Frenchman Sylvain Hautier founded Syhart Decals (SY (Sylvain) HA (Hautier) , ART (design)) in 2006 with the aim of recreating in model form the special aircraft paint schemes that have been developed to celebrate anniversaries, participate in Tiger Meets, and for last flights.

No 1 Squadron of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was formed in 1916 at Point-Cook (Victoria) In 2010, the 1 Squadron was converted to F/A-18F Super Hornet. The squadron attained full Operational Capability with Super Hornet at the end of 2012.

For the Centenary of 1 Squadron in 2016, one of these Super-Hornets, A44-210, received a special paint scheme, the tails being painted black with yellow silhouettes of former aircraft types flown by the squadrons on the inner sides, while the outer sides are adorned with the kookaburra insignia of the squadron.

This package includes one decal sheet that features all standard and special markings, plus full stencilling, and two pages of full-colour instructions.

The decals are silkscreen printed and look great on the sheets. There is little excess film around the images, and the colours are of good saturation and in perfect register. I’ve used a set of their decals in the past and I recall them being thin and easy to use. For schemes that you really want and won’t find elsewhere, Syhart offers a great package and at very good prices – I highly recommend them!

Syhart Decals are available directly from their website with inexpensive postage, which is free on orders over 80 Euros (around $95), and from many good modelling retailers, especially in Europe, and eBay shops in North America. My thanks to M. Hautier for providing IPMS/USA with the review samples – merci beaucoup, Sylvain!