AOA Decals 1/72 Gunships: Raining Fire (1) Decal First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | March 2018 | Manufacturer | AOA Decals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Gunships: Raining Fire (1) | Scale | 1/72 |
| Set Number | 72006 | Pros | Markings for 14 aircraft |
| Cons | Nothing noted | Skill Level | Basic |
| MSRP (USD) | $15.49 |
First Look
AOA Decals is back with a new release that put a smile on my face. I had found an old Testors 1/72 AC-119K kit a few years ago in great condition, but set it into the collection for lack of good decals. In this release, we have markings for both the AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger designed for the 1/72 Italeri (Testors) kit. This set provides a variety of USAF and VNAF examples, complete with their distinctive nose art.
The aircraft provided in this decal set include:
- AC-119K, 53-7830, 18 SOS, 1969-70, 'Fly United'
- AC-119K, 53-7830, 18 SOS, 1972, 'Black Killer Duck'
- AC-119K, 52-9982, 18 SOS, 1969-70, 'The Super Sow'
- AC-119K, 52-5864, 18 SOS, 1969-70, 'Montezuma's Revenge'
- AC-119K, 52-5945, 18 SOS, 1969-70, 'The Polish Cannon'
- AC-119K, 53-3154, 18 SOS, 1969-70, 'The Pea Nut Special'
- AC-119G, 53-8069, 819 AS/VNAF, 1971+
- AC-119G, 53-8089, 819 AS/VNAF, 1972+
- AC-119G, 52-5905, 17 SOS, 1970, 'Charlie Chasers'
- AC-119G, 52-5942, 17 SOS, 1970, 'Charlie Chasers'
- AC-119G, 53-8069, 71 SOS, 1969, 'City of Columbus, Indiana'
- AC-119G, 53-7848, 17 SOS, 1970, 'The Charlotte Representative'
- AC-119G, 52-5927, 71 SOS, 1969, 'The Devil's Advocate'
- AC-119G, 53-3136, 71 SOS, 1969, 'Burks Law'
The decals are in perfect register (printed by Cartograf) and in addition to the individual subjects, this set has two complete set of airframe stencils. In addition to decal placement diagrams for the individual aircraft and airframe maintenance stenciling, the instructions also walk you through the process of accurizing the Testors/Italeri kit as well as back-dating the kit to an AC-119G.
This is the first comprehensive decal set for the Shadow/Stinger, and a welcome sight for me. I can finally tackle this gunship project and start planning for a few other gunships in this same scale. While I prefer larger scale modeling, I can't imagine where I'd park a 1/48 scale AC-119K without investing in more shelves and a place to put them!
For more information about this set and the other releases from AOA Decals, visit their website at www.aoadecals.com.
My sincere thanks to AOA Decals for this review sample!