Zotz Decals 1/32
F-14D Tomcat VF-2 Bounty Hunters

For those of you who were unaware, Zotz decals had been tabled while its owner, Doctor Eli Raphael, spent months recovering from a terrible illness. The release of this new decal signifies two bits of good news: 1) Eli is back! and 2) so is Zotz Decals!

In this release, decals are provided for three distinctive VF-2 F-14D combat veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), one of which also commemorated this cruise as the Bounty Hunter's last cruise with the Tomcat before transitioning to the Super Hornet.

The first aircraft is the CAG aircraft - F-14D BuNo 163894, NE/100, assigned to the USS Constellation as seen May, 2003. This aircraft is wearing high visibility colors with "Last Tomcat Cruise 1972-2003" on the tail over the skull. Combat sortie markings are worn behind the tri-color nose band.

The other two aircraft are F-14D, BuNo 163900, NE/104; and F-14D, BuNo 164342, NE/106, also aboard the USS Constellation as seen in May, 2003. These two aircraft are wearing low-visibility versions of the CAG's commemorative scheme but go one step further. In honor of the (then) upcoming Army-Navy game, 104 carries "GO NAVY" on the top rear of the wing gloves while 106 carries "BEAT ARMY" in the same position. As the instructions indicate, these latter game markings are optional for either aircraft.

In addition to the distinctive unit markings, this decal sheet also includes national markings, intake walkways, slime lights, and the more visible emergency and maintenance stencils. The instructions are printed double-sided in color, providing excellent color scheme as well as decal placement information.

This set will definitely look good on your Tamiya 1/32 F-14 Tomcat. You'll still have to do a few mods to the Tamiya kit using Cutting Edge (or other) aftermarket conversion parts to effectively transform the Tamiya kit into an near-end of service life F-14D.

This set is highly recommended!

My sincere thanks to Zotz for this review sample!