Nice to see another new sheet for the recent Trumpeter 1/48 Skywarrior kit. This particular sheet is for an aircraft of VAH-1 'Smoking Tigers'. There is no date given, but it has to be before 1962 when the A3D was redesignated A-3. The sheet includes all of the unique markings as well as red resue and danger arrows along with insignia. Any other data markings will need to come from the kit. The only painting one will need aside from the standard scheme is the lips of the engine nacelles. Though it may be a misprint, the actual designation of the aircraft is A3D-2, not A-3D-2 as shown in the markings. It is possible that this may have been mistakenly done on the actual plane so one might want to do a bit of research if this is an issue. It is easy enough to correct.

The sheet comes with a full color painting guide and some handy information. It is a very nice sheet, superbly printed by Cartograf and provides another fine option to the kit decals.

November 2013

Review copy courtesy of Squadron Products. Get yours at this link.

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