Furball Aero-Design 1/48 F-14 VF-111 Sundowner Anthology Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Furball Aero-Design has released a nice F-14A Tomcat decal superset for the VF-111 Sundowners as they appeared between 1978-1994. As you might imagine, the star of this set is the CAG aircraft with 10 different options including the notable 'Miss Molly' from 1987. These markings are all sized for the Tamiya 1/48 F-14A Tomcat kit.

The examples presented here include:

• F-14A, 160666, VF-111, NL/200, USS Kitty Hawk, 1978, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160668, VF-111, NL/201, USS Kitty Hawk, 1979, skipper's aircraft
• F-14A, 160666, VF-111, NL/200, USS Kitty Hawk, 1980, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160664, VF-111, NL/213, USS Kitty Hawk, 1982
• F-14A, 160682, VF-111, NL/210, USS Kitty Hawk, 1982
• F-14A, 160656, VF-111, NL/200, USS Carl Vinson, 1982, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160665, VF-111, NL/203, USS Carl Vinson, 1982
• F-14A, 160654, VF-111, NL/205, USS Carl Vinson, 1982
• F-14A, 160678, VF-111, NL/207, USS Carl Vinson, 1982
• F-14A, 160668, VF-111, NL/213, USS Carl Vinson, 1982
• F-14A, 160660, VF-111, NL/200, USS Carl Vinson, 1986, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160660, VF-111, NL/200, USS Carl Vinson, 1986, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 160660, VF-111, NL/200, USS Carl Vinson, 1987, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 161621, VF-111, NL/200, USS Carl Vinson, 1987, CAG aircraft, 'Miss Molly'
• F-14A, 162594, VF-111, NL/200, USS Carl Vinson, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 162594, VF-111, NL/200, USS Kitty Hawk, 1991, CAG aircraft
• F-14A, 161617, VF-111, NL/211, USS Kitty Hawk, 1991
• F-14A, 160654, VF-111, NL/205, USS Kitty Hawk, 1991
• F-14A, 161622, VF-111, NL/200, USS Kitty Hawk, 1994, CAG aircraft

The sheets are printed by Cartograf and the printing is very well done. One of the three sheets contains two sets of airframe stencils - one for high visibility schemes and the other for the low-visibility tactical schemes. Out of this set, you'll have sufficient markings for two complete aircraft (one high-visibility, one low-visibility) and since the airframe stencils sheet is also sold separately, you can acquire more to render additional Sundowner aircraft.

The instructions provide clear guidance on decal placement and specific marking styles used on each subject. In addition, the notes provide details like the addition of ECM blisters as these began to appear in the fleet toward the end of this decal set's coverage or the TARPS-capable aircraft. Evidently all of the selected subjects were fitted with the louvered gun gas vents as none will require an aftermarket NACA gun gas vent door replacement.

This is yet another nice selection of colorful subjects for your Tamiya Tomcat and you may find yourself doing more than one.

My sincere thanks to Furball Aero-Design for this review sample!