Afterburner Decals 1/48 F/A-18A+ & F/A-18C OIF Golden Warriors Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Afterburner Decals has turned out some impressive decal releases covering contemporary US Navy subjects and this one is no exception. This release a variety of CAG, commander, and line aircraft from VFA-87 'Golden Warriors' between 2003 and 2007. Interesting that the Golden Warriors lost their C-model Hornets this year to VFC-12 and are flying A+ Hornets (for now).

The aircraft presented in this set are:

• F/A-18A+, BuNo 162886, VFA-87, AJ/400, USS Theodore Roosevelt, CAG, NAS Oceana, 2007, as flown by CAPT Dixon
• F/A-18A+, BuNo 162902, VFA-87, AJ/403, USS Theodore Roosevelt, NAS Oceana, 2007, as flown by LCDR Miller
• F/A-18A+, BuNo 162861, VFA-87, AJ/411,USS Theodore Roosevelt, NAS Oceana, 2007, as flown by LT Danowski
• F/A-18C, BuNo 164687, VFA-87, AJ/400, CAG, USS Theodore Roosevelt, NAS Oceana, 2006, as flown by CAPT Sizemore
• F/A-18C, BuNo 164675, VFA-87, AJ/401, CO, USS Theodore Roosevelt, NAS Oceana, 2006, as flown by CDR Morely
• F/A-18C, BuNo 164687, VFA-87, AJ/400, CAG, USS Theodore Roosevelt, NAS Oceana, 2003, as flown by CDR Newland
• F/A-18C, BuNo 164647, VFA-87, AJ/402, XO, USS Theodore Roosevelt, NAS Oceana, 2006, as flown by CDR Fenton

Once again, Afterburner decals has turned out a nice subject set for the Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18 Hornets. Several of these decals are two-layer markings to render the artwork.

As you can see in the decal layout, this set provides a nice array of maintenance stencils in addition to the national markings and distinctive unit markings. In fact, Afterburner Decals provide sufficient stencils and markings for two complete aircraft.

According to the instructions, this set was sized for the Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18 kit though you can adapt these to fit any 1/48 scale F/A-18.

My sincere thanks to Afterburner Decals for this review sample!