For their next new sheet, Wolfpak Decals has decided to go all Air Force on this and has aircraft from units that are/were designed for air defense. Many of these units no longer provide these sorts of assets and in fact, after the fall of the Soviet Union, air defense squadrons were disbanded or converted over to other types by the dozens. All of the fighter units in the Midwest are now either gone or flying cargo or ground attack types, leaving a huge gap where there is no fighter defense at all. What few are left are thinly spread on the far coasts. Obviously USAF planners have decided that there is no longer an imminent danger from air attack.

The instruction sheet for this set is the best in the business when it comes to background information and what may be needed to accurately depict the aircraft being modeled. In addition to the actual placement profiles, there are several additional pages of information that include a history of the type,  kits and update bits for these schemes,  as well as load-out information, and any changes needed to properly model the aircraft in question, assuring you of the most accurate model you can have. A listing of available kits is also included. If you've never seen a set of Wolfpak Decals, you really have no idea of how extensive the background information is with these sheets.

On to the schemes.

The first option is really a three in one serial number deal. There are markings for three 178 FS planes that were deployed to Langley AFB to provide air defense for Washington DC. This was and may still be a common practice to have a trio or four planes assigned to far locations to provide ready alert. Markings are given for the two alert planes and one spare from September 2001. These are F-16A/ADF versions.

Next is a 131 FS F-15C of the Massachusetts ANG  as was flying in March of 2010. It is in the Mod Eagle scheme the fleet has been wearing for about the last 20 years.

Back to the Vietnam War and here are a pair of SEA camouflaged F-102A Delta Darts. One with the NV tail code was based at Naha, Okinawa with the 82nd FIS in 1970, while the PE coded plane was at DaNang in 1968 with the 64th FIS.

The last one is the biggest and its markings take up half the sheet. This is an E-3A when based at Kadena, Okinawa in 1994 with the 961 AACS. When I was based in Iceland during the late 1980s, I'd see a steady rotation of E-3s, usually two at a time from different squadrons. They seemed to stay about two weeks then be replaced by another plane and crew. They spent a lot of time in the air as you can imagine. None of the Iceland planes wore tail codes. Apparently the Kadena planes were there for a longer time period.

As with the previous sheets, these are superbly printed by Fantasy Printshop and without any registration problems. If you have not yet treated yourself to some of the best researched decals around, you should.

Thanks to WolfPak Decals for the review sample. You can get yours at the link to the left.

June 2011