F-14D Tomcat Sunset #3
The Last Flight of VF-31

Crossdelta, 1/32 scale

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

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Crossdelta is a new name to me.  They hail from Korea and produce both rub-down and water slide decals as well as self adhesive metal detailing sets.

DEC008 from Crossdelta is a 1/32 scale decal sheet that provides markings for a single F-14D Grumman F-14 Tomcat Bureau number 164603 flown by VF-31 ‘Tomcatters’ at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia USA during the “Tomcat Sunset Day’ on 22 September 2006 to mark the retirement of the F-14 from US Navy frontline service.

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The aircraft was in the standard Tactical Paint Scheme (TPS) of FS 35237 Medium Gray upper surfaces with FS 36320 light ghost grey undersides with a FS 36375 Light Compass Ghost Grey nose and a FS 17038 gloss black radome.  Her vertical and ventral stabilisers were in the original red livery first worn by VF-31s when the squadron transitioned to the F-14 back in 1982.

The sheet provides you with large ‘Felix’ unit insignia for the vertical stabiliser, a set of high-viz national insignia, NAVY titles, bureau number blocks, small red eyed Felix unit insignia for the drop tanks, yellow ‘blocked’ stencil data, red intake warnings, yellow bordered black 101 modex, (you also get smaller 01s for the nose and straight black 101s for the top sides of the flaps), VF-31 titles, a set of slime lights, ejector seat triangles, crew names for the canopy rails, maintainers names for the nose gear door, USS Theodore Roosevelt titles for the vertical stabilisers, AJ airwing indicators, Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy award insignia (these items are supplied as an errata sheet), Golden Anchor Award insignia, CSFWL insignia, Just Win Baby insignia, a set of four VF-31 “zaps”, and two further small Felix insignia and yellow chevrons to use for the crew’s helmets.

The decals themselves have been printed by Cartograf.  They are of the silk screen print variety and are thin and in perfect register.  You get a 16cm x 10cm one as well as a tiny errata one containing the correct Arleigh Burke award insignia.

The placement guide/information sheet is a large A-3 sized sheet folded down to A-4 in size.  It shows full colour left and right hand profiles of Bureau number 164603 as well as large plan views of the upper and lower surfaces.  The sheet also shows a series of diagrams to assist you with masking and painting the vertical stabilisers.  As well as this you are provided with a guide of what aftermarket kits to buy in order to convert the suggested F-14A Tamiya kit into an F-14D to represent Bureau number 164603.  The sheet also suggests that you use the Crossdelta self-adhesive metal sheet CD32002 (available separately) to further upgrade the Tamiya kit to more accurately represent Bureau number 164603.

The two decal sheets and the placement guide/information sheet come packed into a cellophane baggie that is sealed across the bottom by a gummed flap.  Whilst it may protect the decal sheet and the placement guide during shipping it is not conducive to being re-used and there is a real danger to damaging the decals if you are not careful.

These are good quality decals with good quality support material but be aware that you will have to convert your chosen F-14A kit into a –D if you want to use these decals to accurately portray Bureau number 164603.

Text and Images Copyright © 2009 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 13 January, 2009
Last updated 14 January, 2009

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