Now that the F-4 is no longer in Naval service, the place of honor for cool planes goes to the F-14. At least for a few more years. Deciding that it would be better to have an all F-18 attack/interceptor fleet, Congress decided to cancel F-14 production just as the plane had finally gotten all that it needed in the way of a decent engine and avionics. The result is that this aircraft is slowly disappearing from fleet use, to be replaced by the less capable F-18E/F. You may thank your shortsighted elected officials for this one. (Can you tell I'm a Tomcat fan?)

This particular sheet carries two CAG birds, both in the Tactical Paint Scheme (TPS) to some extent or another.

The first one is an F-14A from VF-14, the only Tomcat squadron to transition to the F-18E single seater. This was done a few months ago. The rest are going to the F-18F two seater. This is the CAG bird and so sports the black tail that is often seen on CAG birds nowadays. It is painted in FS 36320 upper and 36375 lower colors.

Next is the CAG bird from VF-213. This F-14D unit has some color in its tail, but nothing like days of old. Though it is in the TPS scheme, it appears to be a single color of FS 36320 with the anti-glare panel in FS 35237.

For kits in 1/48, you have the Monogram, Academy (or is it Minicraft), Italeri and Hasegawa kits to choose from for the A Model. Note that late F-14As had the TV camera nose sensor that is often missing from these kits. The F-14D can be found from Revell and Hasegawa. These are the major ones I can think of at this time. Regardless of which kit you choose, these decals will probably be an improvement over those provided by the kit.

Review sheet courtesy of my insatiable NEED to collect decal sheets!

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