Afterburner Decals

1/48 VFA-102 Diamondbacks 2005-2007 decal sheet

product # AD 48-032

Review by Steve Bamford on June 4 2008

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This new decal sheet from Afterburner Decals includes markings for six different 1/48 F/A-18F's with VFA-102 Diamondbacks from 2005-2007. 

The first aircraft is a F/A-18F 165894 2007 CAG bird with VFA-102 Diamondbacks.  This is the most colourful jet on this decal sheet complete with red tails and red down the centreline of the centre of the fuselage with white diamonds.  There is a classic red and white diamondback stripe across the forward section of the fuselage.  There is Diamond back snake artwork of a red and white Diamondback snake wrapped around the planet Earth.  

The second aircraft is a F/A-18F 165882 2007 CO jet with VFA-102 Diamondbacks.  This is the second most colourful jet on this decal sheet with red fin flashes at the top of the tails and a classic red and white diamondback stripe across the forward section of the fuselage.  There is Diamond back snake artwork of a red and white Diamondback snake wrapped around the planet Earth.

The third aircraft is a F/A-18F 165887 2007 line jet with VFA-102 Diamondbacks.  This is a lo-viz jet with the same Diamondback markings as the other jets on this decal sheet but all the markings and artwork are in grey.  There is a classic grey diamondback stripe across the forward section of the fuselage and a  Diamond back snake artwork of a red and white Diamondback snake wrapped around the planet Earth. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

The fourth aircraft is a F/A-18F 165892 2007 line jet with VFA-102 Diamondbacks.  This is a lo-viz jet with the same Diamondback markings as the other jets on this decal sheet but all the markings and artwork are in grey.  There is a classic grey diamondback stripe across the forward section of the fuselage and a  Diamond back snake artwork of a red and white Diamondback snake wrapped around the planet Earth. 

The fifth aircraft is a F/A-18F 165890 2007 line jet with VFA-102 Diamondbacks.  This is a lo-viz jet with the same Diamondback markings as the other jets on this decal sheet but all the markings and artwork are in grey.  There is a classic grey diamondback stripe across the forward section of the fuselage and a  Diamond back snake artwork of a red and white Diamondback snake wrapped around the planet Earth. 

The sixth aircraft is a F/A-18F 165888 2005 line jet with VFA-102 Diamondbacks.  This is a lo-viz jet with the same Diamondback markings as the other jets on this decal sheet but all the markings and artwork are in grey.  There is a classic grey diamondback stripe across the forward section of the fuselage and a  Diamond back snake artwork of a red and white Diamondback snake wrapped around the planet Earth. 

The instructions are clear and include 1 side view of each aircraft as well as a single view of the top and bottom to show camo layout.  There is also a 4 view B&W line drawings showing decal and stencil placement and a further page of instructions explaining proper loadout for different pylons and configurations.  The decals are beautifully printed on 2 decal sheets.  Two complete set of stencils are included on this decal sheet.

VFA-102 Diamondbacks is a very popular Squadron and this sheet covers their newer 2 seater F-model Super Hornets very well.

Steve

I would like to thank Afterburner Decals for providing me with this review sample.

Click on images below to see larger images

Photos and text © by Steve Bamford