It has been a long while since I've had the chance to review a Hobby Decal sheet. This one was quite a surprise. First of all, the packet is quite thick. This is because it includes a HUGE instruction sheet that is about 23 x 16 inces in size. Not only that, but it is color printed on thick, poster quality paper. The artwork that comes with it not only includes a four-view of the aircraft on one side, but this is repeated on the other, this time used as a placement guide. A full history of the aircraft is given along with a profile of the plane after its conversion to an F-4J (UK) ZE 352.

The markings are a combination of dry transfer and water-slide. You get a large dry transfer sheet with all the data markings in white (as it appropriate for this plane) along with a set of insignia and other general markings. Some of these are in black and so while you can't use them on this subject, you can use them on another model. Two more smaller strip sheets provide dry transfers for the unique markings and for some additional stencils. Three small waterslide decals are included for the wing and fuselage walkways, insignia and some warning markings, and for the blue wing tip and fuselage markings.

Kits for this aircraft in 1/72 include those done by Fujimi, ESCI, Italeri and Hasegawa. Most will pick the Hasegawa F-4J for its overall fidelity and ease of availability. Overall this is an outstanding set that should help you to make a superlative replica. Also available in other scales.

February 2007

Thanks to HobbyDecal for the review sample

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