Arctic Decals Sheet Nos. ARC72-015 & ARC48-005
For MPM 1/72 and Lindberg or AMT 1/48 Lockheed Vega
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History
In 1933 Stephen Darius and Stanley Girenas, US citizens of Lithuanian
descent, attempted to fly their Bellanca Pacemaker, specially modified
by Matty Laird from New York to Kaunas, Lithuania. They crashed fatally
four hundred miles short of their destination. Shortly thereafter the
Chicago Lithuanian community began to raise money to try again. This time
a Lockheed Vega 5B was purchased from the shell Oil Company and modified
for the flight. The pilot originally chosen quit the project and it fell
to Felix Waitkus to be the pilot. He took off from Floyd Bennett Field
early on September 20, 1935. Adverse weather enroute caused higher fuel
consumption than had been planned and Waitkus was forced to land in Ireland.
The landing became a controlled crash and the plane was heavily damaged.
It was shipped to Lithuania, restored and taken on charge by the Lithuanian
air Corps. It is believed the Soviets shipped the plane to Moscow in 1940
for examination.
The Decals
 The
instructional material included with Arctic Decals is simply marvelous.
In addition to the decals themselves you get ten pages of history with
31 reference photos. As you can see from the attached scan of the layout
sheet, this is a very colorful and attractive airplane.
Conclusion
The decals are crisply and cleanly printed in perfect register, as is
true of all Arctic Decals. They are, perhaps, the best I’ve ever
seen.
Arctic Decals can be purchased directly from their maker
or from his retailer:
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