A few weeks back, I was finishing up a Hasegawa 1/72 F-18F that I bought already started and was considering building another. In the many years this plane has been in service, I have only actually seen one and it was with VFA-211 that showed up at an air show nearby in 2009. My search started for a sheet and the only one I could find in this scale was from Authentic Decals. This sheet was also recommended by readers (thanks folks), but my past experience with these decals showed them to be fairly transparent as they did not have their colors backed with white. Figuring that the scheme I wanted was basically greys, I went for it, and ordered it from a store on the web.

The sheet offers six different markings from the period of 2005 to 2010. What is impressive is the number of different markings used by this squadron in those five years. There are a pair of the requisite CAG birds, one with a black surround to the cockpit from 2009 and another from 2005. This is follwed by one with the large checks on the rudder from 2008 and the aircraft from the photo I took in September 2009 from the mid 2010 time frame. Both of these have upper and lower fin bands though the design is different. The last two options are rather similar and both from late 2007. The first has mission markings on it from the USS Enterprise cruise of September 2007 while the other has a small nose art and was seen at the Dubai Air Show in November of that year. Both of these planes have rather small tail markings.

There are enough insignia and data markings to do two planes as long as one is the first plane on the sheet. The instructions are well done and offer a full stencil placement guide. There are also decals for intake and exhaust covers as well as for the pilot's helmet if you are one who likes their models manned. I should point out that the two greys used on these planes are very close to each other and often make the plane look like a single shade. You can easily see that in the head photo. I realize that for many, these sorts of aircraft are boring, and I can understand that, especially as I usually get no commentary on them when I build them for the web site. However, if you are a builder of US Navair, you have to include these planes into your mix. I'm personally pleased that not only did Authentic Decals provide markings for a plane of which I have a photo, but also that they offer standard line birds.

Thanks to me for picking this one up.

October 2015

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