I have some history with the CH-54. In 1982, in Savannah, Georgia I was an airplane crew chief. The GA National Guard was flying these at the time. I went over and asked to go flying with them. They said no problem. So I hopped in the jump seat with a people pod mounted in back. We did a run-up and the rotor brake failed. So since I was a mechanic, the crew chief and I changed out the component and off we went to pick up the National Guardsman on maneuvers. I was in the back right next to the lever that disconnected the people pod. I was very aware of where that was. We flew them around, dropped them off and after the mission I thanked the crew and went back home. It was a cool experience, and I was struck by the massive size and power of the beast.

Who ever thought that we’d see the CH-54A Skycrane in 1/35 scale? Surely not me, but ICM did just that. A huge kit with lots of potential and cool options. But what if you wanted to do something different? That is where AOA Decals comes in.

The huge sheet comes packaged in a ziplock bag with three double-sided 8.5x11 full color instruction sheets. There are markings for FIFTEEN aircraft. As the title says, it covers the Tahre from Vietnam to National Guard service. Some have particle separators and others have the bell mouth intakes. There are also aircraft with the universal, or “people” pod. The instructions show where all the stencils go, inside and out, for both the helicopter and the pod. That is a nice touch. The instructions are quite comprehensive and of the quality I’ve come to expect from AOA. In addition to the people pod, one of the aircraft is marked up as an M-121 Daisy Cutter from the First Cavalry. Do not neglect reading the captions for the aircraft, as there is a lot of information contained in each one. The stencil instructions alone are really informative.

But what about the decals? First off, they are printed by Cartograf, so you know they are world-class for colors, opacity, and saturation. They are world-class thin and perfectly suited for all setting solutions that I’m aware of. The decals come on two sheets, one is on A4 format and a must smaller sheet with additional NG markings. There are stencils for one complete aircraft and one complete people pod. There are plenty of UNITED STATES ARMY markings to do eight different aircraft, so don’t sweat it if you screw one up. So the decals not only cover the aircraft, but they also include markings for the pod. The stencils cover not only the exterior but the interior of both the airframe and universal pod. That is a nice touch!

World-class research, decal printing, presentation, and subject matter make this another winner from AOA Decals. They continue to produce some of the best decals out there. This sheet is a real winner. If you have the ICM kit, whether yours has the universal military pod or not, this is a must-have sheet.

Highly recommended!

Thanks to AOA Decals and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain yours by contacting them online or at your local hobby shop or favorite online retailer.