If you want to compete with the Great Lakes, by all means make sure you have proof of the color scheme (including N-number) that will be on your model. Preferably a photo or several photos of the actual full scale airplane with that n-number.
Getting your documentation together before building the model, as recommended by Dick Byron and others, is the the best advice. If you show up at a contest with a model with a specific n-number and color scheme, and NO documentation that the full-size airplane ever existed with that n-number and colors, your static score will suffer drastically.
On the bad news front, I noticed in the picture of the kit contents that the kit decals are for Great Lakes NC374Y. A quick search of the current FAA database shows that this number is now being used by a 1965 Bowers Fly Baby. Here is the place to search for current N-numbers:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_inquiry.aspA search of old records shows that NC374Y was originally issued to a Buhl Pup. Here is the place to search for old N-numbers:
http://www.aerofiles.com/regs-home.htmlFYI -
www.aerofiles.com is one of the very best online resources for aircraft research!!
Here is their page about the history of Great Lakes aircraft.
http://www.aerofiles.com/_grlakes.htmlI have also done a google search on
Great Lakes NC374Y and come up with nothing. So I am doubtful if there was ever a Great Lakes with number NC374Y. I would recommend against using those decals on your model. Do more research and find another subject aircraft. As Keith said, Bob Banka's documentation is a good source of pictures of airplanes that are still in existance.
The cowling in of the Sterling kit indicates that this is a very early model Great Lakes - most likely a 2T-1 or 2T-1A. The upright inline engine cowl is the clue. The majority of Great Lakes that you see at fly-ins nowadays have a radial engine. I suspect that many, if not most, of the Bob Banka's Great Lakes are radial engined.
One of the most famous inline engine Great Lakes was Tex Rankin's airplane, in which he set a world record in 1931 performing 131 consecutive outside loops at Charlotte, North Carolina. Do a google search on Tex Rankin Great Lakes and you will have lots of reading. The airplane still exists and is being restored.
Above all have fun. The documentation search can be just as much fun as building and flying the airplane. And it will have a EVERYTHING to do with how well the airplane scores at contests.
Mike