AOA Decals has released a decal sheet (#48022) that updates and supersedes their own #48-007 sheet covering A-6 TRAM Intruders during Operation Prairie Fire (Libya, 1986) and Desert Storm (Iraq, 1991), including markings for five aircraft in the Libya strikes and four aircraft in the Iraq strikes.

Provided markings are:

• VA-34 Blue Blasters, based on the USS America, for the Libya strikes (1986)
• VA-55 Warhorses, based on the USS Coral Sea, for the Libya strikes (1986)
• VA-85 Black Falcons, based on the USS Saratoga, for the Libya strikes (1986)
• VA-35 Black Panthers – based on the USS Saratoga, for the Iraq strikes (1991)
• VMA(AW)-533 Hawks – based at Sheikh Isa base (Bahrain), for the Iraq strikes (1991)

All the aircraft are in low-viz camouflage with the main difference among them being the squadron markings and any individual marking for the airframe.

The decal sheet also includes details for fuel tanks, tail hooks and stencils for some weapons or even “graffiti” for some bombs, allowing for even further customization and accuracy down to a specific mission.

The decal sheet is printed by Cartograph and it looks thin, glossy and it is in perfect register. Likely the color density will be excellent too, as per the Cartograph standard.

I want to highlight the outstanding research that has gone into this sheet. You get port views and top views of each airplane, which is common with most decal sheets. But you also get details on crew names, timing at which mission markings were applied to the airframe, even down to weapons loadout for individual missions. Truly, this decal sheet doubles up as reference material!

Highly recommended. You will have an extremely accurate Intruder if you use these decals and follow their research.

I would like to thank AOA decals and IPMS/USA for the review sample.