueys from the Georgia and California Army National Guard (ARNG). Here is a review of the sheet in scale 1/48.

Decals

The set contains 1 ALPS printed decalsheet with markings for 9 different Medevac Hueys. Depending on the subjects you pick you should have enough stencils to build 3 Medevac Hueys.

The main subject of this sheet are the UH-1V's from Flatiron, you can build both the white and 5 CARC green UH-1V's of Flat Iron. Flatiron is the supporting Air Ambulance Detachment of the Aviation Training Brigade in Fort Rucker, AL. It provides crash rescue and medical evacuation to support aviation training. Flatiron uses its helicopters for patient transfer to hospitals in the Southeastern United States and participates in the Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic Program.

Also included are a CARC green UH-1V and UH-1H  from the 148th Medical Company of the Georgia Army National Guard. The decals are based on these Hueys seen in 2004, the exterior paint of these two machines is very dull and weathered. The 3rd bonus decals are for a UH-1V of the 812th Medical Company of the California Army National Guard. The paint of this machine has faded to a more olive drab appearance.

The ALPS printed decal sheet,  where the carrier film covers the entire sheet, meets the expected high quality as seen on previous Fireball sheets. The decals themselves look very thin, crisp and appear to be in perfect register on my sheet. In case you never worked with ALPS decals check some guidelines on the Fireball Modelworks' website: Info about decals

Markings

The decalsheet gives you following options:

• UH-1V 69-12571 Flatiron, Fort Rucker, 2007
• UH-1V 70-16387 Flatiron, Fort Rucker, 2007
• UH-1V 70-16393 Flatiron, Fort Rucker, 2007
• UH-1V 70-16394 Flatiron, Fort Rucker, 2007
• UH-1V 70-16465 Flatiron, Fort Rucker, 2007
• UH-1V 74-22407 Flatiron, Fort Rucker, 2007
• UH-1V 71-20255, 148th Medical Company, Georgia ARNG, 2004
• UH-1H 70-16452, 148th Medical Company, Georgia ARNG, 2004
• UH-1V 73-21673, 812th Medical Company, Det.1, California ARNG, 2007

Instruction sheets

The instruction sheets are in color and come on thick high quality paper. They provide clear information for the placement of the decals and detailed color instructions. What I like is that the profiles are accompanied by some descriptive text which gives some feedback and attention points. For each of the helicopters you get information about the presence off: the IPS, the Exhaust deflector, the Engine Heat Shields, the Oil Cooler Heat Shield, the GPS Antenna and the cargo hook.

Availability

Next to the reviewed sheet in 1/48 these decals are also available in 3 other scales: 1/32 (FMD-15-32), 1/35 (FMD-15-32),  and 1/72 (FMD-15-72). They can be ordered directly from Fireball Modelworks. The sheets in 1/32 FMD-15-32 and 1/48 are sold for $15, the smaller ones for $13.

Conclusion

A very interesting subject and high quality decals covering Medevac Hueys. Recommended!