Flying Leathernecks Decals 1/48 AV-8B Jumpin' Jarheads Part 1 Decal First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Flying Leathernecksis a new brand under Orion Scale Models which is all owned and operated by Dave Roof, USMC, so you'll know he has a passion for the Corps and this latest release is no exception.

In this set, Flying Leathernecks offers markings for seven US Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers, five of which are Harrier II Plus and two of which are Harrier II Night Attack variants.

The aircraft presented in this set are:

• AV-8B NA, 163867, VMAT-203, KD/20, MCAS Cherry Point, 2008
• AV-8B NA, 163877, VMAT-203, KD/23, MCAS Cherry Point, 2008
• AV-8B+, 165580, VMA-214, WE/01, Al Asad AB, Iraq, OIF 2004
• AV-8B+, 165592, VMA-214, WE/02, Al Asad AB, Iraq, OIF 2004
• AV-8B+, 165570, VMA-214, WE/09, Al Asad AB, Iraq, OIF 2004
• AV-8B+, 164570, VMA-542, WH/01, Al Asad AB, Iraq, OIF 2007/2008
• AV-8B+, 166287, VMA-542, WH/12, Al Asad AB, Iraq, OIF 2007/2008

The decals are printed by Cartograf and you can see that there are no multi-layered decals that you must overlay to recreate this artwork. Every marking is presented as a single decal and the printing is crisp and in-register. The first sheet has all of the distinctive markings for all seven aircraft, while the second sheet contains the standard stencils and national markings enough for three. Coupled with the stencils on the first sheet for one aircraft, this decal set is good to replicate four of the seven aircraft without any effort.

The set also includes a nice reference CD-ROM containing the painting and decal layout instructions in image and Adobe PDF formats as well as photo walk arounds of these subjects so you can accurately replicate the various details on the Harrier II.

For more information about this set and the other releases from Flying Leathernecks Decals, visit their website at http://flyingleathernecksmodels.com.

My sincere thanks to Flying Leathernecks Decals for this review sample!