To my knowledge, this is the first full aircraft sheet under the Hobby Decal name. They have chosen the F-18F Hornet from newly formed VFA-103 as their subject. What makes this sheet interesting is not only the fact that it is a full dry transfer sheet, but that they have included markings for both a 1/72 and a 1/48 aircraft on the same sheet. I like this idea and hope that it catches on. There are nose numbers and serial numbers for two different aircraft included on the sheet as well as a full stencil suite. The instructions are excellent and provide exact placement information.

For kits you really have but one choice in each scale. For 1/48 there is the Italeri kit, which needs work as it is a prototype. Revell-Monogram are supposed to be releasing one 'soon', so that should be a real treat. In 1/72 the new-ish Hasegawa F-18F is the one that you'll want to use. Again, Italeri does one (I believe), but it is a prototype.

For more information on the pros and cons of dry transfers, please visit this review. I should mention that overall, dry transfer decals will provide a superior result as there is no need to clear coat the model and they are quite thin.

March 2005

Thanks to HobbyDecal for the review samples

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