Repliscale made a valiant attempt at entering the decal market some ten years ago. Unfortunately, they were unable to survive. A pity as they provided a number of interesting schemes. However, I feel it was the size of their sheets that did them in as often they were smaller than the packets they came in. This is true of this sheet which fills about 2/3 of the normal decal packet.

This sheet contains three interesting F-18A Hornets, one of which has a kill marking on it. All three are in the standard simplified scheme with FS 36320 uppers and FS 36375 lowers. The anti-glare panel is in FS 35237.

First is a Reserve bird from VFA-305. These guys transitioned from the A-7E. Like the Corsairs, the Lobos have their standard wolf on the tail.

Next is VFA-303 which is the one sporting the kill marking. My suspicion is that it is the pilot's personal kill and not that of the plane itself. Perhaps a Hornet enthusiast can enlighten me. It is from CVWR-20, which is the only USN Reserve Air Wing still active.

The final aircraft is one of VFA-132; the Privateers. It is listed as NAS Atsugi, but I seriously doubt that as for one thing, CVW-5 planes are all tail-coded NF and this plane has an Atlantic fleet air wing code of AK, which at one time was the USS Coral Sea. It is also the CAG bird, though totally devoid of color. I believe VFA-132 has also been disestablished.

If you like the Hornet, then one of these schemes should look quite good on your next Monogram or Hasegawa F-18.

Review copy courtesy of me!

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