Abe's Superstars

VFA-115 F/A-18E

and

VF-31 F-14

AeroMaster Decals
 

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Aeromaster Decals' 1/48 scale Abe's Superstars will be available online from Squadron.com

Aeromaster 48-618 provides markings for two aircraft from CVW-14 that were aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in December 2002. 

First aircraft is Bureau number 165781, a brand new F/A-18E belonging to VFA-115 “Eagles”.  The aircraft carries full colour CAG markings and features the old-style black vertical stabilizers. 

The aircraft is painted in the standard F/A-18 Tactical Paint Scheme (TPS) of FS 36320 dark ghost grey over FS 36375 light ghost grey with the radome being tan with a bare metal tip. 

The markings consist of: 

• Black 200 modex “shadowed” in yellow for the nose and the tops of the wing flaps, with a further black pair for the fin caps of the vertical stabilizers.  There is also a further set of nose and wing flap modex.  This time they are separate black numerals with separate yellow “shadowing”.  I guess that these were provided in case the one-piece ones were out of register – not that they are on my sample.  Further, smaller black “00”s for the nose undercarriage doors are also provided.

• VFA-115 tiles for the spine.  Again, “shadowed” in yellow with a further set supplied as two-part decals in case of any register problems.

• VFA-115’squadron insignia and yellow stylized CVW-14 NK airwing identifiers for the vertical stabilizers.  You will have to paint the fin caps and leading edge of the vertical stabilizers yellow as well as painting the vertical stabilizers black yourself.

• USS Abraham Lincoln, NAVY titles and Bureau number for the rear fuselage.

• Nose art consisting of a NYFD badge for both sides of the fuselage.

• “In memory of” script for the nose of the port-side fuselage.

• CAG and DCAG (Captain Scott “NOTSO” Swift – ya gotta love that!) names for either side of the fuselage beneath the windscreen.

• Plane Captain of The Year name for the nose undercarriage door.

• A pair of VFA-115 zaps in grey for the centre-line tank.

• Stencil data is minimal but includes a complete set of lo-viz national insignia, intake warnings, ejection seat triangles and a wing-walk for the top of the port-side chine.

The other aircraft is Bureau number 164600, an F-14D “belonging to” the CO of VF-31 “Tomcatters”

The aircraft is finished in the standard TPS worn by F-14s consisting of Dark Ghost Grey FS 36320 upper surfaces, Light Ghost Grey FS 36375 lower surfaces.  VF-31 have added a black nose, canopy frame and fuselage spine. 

The aircraft is marked in a scheme reminiscent of the markings that VF-31 painted their Tomcats in when they first transitioned into them from the F-4 Tomcat. 

The markings consist of:

• Red stripes on the inner and outer surfaces of the vertical stabilizers.  The outer sides feature the squadron insignia of Felix the cat with a bomb, black NK airwing identifiers, and USS Abraham Lincoln titles.

• Black VF-31 titles for the fuselage strake – you will have to paint the strakes red yourself.

• Black NAVY titles and Bureau number for the rear fuselage

• Black 101 modex for the nose and tops of the wing flaps with small white 01s for the vertical stabilizers.

• Smaller “Felix” zaps in grey for the TARPS pod and intake mounted drop tanks.

• Pilot’s and RIOs names in white for the canopy rails and Plane Captain’s names in black for the nose gear doors.

• A set of full colour national insignia.  The insignia is in two parts and you have to apply the red “bars” on top of the blue and white stars and bars – again, a register thing.

• Stencil data is quite comprehensive and is in the old style of black lettering on a yellow background for the rescue information and white lettering on a red background for warning data.

The placement guide is a full-colour two-sided affair that shows left-hand side profiles of each aircraft as well as a top and bottom view of a Hornet and an F-14.  The placement guide also provides a list of references that were consulted in producing the decals as a painting guide.  Interestingly, it calls VFA-115 the “Arabs” a name that it shed a long time ago in favour of “Eagles”.  Suggested kits are the Hasegawa F-14D and the Italeri F/A-18E. 

The decals have been printed in Italy by Cartograf.  The colours appear to be correct and the yellow of VFA-115s squadron markings seems to be very dense no doubt to combat the bleed through problem when it is applied over the black of the vertical stabilizer. 

The decal sheet and placement guide come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag. 

A nice sheet from Aeromaster and to my knowledge, it is the first time that the new VFA-115 F/A-18E CAG markings have been seen in decal form. 

Recommended!

The USS Abraham Lincoln is a regular visitor to Perth.  I was fortunate enough to have been able to photograph both aircraft featured on this sheet and I have included a couple of photos with this review.   

The VF-31 photos were taken in January 2001 whilst the VFA-115 ones were taken in December of 2002.  Unfortunately, the VFA-115 aircraft was stuck below in a corner of the hangar bay so photography was difficult and I had to be satisfied with a couple of close-up shots.