Marine Corps
F/A-18Cs and Ds

Four New Releases

MAW Decals

All Major Scales

Reviewed by Ken Bowes

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A relatively young company, MAW Decals run by Creighton Henthorn Jr, has made an impressive start to their chosen area of coverage. It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that with a name like MAW, this must be the aircraft of the United States Marine Corps. Initially MAW addressed a range of Hornets in all three major scales, with the latest release covering UH-1Ns and AH-1Ws. This review though looks at a range of their Hornet releases.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The debut release in 1/32, 32-MAW-001 covers VMFA(AW)-224 Fighting Bengals and VMFA(AW)-533 Hawks. The Hawks aircraft, 164959, is the squadron colour bird as deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF 1), whilst the Bengals aircraft, 164694, is the squadron colour bird as it appeared in April 2004. The decals cover one and half A5 sheets, printed in perfect register by Microscale, known for quality in the decal business. Instructions are printed in full colour on card and leave now doubt on the many subtleties of Hornet configs, with callouts for CIT bird slicers, GPS dome, new centerline pylon, ejection seat, gun vents and tail stiffeners as appropriate. In 32-MAW-001 MAW Decals has also included a comprehensive reference CD with full walkarounds of both subjects and an aircraft from VMFA(AW)-332.  32-MAW-001 retails for US$15.00

After selling out their first 1/48 sheet, MAW have followed up with 48-MAW-002 VMFA-251 Storms in the Desert, with two F/A-18Cs from the Thunderbolts during OEF and OIF. Also new is 48-MAW-003 VMFA-122 Crusaders, with two F/A-18Cs from the Crusaders dating from January 2004. Both of these sheets cover the squadrons colour birds as well as a standard lo-viz airframe from the same squadron. The comments regarding 32-MAW-001 above apply equally here with the quality of instructions and printing.  A bonus in the “Storms in the Desert” set are some laser cut vinyl masks for the underside false canopy markings, solving that little problem for the modeler. 48-MAW-002 retails for US$12.00, whilst 48-MAW-003 retails for US$11.00.

The final recent sheet comes in 1/72. 72-MAW-001 Leatherneck Deltas is a super set of no less than five aircraft from four squadrons. These are VMFA(AW)-224 Bengals, VMFA(AW)-533 Hawks, VMFA(AW)-121 Green Knights and VMFA(AW)-332 Moonlighters. The sheet is a single A-5 size set, with all unique markings and basic stenciling for all five subjects. Once again this sheet is neatly printed with no register problems.

MAW’s sheets are very well printed, being very thin and with minimal carrier film. The complex designs themselves are in perfect register. The decals are easy to use and respond well to the usual solutions without damage. Being thin they conform well to details over which they are laid. With clear and concise instructions, including colour call outs, as well as reference photos and recommend weapons configurations there is little more that a modeler could wish for from these decals.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to MAW Decals for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2006 by Ken Bowes
This Page Created on 05 October, 2006
Last updated 05 October, 2006

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