Years ago in SAM Volume 21 Number 2 April 1999 Dave Neale built a beautiful I-153 in Finnish Markings. In his build article he reworked the kit cowling making the needed corrections to depict the proper exhausts. The Heller kit simply comes with dimples for the exhaust ports that surround the cowling. Dave removed these dimples and drilled out holes in the cowling and made his own exhausts. For years I have wanted to make this kit but have chickened out in favor of less involved projects, because I would need to do as Dave did to do the kit justice.

This sheet of markings is for the F/A-18Bs belonging to VFA-125, The Rough Raiders. They are one of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aggressor squadrons whose mission is to teach other fighter squadrons the tactics and skills they need to stay alive in a real dog fight.

This set of markings comes with decals for 5 separate aircraft. They are:

The Aircraft

If you aren’t at least familiar with the F-4 Phantom II, you have either lived in a cave or a monastery for the last 50 years. Or you might be a WW2 fanatic. The Phantom was produced in huge numbers (5195) and sold to many countries (11). The US Air Force, Navy and Marines used the F-4. The last of the Phantoms are now flying with the Turkish Air Force, Japan and South Korea.

This kit is the F-4E, an Air Force version with the internal 20 mm cannon. If you’re interested in less well known air forces, the F-4E has been used by Australia, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, South Korea, and Turkey. Germany also had some F-4Es, but they were based at Holloman in New Mexico with the Luftwaffe training group.