MAW-Decals 1/48
F/A-18D Hornet

MAW-Decals is a new decal company (at least to me) that seems to be well-placed to get quality information - Camp Lejuene, NC. MAW (for Marine Air Wing) is affiliated with VF Decals (VF - Navy Fighter Squadron).

In this first release, they've tackled three F/A-18D Night Attack Hornets from three USMC squadrons, each offering some colorful and/or distinctive markings for the Hasegawa 1/48 F/A-18D Hornet.

The three aircraft covered in this set are :

• F/A-18D, 164694, VMFA(AW)-224 'Fighting Bengals', WK/01, April 2004
• F/A-18D, 164685, VMFA(AW)-121 'Green Knights', VK/01, October 2004
• F/A-18D, 164685, VMFA(AW)-533 'Hawks', ED/02, January 2004

The decal printing is crisp and colorful and also includes one set of maintenance stencils. The instructions are printed in full color. According to a note in this release, one decal was removed at the last minute for the pilot's name of the Hawks' aircraft. Members of VMFA(AW)-533 created a notional pilot Captain Eduard Drake from their tailcode - ED. This name was originally going to be included in the set but was removed at the last minute.

This set is definitely recommended!

For more information about this set and the other releases from MAW-Decals, visit their website at http://www.vfdecals.com/MAW/home.html.

My sincere thanks to MAW-Decals Decalsfor this review sample!