Sheet:

Aeromaster 48-606: Kennedy's Tomcats 2002/3 pt II

Units: VF-11 and VF-143

Price

$

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Somehow I missed a series of Aeromaster decals as I don't have part one. Anyway, this sheet seems to have caught a trend from another decal maker and includes images of the actual plane in the instruction sheet. This is a good thing as it provides some reference material on the actual plane. The down side is that the images, while larger than the 'other guys' are still a bit small and are not the best lit in some of the cases. However, it is better to have them than have none.

It also seems as if these sheets will have at least one CAG bird and at least one 'normal' aircraft, which is also good as often we want to model a 'run of the mill' plane and not the fancy CAG bird. Much appreciated.

This sheet has a 'normal' aircraft from VF-143, the famous 'Pukin Dogs'. These Tomcats are F-14Bs which means they are set up to carry bombs, a useful addition to what was once only an interceptor.

The other unit is VF-11 and it includes a CAG bird with dark blue tail, ventral strakes and anti-glare panel. Nice to see some color over the usual Tactical Paint Scheme. There is a 'standard' F-14B as well. At one time these guys flew F-14Ds but I guess that the drawdown of the Tomcat fleet (which gets smaller every year) means that available planes had to be consolidated in other units. BTW, the JFK (at this time) was the only carrier to still have two F-14 squadrons in the wing.

Again, the rather pricey Hasegawa kit is recommended. There is an Italeri F-14B, but from what I know about it, you should stay very far away from it and spend the extra moolah needed for the Hasegawa version. There appears to be enough 'stuff' on the sheet to enable all three planes to be built using sheet decals. Good move.

Review sheet courtesy . Thanks for your support.

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