Furball Aero-Design/Detail & Scale 1/48 Colors and Markings of US Navy Tomcats Part IX Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Furball Aero-Design continues its collaboration with Detail & Scale and this release covers a cross-section of F-14A/B Tomcats that were painted in variations of the tactical low-visibility camouflage scheme.

The subjects in this set include:

• F-14A, 162700, VF-14, AC/100, USS John F. Kennedy, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A+, 163223, VF-24, NG/200, USS Nimitz, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 161856, VF-31, AE/200, USS Forrestal, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160667, VF-51, NL/100, USS Carl Vinson, 1989, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 162925, VF-74, AA/100, USS Saratoga, 1992, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160414, VF-84, AJ/200, USS Nimitz, 1984, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160414, VF-84, AJ/200, USS Nimitz, 1986, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 162695, VF-102, AB/100, USS America, 1993, CAG aircraft
• F-14B, 162916, VF-102, AB/100, USS John F. Kennedy, 1998, CAG aircraft
• F-14B, 162918, VF-103, AA/100, USS George Washington, 2002, CAG aircraft
• F-14B, 162926, VF-142, AG/200, USS George Washington, 1994, CAG aircraft
• F-14A+, 161416, VF-143, AG/100, USS Dwight D Eisenhower, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 159002, VF-191, NM/100, NAS Miramar, 1987, CAG aircraft
• F-14A+, 161599, VF-211, NG/100, USS Nimitz, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 161294, VF-213, NH/200, USS Abraham Lincoln, 1991, CAG aircraft

In addition to the extensive marking options in this set, there are sufficient national markings and airframe stencils for several kits. The sheets are printed by Cartograf and the printing is very well done. What's more, none of these decals require the modeler to stack multiple layers of markings atop one another to recreate artwork. This trend by some other decal companies of producing multiple-layer decals is unfortunate as it puts the burden on you to do the work of what should have been done by the decal maker.

My sincere thanks to Furball Aero-Design for this review sample!