Wolfpak Decals 72-001

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com

Wolfpak Decals is a newcomer to the world of aftermarket decals.  They are based in Youngstown, Ohio in the United States and their decals are printed by the Fantasy Print Shop in the United Kingdom.

Their chosen subject, to date at least, is aircraft operated by the United States Air Force.  The sheets are all to 1/72 scale and you get a wide variety of subjects on each sheet.

Their first issue holds markings for eight aircraft as follows:

• 66-783 F-4D Phantom II of the 8th Fighter Wing, 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Uborn Air Force Base, Thailand in 1972.  A pretty unique bird, it wore South East Asia camouflage scheme on its upper surfaces and black on its undersides so as to fit its role as a night Forward Air Control (Owl FAC) over Hanoi in North Vietnam.  783 was modified under the Pave Phantom program and is fitted with LORAN D navigation system.  It was one of two machines to be further configured for the AVQ-11 Pave Sword laser spot tracker pod.

• KC-135R 62-3543 assigned to the 459th Air Refuelling Wing, 22nd Air Force Air Reserve Command and based at Andrews Air Force Base in Virginia.  The machine is in overall air mobility command grey Federal Standard 36173.

• MC-130E.  The sheet provides the basic markings to enable you to model four different and historically significant MC-130Es as follows:

• 64-0555 – fitted with the Fulton Recovery System (the folded back forks on the nose) assigned to the 7th Special Operations Squadron at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany in 1972.  Her upper surfaces are painted in black and tan camouflage over light grey undersides which were later painted black – the accompanying notes provide a fuller description including the appropriate Federal Standard 595a numbers.

• 64-0523 – Fulton equipped and assigned to the 7th Special Operations Squadron at Ramstein Air Force base, Germany as well as (later) the 90th Special Operations Squadron in South East Asia (location not stated).  Painted in black and tan upper surfaces with light grey undersides, she took part in Son Tay Prison raid.  Both white and tan serials are provided for this option.

• 62-7785 – Sans the Fulton forks and painted black and tan with black undersides, it was assigned to the 1st Special Operations Squadron at Clark Field in the Philippines and later at Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa.  She participated in Operation EAGLE CLAW, the ill-fated Iranian hostage rescue mission.

• 64-0572 – Fulton equipped and assigned to the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlbert Field Florida.  Painted in Black and tan with black undersides, she participated in Operation URGENT FURY, the mission to rescue college students on the Island of Grenada.

• T-28D 49-1561 of the 606th Special Operations Squadron of the 56th Special Operations Wing and based at Nahkon Phanom, Thailand in 1967/68.  It wears an unusual camouflage of medium green, euro green and gunship grey upper surfaces over black undersides.

• A-10A Warthog 79-981of the 103rd Fighter Squadron, 11th Fighter Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard.  Finished in dark ghost grey over light ghost grey camouflage and based at Willow Grove Naval Air Station in 2005.

Support information/decal placement guide is provided via three A-4 sized sheets that feature a single side profile of each option as well as what looks to be reproductions and modifications of the appropriate pages of the USAF Technical Manual TO 1-1-4 to show the applicable camouflage pattern of each option.  Other information provided on the sheets includes a detailed narrative and black white photos of each for each of the options.  The photos are not necessarily of the particular option but are labelled to illustrate the salient points of the machine being modelled.  A list of applicable kits and aftermarket accessories is provided as well as notes and tips on painting.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

Thumbnail panels:

The decals themselves are beautifully printed.  There are some difficult detailed markings on the sheet but everything is in perfect register.

The decals and supporting sheets come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

The verdict?  A “no frills” product.  What I mean by that is, the decals are great, the choice of subject is diverse, the research and background detail provided are first rate but the placement guide and camouflage scheme guides are not up to snuff when compared with those of other manufacturers – have a look at the accompanying images and you will see what I mean.  Wolfpak’s website at http://www.millcreekconsultants.com/WP72-1.html is listing them at USD $13.50 which is not cheap for what you are provided.

Other than the less than stellar presentation of the support material, I would still but the sheet if I were chasing markings for a particular aircraft that it features.

Recommended

Thanks to Wolfpak Decals for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2008 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 5 February, 2008
Last updated 5 February, 2008

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page