Sheet:

Superscale 72-079: A-1 Skyraiders

Units: See review

Price

LONG out of production

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

I don't know if you actually like these old decal reviews or not. It is really a bit of a tease to talk about something that hasn't been around for 30 years, but I like to look at them more in a historical context as anything else. If you think about it, if a sheet is popular, then either it gets reissued, or that subject gets done by a number of other decal companies. I'm sure you can think of several subjects that have been, well, done to death. That is because they are popular, and no other real reason.

This sheet contains two A-1 Skyraiders. Like many of the old Microscale/Superscale sheets, this one isn't bad, but has some problems. One is that it is slightly off register and you can see that by looking at the roundels. The other is that the printing isn't bad, just not as crisp as what one would like. However, back in the dark past, this level of detail was more than acceptable.

First is a South Vietnamese A-1J of the 516 FS. Not sure if the colors of the insignia are correct as I thought they were more yellow than red , but it does include the fuselage and tail band.

The other is a rather featureless A-1H, 'Bubbles N Bust' of the 56th SOS in standard SEA camo except for the black underside and no national insignia.

The sheet is designed for the Monogram kit, though there is no reason why it shouldn't fit the Tamiya version quite nicely. A full stencil suit is provided. Most of those stencils are for the weapons pylons.

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