From AOA Decal Manufacturer’s Notes

14 options for JLTVs in US service:

• 2x Army Reserve (Fort McCoy)
• 12x USMC - Additional decals are also included without the tape/exercise markings that cover some various unit markings. Decals for an M1102 trailer are also included for one JLTV option.
• Includes full JLTV stencil data set (enough for two vehicles) with variations.
• For Rye Field Model (RFM) 1/35 JLTV.

Background and Historical Notes

As one of the military’s most important decisions, it put out a bid announcement for a replacement for its basic utility vehicle, what was to be called the ‘Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.’

Its purpose was to provide a replacement for the Humvee, and to incorporate all the commonly threats facing the Humvee and be ‘up armored.’ It what has become a de-facto practice the armed services started studying the designs and requested bids from many of major manufacturers in 2006 and concluded with the selection of Oshkosh in 2019 with an initial contract of 16,901 vehicles. Since that date the services budget contracts have grown to 49,099 for the Army; approximately 12,500 for the Marine Corps; 2,000 for the Air Force (dependent on funding); and approximately 400 for the Navy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Light_Tactical_Vehicle_program). As you can see there are currently several versions of these vehicle (see image below) and I suspect more enroute to both Oshkosh and our hobby shops.

This decal sheet addresses the need/desire for aftermarket decals, primarily for the kits manufactured by Rye Field Models (as they have produced at least three such kits in 1/35^th scale). There are also several other such manufacturers kits in this scale, and I assume there will be other such kits in the foreseeable future.

There are fourteen individual decals covering both utility and fighting vehicles from several ships and locations including Twentynine Palms, Japan Kuwait and two Army locations. Colors include both a variety of USMC desert, a full OD and two full 3-color camouflage schemes.

While I currently have one such model JLTV on my messy desk, I have illustrated a sample using a piece of scrape in Carc Tan from Real Colors (RC 079) allowing me to simulate a desert tan and try my hand at these AOA decals. To prepare my test sample I first prepared it with Mr. Surfacer 500 and then sprayed one coat of RC 079. I did not lay down my usual covering layer of Testor’s Dullcoat, because I wanted to see what film remained on the surface of the decals.

I was very pleased with several aspects of these decals: (a) they are very thin, (b) there is almost no visible decal film, (c) the decals themselves are printed very accurately allowing you to see and display all the tiniest lettering and details (I used my Opti visor to read some of smallest print—it’s all there!), and (d) those in color also show what appears to be the masking tape used on the appropriate vehicle, which I found to be an incredible detail, as well as a utility trailer. There is also an indication that these decals were printed by Cartograf in Italy. See the attached image illustrating the ‘2-1’ in blue masking tape.

Recommendation

As you can see from earlier notes and images, I see these decals as a great modeling asset, providing several markings for the military’s newest all-purpose vehicles. This is a vehicle that is in wide usage across the US inventory and seemingly not been covered to date. I recommend these decals without reservation, both for their price point and the wide variety of vehicle subject markings included.

I want to thank the AOA and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review these decals.