Reviewed by Rodger Kelly
 

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Cam Decals continue their coverage of the EA-6B Prowler with sheet Number 48-101. Normally, Cam Decals Prowler sheets supply markings for two or more aircraft but this sheet has broken that unwritten rule and it only provides markings for a single machine, Bureau number 163526, the CAG bird of CVW-3's VAQ-130 - the 'Zappers'. 

The aircraft is finished in a TPS (Tactical Paint Scheme) of FS36495 light Ghost Grey under surfaces and FS36320 dark ghost grey upper surfaces.  FS35237 medium grey is used on the leading edges of the wing, the upper surfaces of the nose, the forward fuselage and the tail radome.  The final grey used is FS36495 light grey and that features on the nose cap and the leading edge of the tail radome.  The splitter plates and the leading edges of the intakes are in a medium blue - Cam Decals don't offer a FS number for this blue and tell you to "match the blue of the decals". 

A stated above, the aircraft is VAQ-130s CAG and as such she features some colour in her markings.  These markings are all supplied as decals. 

By far the most outstanding of these markings is 'Robby the Dragon', an artistic rendition of the Squadron's insignia – a two-tone green and yellow winged dragon with a yellow belly - that pretty well takes up the top third of the vertical stabiliser and rudder.  An extra pair of these markings is supplied 'for use at the modeller's discretion' – they would look good applied to a display base! 

The blue markings include: 

·        'Radiation' symbol for the nose cap. 

·        500 modex for the nose and tops of the wing flaps with a further '0s' for the rear of the fin mounted 'beer can' antenna and the nose gear door. 

·        Sailor of the year info for the port side forward equipment compartment door and Plane Captain of the Year info for the starboard side door. 

·        CAG name for the port side canopy rail with the Squadron CO's name for the starboard side.  The CAG and CO titles are separate decals and they feature on the side of the fuselage beneath the canopy rail.  The rear canopy rails and fuselage also feature aircrew names and callsigns. 

·        Intake warning triangles. 

·        Exhaust warning placards. 

·        National insignia – for all four places. 

·        USS Harry S Truman, CVN-75, NAVY and VAQ-130 titles for the rear fuselage. 

·        CVW-3 titles for the fin radome. 

·        AC airwing identifier Bureau number for the vertical stabiliser. 

·        Arrestor hook warning placards for the lower rear fuselage. 

The remainder of the markings include: 

·        Two red 'angle of attack' indicators for the horizontal stabilisers. 

·        Four grey ejection seat warning triangles. 

·        Warning placards that go between the front and rear canopies. 

·        Wing walks – thanks Cam Decals! 

·        A set of yellow slime lights. 

·        'Zappers' titles for the drop tanks. 

The placement guide is A-4 in size and it shows left and right hand side profiles on the front and a plan view of the top of the aircraft on the back.  Scrap views show placement of the '0's for the nose gear door and 'beer can' as well as the drop tank markings.  Cam Decals have done a good job here and their placement guides are getting better all the time – have a look at the scans.  A small nitpick though is that the plan view does not show the pattern of or how far the medium grey extends back from the leading edges of the wings. 

The decals have been printed by Microscale.  They are sharp and clear and have an absolute minimum of decal film around each subject.  The artwork on 'Robby' is something else and is absolutely superb! 

The decal sheets and instructions are packed in clear plastic Zip-loc bag.  Cam Decals hasn't included the stiff cardboard header that is normally found in their decal sheets. 

This sheet really is a great effort from Cam Decals.  The fact that there is only one option on the sheet is a little disappointing.  Perhaps the cost of the artwork and printing of 'Robby' were such that Cam had to restrict the sheet to one option.  For my money it is still worth the price. 

With the Revell/Monogram EA-6B re-release looming on the horizon you might want to add this sheet to your decal stash. 

Recommended. 

Footnote 

Given the spectacular nature of the markings that this aircraft wore you would have thought that there would be plenty of coverage on the internet.  Alas, all I could find were the following pictures: 

http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=5882 

http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=3757 

http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=5684 

Whilst you can get some tantalising glimpses of the tail markings in this lot I just could not find any side-on shots at all.

Thanks to Brookhurst Hobbies for the review sample.

CAM Decals are available online from their website at http://www.camdecals.com and from Brookhurst Hobbies

CAM Decals 59 page 2002 color catalog of decals and resin parts is also
now available through the CAM Decals website

Review Copyright © 2003 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 26 September, 2003
Last updated 25 September, 2003

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