FCM 48-035: F-14A Sundowners Part 1

Units: See review

Price

$

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Continuing with the Sundowner Tomcats, this next sheet is in 1/48 scale and covers two aircraft, both painted overall gloss light gull grey. For kits, FCM recommends the Hasegawa or Italeri kit, though it should also fit the Monogram or Fujimi version. Due to the larger nose on the Academy kit that one is not recommended if modeling a version with the shark mouth.

First up is a 1982 marking from when they were aboard the USS kitty hawk. Lots of red on this one, including the unit name and the modex (nose number).

The second is from when they were attached to the USS Carl Vinson back in 1986. This one is quite subdued for a CAG bird making it rather unusual in that respect. I get the feeling that it was a temporary replacement as it doesn't even have the unit's signature shark mouth.

The decals themselves are very nicely  printed by Microscale. Instructions are in full color and include color information and a full stencil placement guide. There are enough common markings to do both of the schemes on the sheet, which is quite nice. As one of the intake warning decals had incomplete markings, an addendum is included.

June 2010

Thanks to FCM for providing the review sheet.

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