Afterburner Decals

1/48 Air National Guard Viper Wing Kings II

Sheet Number: 48-058

Reviewed by  Chad Richmond, IPMS# 10346

MSRP: $20.00 Website: www.afterburnerdecals.com At first I thought that Afterburner Decals had finally decided to reprint sheet No. 48-030, Air National Guard Wing Kings. That sheet sold out almost immediately, and is a very often sought after sheet of some fantastic F-16s. Well, this isn't a reprint, but a totally new sheet of some more fantastic F-16s that are part of our Air National Guard. This is your typical Afterburner decal sheet; 81/2 x 11, and contains markings for twelve separate aircraft, ranging from Block 10 to Block 42 aircraft. The decals are printed by Cartograph from Italy, so there is no doubt about the quality of the printing or how well the decals go on. There wasn't enough room on the big sheet for everything, so there's a smaller sheet included that has some of the stenciling, crew names, etc. For each aircraft there is a color, two side view of the aircraft, plus the inside and outside of the nose gear door, and any other markings that are peculiar to that aircraft. In the case of the Indiana Air Guard 122nd FW very colorful F-16C Block 25, a full page is devoted to the intricate markings for that aircraft, painting instructions and decal sequencing. Each block number also has a full page, four view of the aircraft and a description of all of the intricacies of that particular block, i.e. small mouth or wide mouth intake, antenna placements, stiffener plate placement, HUD, landing gear and landing lights, etc., etc., etc. Nothing is left to chance for the modeler. Also included is a pull page describing the Air National Guard's roll and hints and tips on models available, as well as aftermarket accessories and references. The last page is a highly detailed four view showing all of the stencil placements. Regardless of how great your vision is, this is one sheet that you want to have blown up so you won't go blind. You may think at first these decals are a little pricey, but believe me, they are a bargain. You get a great full size sheet of decals, plus a smaller one, eight full color, high gloss reference pages and seven high gloss black and white reference pages. That's a bunch. And, if you have never used these decals before, you are in for a treat. They are the easiest decals to work with that I have ever used, and require little or no setting solutions, if they surface is properly prepared. If this issue doesn't inspire you to do some F-16's, I don't know what will. Thanks go to Afterburner Decals for supplying this great sheet and to John Noack for allowing me to review it.