Furball Decals FD 72-002: MiG Masters

As much press as the Crusader has gotten for being the 'last of the Gunfighters' (at the time it was felt that a gun was not needed as missiles should be able to do the job), quite a few of its successes in Vietnam were earned not with its four 20mm canon, but with the Sidewinder missile.

Over the years, there have been decal sheets for the F-8, but those have only offered a few options. Furball Aero Design has now produced what many will consider the ultimate Crusader sheet: offering 18 MiG killer planes along with 8 other important aircraft. I think they have pretty well covered all the MiG Killers on this one. The sheet is designed for the Academy F-8, though these markings might also fit other kits with a bit of fudging. No guarantees, though.

Basically Furball Aero-Design has reduced its 1/48 set into a single sheet. There are enough common markings for two planes and if you want to do more, you can easily use the common markings from the kit.

Rather than give a long run-down on each individual marking, I'll just provide what units are included. These are VF-24, VF-51, VF-53, VF-111, VF-154, VF-162, VF-191, VF-211 and VMF-212. By far the most successful of these units was VF-211 followed by VF-24 so you will find more options for those two units than for all the others. Many of these options are for the earlier F-8C/H version. This is not kitted as the extant kits, including Academy's are F-8E/J variants, so you will need to locate a conversion set to do the earlier Crusader.

All of these planes are in the then-standard scheme of flat light gull grey over gloss white with either white or black radomes and black nose anti-glare panel.

The instructions are quite comprehensive, providing information on load-out as well as any other differences in the airframe. A most complete data placement guide is also provided for you. Decals are superbly printed by Cartograf and are very colorful.

Regardless of which scheme you choose, you will be pleased with the results.The decals are superbly printed by Cartograf and as mentioned, Furball provides enough common markings to do two planes. A full color placement and painting guide is included that also has a data placement guide.

Overall it is an excellent choice of markings and one you should seriously consider picking up. I knew there was a reason I was stocking up on Academy Crusaders and here it is. Now all I need is to locate a backdate set to do a pointy-nosed C/D.

October 2015

Review sheet courtesy of http://furballaero-design.com. You can get yours now at this link.

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