US Navy Phantoms
VF-41 ‘Black Aces’ F-4B/J/N

Double Ugly! Decals, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Yellow Wings Decals are available online from Squadron

DUD48002 is the second of two new decal sheets that herald Double Ugly’s entry in to the decal world.

Sheet 48002 provides markings for another Atlantic Fleet fighter squadron, VF-41 the Black Aces.

Six machines are covered in all and the details of each of the options are as follows:

• F-4B Bureau number 150635, Modex 108.  The markings depict it as it appeared aboard the USS Independence whilst participating in a North Atlantic deployment with CVW-7 between September and November of 1964.  This machine (as well as all of the others on the sheet) is finished in the then standard colour scheme for U.S. Navy aircraft comprising light gull grey upper surfaces over insignia white undersides and control surfaces.  A note here – the placement guide advises that the light gull grey is FS 16440 –i.e. a glossy light gull grey.  I might be wrong but my understanding is that glossy light gull grey did not come into use until 1970.  It has a black radome and anti-glare panel and wears the earlier squadron marking without the diagonal red band on its vertical stabiliser.

• F-4B 1 Bureau number 49433, Modex 101.  This was the aircraft assigned to the squadron’s Commanding Officer.  It wears the same markings as the previous option.

• F-4B Bureau number 150491, Modex 100.  This was the squadron’s CAG bird during VF-41’s WESTPAC cruise aboard the USS Independence between May and December 1965.  It wears the later squadron tail markings incorporating the diagonal red sash.  It also sports Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club shields, a tan radome, and a black anti-glare panel on the nose.  The placement guide shows that it wears a name on the front canopy rails but I could not find these on any of the three sheets.

• F-4N Bureau number 150464, Modex 132 at Naval Air Station Oceana in 1977.  This was the squadron’s Bi-Centennial bird and it wears the celebratory marking via a modified squadron sash on the vertical stabiliser.  It wears a black radome as well as red trim on its external tanks, weapons pylons and missile launch rails, crew names on the canopy rails, and six black stars on the rudder.

• F-4N Bureau number 151489, Modex 100 the Squadron’s CAG bird.  It is depicted as it appeared at Naval Air Station Oceana in 1975, USS Roosevelt, 1975.  It wears the same markings as the previous options with the exception that the stars on the rudder are in colour.

• F-4J Bureau number 155847, Modex 110 aboard the USS Roosevelt for a Mediterranean cruise between January and July 1970.  It wears the same markings as the previous two options sans the stars on its rudder but has white stars across the red sash of the squadron markings on the vertical stabiliser.

You get two large decal sheets (one measuring 7½" x 7¾" and the other 6½" x 7¾") as well as one smaller one with this release.  The larger sheet carries the squadron specific designs whilst the other larger one carries generic designs including national insignia, stencil data and walkways.  You get the option of modelling six different airframes and enough decals (less one set of the fuselage NAVY titles) to realise any two of them.

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The decals themselves have been printed by a company named Boaagency.  I have not run across this company before and can not advise how well their decals work but can say that the printing is first rate with no out of register issues present on my sample sheet.  They are thinly printed and have negligible carrier film around each design.   The supplied stencil data is minimal and confined to two sets of national insignia, three sets of walkways – black, light grey and dark grey and an outline only wing walk one– two sets of intake warnings and two sets of the various rescue triangles and arrows as well as exhaust warnings, again, you only get one set of NAVY titles though.

The placement guide comes in the form of an eight page booklet that is printed in full colour.  It shows left hand side profiles of each option (except for Bureau numbers 151489 and155847 which have left and right hand side profiles) and a single generic upper and lower plan.  Comprehensive notes for each option are provided and the decals are numbered to show their location.  Scrap views of the wings are also included to show the variations that existed between airframes.   The final two pages of the placement guide show period images of four of the machines that are featured on the sheet (three of them in full colour) whilst the back page provides you with written instructions on how to go about using the decals, and listings of suggested F-4 kits, and aftermarket products in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale.

The placement guide and the three decal sheets come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

Not withstanding the missing decals, this sheet is as equally impressive as Double Ugly’s VF-84 sheet and well worth seeking out if you are a fan of the early F-4s operated by the United States Navy.

Thanks to Double Ugly Decals for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2011 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 28 August, 2011
Last updated 28 August, 2011

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