1:72 Kamon Sea Sprite Part 1

The rescuer that hovered beside the deck

The single-engine Kaman UH-2 Seasprite first flew in 1959 and from 1962 served the United States Navy as a shipboard machine for liaison and for picking up aircrew. During the launches and landings of jets it hovered at the ready beside the ship, so as to pull out of the water at once a pilot whose landing had gone wrong. Over Vietnam it grew into a combat rescuer flying for downed airmen all the way to the enemy coast.

What the sheet covers

The ten markings cover the UH-2A and UH-2B versions, each with a serial number, a fuselage code, the squadron it belonged to and a date. Side by side here stand machines of squadrons HC-1, HC-4, HC-5, HC-7 and HU-1, shipboard aircraft from the ships Enterprise, Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Midway and Traverse County, an aircraft from the base at Atsugi in Japan and a pair from the Gulf of Tonkin. The spread in time runs from 1964 to 1969, so colorful naval schemes meet later, more restrained forms on a single sheet.

One marking with a story

Among the machines offered is one with the name Clementine 2, whose pilot C. E. Lassen carried out a night rescue of a downed crew deep over North Vietnam in 1968 and received for it the highest American decoration for valor.

How to work with it

This is a classic print released in water. Always cut out only the feature you are applying, dip it in lukewarm water for a few seconds and leave it to rest aside until the backing releases. The area under a decal has to be glossy and degreased, otherwise air will be trapped under the film and the marking will go gray.