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Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
August 10, 2020
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.50

Tracing its lineage back to 1925, VMFA-232 Phantoms began sorties over Vietnam from Da Nang Air Base in late 1967. Flying close air support for the Marines on the ground, the Red Devils flew nearly 6,000 sorties and delivered some 6,00 tons of ordinance during their time in the ‘Nam, being one of the few units capable of delivering 2,000 lb. bombs at the time. They redeployed during Operation Linebacker and lost three Phantoms during that time (one to enemy air action), becoming the last Marine Phantom unit to leave Vietnam in 1973. They finally surrendered their final remaining Phantom in 1988.

AOA Decals is making a name for themselves with some of the very best decals found on the market. Whisper-thin, spot-on register, easy to apply and with excellent opacity, they really make for an extremely pleasant modeling experience.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
August 10, 2020
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$19.50

VMFA-212 Lancers was the first Marine jet squadron to be deployed aboard an aircraft carrier in combat, serving on the USS Oriskany in May of 1965. They conducted more than 12,000 combat sorties and dumped nearly 10,000 tons of ordinance during that time, chalking up an admirable safety record until their return to Hawaii in December of the same year.

AOA Decals is making a name for themselves with some of the very best decals found on the market. Whisper-thin, spot-on register, easy to apply and with excellent opacity, they really make for an extremely pleasant modeling experience.

Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
August 10, 2020
Company
AOA Decals
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$16.00

AOA Decals is making a name for themselves with some of the very best decals found on the market. Whisper-thin, spot-on register, easy to apply, and with excellent opacity, they really make for an extremely pleasant modeling experience.

I was offered a chance to check some of these out and started with their stencil set for Vietnam-era Marine or Navy Phantoms. This set comes on one full sheet with a separate sheet for the national markings features, literally hundreds of individual stencils covering the entire airframe including weapons pylons. Registration is perfect and the film is extraordinarily thin. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they lay down with no obvious silvering. Frankly, I couldn’t find a thing to complain about, except perhaps for the time it’s going to take to apply them all.

Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
August 9, 2020
Company
Scale Aircraft Conversions
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$18.95

Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) is a Texas based company that makes white metal landing gear for a vast number of model aircraft in all scales.

The idea behind the use of metal over the kit supplied plastic landing gear is strength. Over time plastic can give way under the weight of heavy aircraft models.

The metal parts are contained in a clear plastic tray with an attractive color backing showing product details.

This set includes the nose and main undercarriage legs, main gear retraction struts, nose leg torque links and inner main gear door retraction struts and bulkhead. They are a direct copy of the plastic kit parts, except for the main gear. The kit plastic main undercarriage legs are in two parts, while the SAC gear comes as one part. This makes the leg stronger and eliminates dealing with a glue seam.

Review Author
Jarrod Booth
Published on
August 10, 2020
Company
Kitty Hawk
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$129.99

The Dassault Mirage 2000N is a nuclear strike variant, while the 2000D is a conventional attack version of this versatile French fighter. It has seen extensive and distinguished action in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

The Mirage was packed in a large, strong and colorful top opening box. Each sprue was contained in its own plastic bag. At the bottom there was a separate cardboard box protecting the clear sprue, a resin exhaust nozzle in a small zip lock bag and the instruction manual. The decal sheets were found in their own zip lock bag along with a photo etch fret. The complete package was superbly done and offered maximum protection of all parts. Only the two main ejection seat parts were loose from their sprues.