Thank you to AOA Decals for sending these excellent decals for review, and thank you to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me review them! I am very appreciative of the chance to contribute back to the scale-modeling community. AOA Decals is a new company providing thoroughly researched decals emphasizing USN and USMC subjects, particularly of the Vietnam era.

I looked at this decal set from the perspective of 1) someone who has deep interest in USN carrier aircraft but no direct experience, and 2) how effectively and efficiently could a historically accurate model be built using the decal markings. AOA Decals has gone well beyond their superbly researched and printed decals by including abundant references and building suggestions specific to the target kit. Four double-sided, letter-sized, color pages of general information, paint scheme notes, kit modifications, stencil placement, and specific aircraft markings are provided with one decal sheet, protected in a 9 x 13 inch zipper-closure poly bag. The decals are printed by Cartograf, are extremely crisp, have very good opacity, and minimal carrier film. Furthermore, no registration errors were seen anywhere, even at 10x magnification! I appreciate how decals are grouped on the sheet, with each aircraft’s markings in mostly the same place. This placement allows better organization for future use; I know this seems like a small thing, but it shows good planning and consideration of the end-user by AOA.

The decals in the set are on one 8 x 9 inch sheet. Aircraft covered by this set are:

• 1 aircraft from aboard the USS America, Operations Prairie Fire & El Dorado Canyon (1986)
• 1 aircraft from aboard the USS Coral Sea, Operations Prairie Fire & El Dorado Canyon (1986)
• 1 aircraft from aboard the USS Saratoga, Operations Prairie Fire & El Dorado Canyon (1986)
• 2 aircraft from aboard the USS Saratoga, Operation Desert Storm (1991)
• 2 aircraft from Sheikh Isa Air Base (Bahrain), Operation Desert Storm (1991)
• Decals are also included for
  • crew helmets
  • fuel tanks
  • ejection seats
  • VA-35 MERs
  • VA-55 special ordnance markings, for APAM Rockeyes

The AOA Decals website has excellent color profiles of these aircraft.

I highly recommend these decals without reservation. I expect an A-6E kit to arrive momentarily and I can get busy!

Thank you again to AOA Decals for providing the decal set to review, and to the IPMS Reviewer Corps for letting me review them, it is a much appreciated privilege.