AOA Decals | 32-018 Vietnamese Spads (2): VNAF AD-6/A-1H Skyraiders in the Viet Nam War

Reviewed by Ray Peterson

Introduction

A new release by AOA decals is part two of a decal series for VNAF Skyraiders. The South Vietnam Air Force at its peak was the sixth largest air force in the world. They flew various US type aircraft including F-5s, Dragonflies, and probably the best known, Skyraiders. This is the first time that I am aware of that an aftermarket decal provider has released decals covering these colorful aircraft.


Contents

This set includes markings for 10 different aircraft, plus a second later-date set for BuNo 34585. The markings include AD-6s in their original Navy grey scheme for the 1st, 514th, and 516th Fighter Squadrons, plus camouflaged schemes for the 514th, 516th, and 518th Fighter Squadrons. A minimal set of stencils are also provided, but the aircraft typically didn’t carry many after their repaints.

The decals are printed by Cartograf, so have their typical high quality, with excellent registration and vivid colors. One A4 sheet is of all the unit and stencil markings, and a smaller sheet includes two sizes of national insignia. Flipping through pictures on the internet, the insignia colors look good. Some of the fuselage bands in some pics appear in photos to be a lighter yellow than the insignia yellow used, but other photos show the two yellows appearing very close in tone so I am not going to fault AOA with saving costs by using the same shade.

Note the decals have been sized for the Trumpeter AD-6 kit, but AOA made the fuselage bands longer than needed so some trimming may be required.

Conclusion

In summary, I am thrilled to see decals of the colorful and intricate unit emblems of the VNAF. Especially ones of this high quality. Between the two sets we have now many choices; it is going to be hard to stop with a single aircraft!

Highly Recommended.

Review decals kindly provided by AOA Decals.

© Ray Peterson 2016

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This review was published on Thursday, December 08 2016; Last modified on Wednesday, August 16 2017