81st Fighter Squadron
Spang Hawgs

Afterburner Decals, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron

New decals from the guys at Afterburner Decals.

This time we venture back into the United States Air Force and find ourselves at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany amongst the A-10A Thunderbolt IIs of the 52nd Fighter Wing’s 81st Panthers Fighter Squadron.

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Thumbnail panels:

And a busy sheet it is with markings provided for fourteen aircraft in all!

The individual options are as follows:

• Serial number 80-281, the Commanding Officer’s jet from 2005.  This machine, and all of the machines featured on the sheet, is finished in overall Federal Standard 36375 light ghost grey with Federal Standard 36320 dark ghost grey patches on the upper surfaces of the wings, fuselage and engine pods.  The placement guide also shows a “false canopy” painted on the underside of the forward fuselage in Federal Standard 36118 gunship grey.  The only relief from all these greys is the yellow applied to the fin caps of the vertical stabilisers.  The squadron applied markings are all lo-viz style in black and comprise black SP unit designators with grey “shadowing”, U.S. Air Force Europe shields, and the squadron’s leaping panther head on the vertical stabilisers, a 52nd Fighter Wing shield on the side of the fuselage, and pilot and ground crew names on the fuselage below the windscreen.

• 81-954, the Commanding Officer’s jet from 2006.  This option and the following eight are marked in the same manner as the previous machine with the exception that the “line birds” sport plain black SP unit designators.

• 81-988, a “line jet” from 2006

• 81-980, a “line jet” from, 2005

• 81-962, a “line jet” from 2006

• 81-991, a “line jet” from 2006

• 81-951, a “line jet” from 2006

• 81-966, a “line jet” from 2006

• 81-654, a “line jet” from 2007

• 81-985, a “line jet” from 2008

• 81-655.  The Commanding Officer’s jet from 1999.  The machine is in the same camouflage scheme as the other options but the fin caps are black and sport a yellow lightning bolt. The wing shield has gone from the fuselage sides and a full colour panther’s head is worn on the sides of the engine pods.

• 81-992.  From 2001. This machine is marked up as the Wing Commander’s aircraft and wears yellow, blue and red lightning bolts on the vertical stabilisers in place of the USAF Europe shields.  The SP unit designator is in black with a white “shadow” as are the 52 OG markings.  The fin cap is in grey and the panther’s head is worn on the engine pods.

• 82-649.  From 1999 during Operation Allied Force.  Fin caps are black and sport a white lightning bolt.  Panther’s head on the engine pods.

• 81-963.  A “line jet” from 2003.  Black fin caps with yellow lightning bolt.

The decals have been printed by Cartograf everything on my sheet is in perfect register.  All of the markings are contained on one very busy sheet so you will need to exercise care when separating them from the sheet so as you don’t cut into the surrounding designs.   Two sets of national insignia are provided as are two very complete sets of stencil data.  You also get 32 sets of flare/chaff buckets, 16 “empty” sets and 16 “full” sets as well as a pair of unit insignia for the vinyl intake covers worn by A-10s whilst on the ground – these can be obtained the Steel Beach range of accessories.  The stencil data also extends to the AN/AAQ-28 Litening pod, the AN-ALQ 131(V) pod, AIM-9M Sidewinder, and AGN-65 missiles carried by the A-10 – a nice inclusion!

The placement guides/information sheets are all printed on good quality glossy paper and you are provided with four full cover left hand side profiles, a single and right side profile as well as an upper and lower surface plan view.  As pretty well all of the options wear the same markings thumbnail sketches are provided for the rest of the airframes and these show the details pertinent to that option.  A “load out” diagram is also provided as is a large black and white line drawing to show placement of stencil data – includes the ejector seat.

The decal sheet and the three pages of placement guides/information sheets come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

This is a great release from Afterburner Decals.  It provides markings for 14 different options in all as well as enough stencil data to produce two different models all from the same sheet so your chances of seeing another model in the same markings you have applied to your latest masterpiece are long indeed!

Thanks to Afterburner Decals for the sample

Review Copyright © 2009 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 7 July, 2009
Last updated 7 July, 2009

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