Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Aeromaster Decals' 1/48 scale F-14 Tomcats Part VIII
will be available online from Squadron.com

The Eagle Strike Productions Tomcat Decal Manufacturing Company rolls along with yet another sheet!  This time, it's two CAG Bird –As of the Atlantic fleet from the halcyon and colourful pre-Tactical Paint Scheme era. 

The individual aircraft are: 

Bureau number 159434, Modex 100, of VF-143 Pukin Dogs.  The markings depict it as it when it was aboard the USS America as a part of CVW-6.  The placement sheet advises that the reference photos used to compile the sheet were taken when it appeared at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma appeared in January 1977. 

The machine is in glorious gloss gull grey topsides over gloss white under surfaces.  All markings are in full colour and they comprise: 

• 100 modex for the nose and tops of the flaps.

• USS America titles for the bottom half of the outer faces of the rudders.

• NAVY titles as well as the Bureau number block for the rear fuselage.  The wrong Bureau number block is provided; it should be 159434, not 159456 as supplied (the placement guide also shows the Bureau number to be 159456)

• VF-143 titles for the ventral strakes.

• VF-143's squadron markings for the vertical stabilizers.

• Blue fin caps and squadron designs for both sides of the vertical stabilizers.  These designs are one-piece decals and include a CAG 'rainbow'.  Two spare pieces of blue decal film are also supplied as "patches" in case you have trouble in fitting these large decals.

• AE airwing identifiers for the rudders.

• A "sash" consisting of three thin blue lines for the forward fuselage.

• Pilot’s and RIOs names for the canopy rails (both sides) and Plane Captain’s name for the nose gear door.

Bureau number 159008, Modex 200, the CAG bird of VF-32 Swordsmen.  The markings depict the machine when it was aboard the USS Ranger in September of 1974. 

This machine is also in gloss gull grey upper surfaces over gloss white undersides with full colour markings.  The supplied markings comprise: 

• 200 modex for the nose, tops of the wing flaps and abbreviated 00s for the fin caps.

• NAVY titles as well as the Bureau number block for the rear fuselage.

• VF-32's tail markings consisting of three yellow bands edged in black. These are one-piece decals for both sides of the vertical stabilizers.  The decals for the outer faces incorporate the AB airwing identifier as well as the squadron' sword insignia and USS John F Kennedy titles.  The inner ones incorporate a "CAG fan" for the rudder.  The placement guide advises that Eagle Strike are unsure if the white portion was separated by a thin yellow stripe or not so they have not included it.  However, they have supplied the stripes as a separate decal should you want to add it.

• Squadron badges for the inner faces of the vertical stabilizers.  These are two sets of these supplied.  One set includes a white background whilst the other set has a separate white backing in case of register/opacity problems.

• Large yellow numeral 1 with the words Adm (Admiral) Clifton Award across the top.

• Pilot's name for the front canopy rails and Swordsmen titles for the rear canopy rails and Plane Captain name for the nose gear doors.

• The black of the anti-glare panel, canopy rails and turtle deck.  Love these as it saves masking!

There is a single set of high-viz national insignia included for both machines as well as a single set of stencil data (only the larger more visible items) and the nose anti-glare panel will have to be shared between both options.  Strangely, no slime lights have been provided.  I say strange as most of the Eagle Strike and AeroMaster F-14 sheets do supply them but I guess that this is a space related issue rather than an omission. 

The placement guide is a full-colour two-sided affair that shows left-hand side profiles and top views of each aircraft. 

The decals have been 'Printed in Mexico'.  They have a gloss finish with a minimum of carrier film.  Everything is sharply printed and in perfect register. 

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

The suggested kit is Hasegawa. 

This is another nice Tomcat sheet from Eagle Strike.  The Bureau number glitch is a disappointment though but it does really detract from the overall product as it can be easily rectified by obtaining the missing '34' from other sources. 

Recommended.

Thanks to AeroMaster / Eagle Strike Products for the review sets

On-line sales are available from the AeroMaster Products / Eagle Strike Productions web site.
 

Review TextCopyright © 2004 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 03 February, 2004
Last updated 10 December, 2004

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