Wolfpak Decals | 32-001 Desert SLUFs A7-Ds
Reviewed by Matt Gannon
Wolfpak Decals of Youngstown Ohio have released two 1/32 scale decal sheets for US aircraft. Wolfpak Decals shouldn't be confused with Wolfpack Design in Korea.
The first sheet for the A7-Ds offers schemes for four different aircraft and national markings to suit one plane. There is also some stencil data pertinent to each aircraft. Rather than just simple scheme guide sheet this decal package includes some highly detailed information to assist any would be 1/32 A7-D SLUF modeller.
There is general historical information on the Vought A-7 Corsair II and then more specific content about early Luke Air Force Base A-7D's. Historical and technical information about the planes of each option is included. Following this there is detailed information on all the necessary colours for painting every aspect of the plane (not just the overall colour scheme). Even more information is provided for model construction to tailor ones build specific to each scheme provided in the decal sheet. The information even includes the reasons behind which boxing of the Trumpeter A-7s is best to choose to minimise the number of modifications required to get an accurate model.
The collated details of so many modifications, other potential aftermarket accessories and a comprehensive description of the necessary modifications relevant to each planes scheme make this decal set totally unlike other decal releases. Information is supplied on eight sheets of A4 text and is a great stand alone information resource itself.
The decals in each package come on one sheet having been printed by Fantasy Printshop. The register on the decals look fine to me. You may like to trim carrier film that holds the markings for the scheme options. This may aid ease of placement and minimise carrier film issues you might be concerned about.
What is extraordinary about this package is the breathtaking detail of the accompanying information. Whilst I personally admire the effort that must have gone into collating and distilling all this information into one handy resource, I guess it will polarise some modellers. I don't profess to be an expert on the A7-D so I can't vouch for the veracity of the details. No doubt there will be some who only want a sheet of decals and a colour placement guide and see the additional information as unnecessary.
All I can say is I really liked them and thought it must have been a huge effort to put all the information together. I really like the package and think its great value for money at $17USD per set.
Note: I've adjusted the images to protect the creator's content but hopefully you get the idea of what is in the package.
Highly Recommended.
Decals courtesy of Wolfpak Decals.
© Matt Gannon 2014
This review was published on Sunday, September 28 2014; Last modified on Tuesday, September 30 2014