Furball Decals FD 48006: Air Wing All-Stars - Phantoms pt. I

When it comes to USN aircraft of the light gull grey and white era, modelers love CAG birds. Why not, as they are undeniably the most colorful planes that have flown from carrier decks since the yellow wings era. Thanks to the long life of the F-4 Phantom II, even in the high attrition environment of carrier duty, there have been a ton of very nice CAG schemes. However, most of the decals that did those schemes have long been out of production and many are near impossible to find unless the modeler wants to fork out some major funds for it.

Furball Aero-Design realized there was a need and produced a run of this sheet last year. It sold out. Now we have another printing of this set. The earlier set must have been for the Hasegawa kit as this one announces that it has been redone for the Academy version, which is now the darling of the Phanntom crowd. Not to say it wouldn't fit the older kits, but no guarantee.

What we have are seven markings options all from the 1970s save one and all F-4Js, also save one. Furball has provided enough common markings and wing walk decals to do two planes from this sheet, though one could use kit markings for the others. There is a complete stencil placement sheet and a loadout sheet to help you with your project.

First up is a VF-74 plane from the 1974 time period and assigned to the USS Forrestal. This unit was the first  fleet Phantom squadron. Black tip to the centerline tank

Next, with a yellow fin is another 1974 era plane from VF-92. This time it was based on the USS Constellation. VF-92 never made it to the Tomcat era.

From VF-103, at the time called the Sluggers, is a 1977 scheme when they were based on the USS Saratoga. Note that this one has a light gull grey rudder.

One of my favorite schemes is VF-114 and this Aardvark Phantom is from 1973 when on the USS Kitty Hawk. Note that the fin tip and the tip of the pylons and centerline tank are orange.

VF-142 'Ghost Riders' CAG bird was very colorful with yellow on the fin and the upper fuselage. This color was also repeated on the centerline. It is depicted in its 1974 scheme when on the USS America.

The final Navy bird is from VF-213. This 1974 scheme is when they were on the USS Kittyhawk. Trim on fin and forward centerline tank is maroon.

The final option is from Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, the failed attempt to rescue the Iranian Hostages. This VMFA-531 F-1N is in overall light gull grey with yellow trim on the ECS intakes, tank tip and Sidewinder rail tips. The fin looks black but it is insignia blue. The plane also had a black bordered yellow stripe on the right wing. This feature was masked and painted using spray cans while on board the USS Coral Sea for this operation.

There is a brief description that accompanies each option and provides info as to whether the plane had the intake ESM antennas and other bits of information. Overall, this Cartograf printed sheet is an excellent choice of markings and one you should seriously consider picking up.

February 2015

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

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.