Tiger Wings 1/32 A-10 Thunderbolt II Decals By Michael Benolkin

Some of you may have seen the earlier releases from a Taiwanese decal manufacturer called Tiger Wings, but you haven't seen anything until you've seen their two 1/32 A-10 decal sets. The thoroughness of these decals remind me of the outstanding 1/72 KC-97 decal set w/references produced by Airway Graphics (previously reviewed on Internet Modeler).

Each set comes with full-color profiles of each aircraft and handy topside/underside camouflage profiles for each paint scheme represented. Color references are also provided using Gunze Sangyo/Mr Color paint numbers. The FS paint numbers would have been helpful as well. Let's look at each set:

Set 32-116 has markings for seven (7!) aircraft:

• A-10A, 79-147, 47 FS/917 FW/USAFR (BD) - this aircraft wears the standard lizard scheme and sports a healthy set of hog's jowls.

• A-10A, 77-277, 706 FS/917 FW/USAFR - this particular aircraft doesn't have a tail code, but wears the standard lizard scheme, features a number of Desert Storm kill marks and a cartoon of Garfield's Odie dog riding a Maverick missile.

• A-10A, 77-260, 706 FS/917 FW/USAFR (NO) - this aircraft also carries a number of kill marks from Desert Storm and the compulsory Cajun logo on the nose. Standard lizard scheme.

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• A-10A, 76-554, 706 FS/917 FW/USAFR (NO) - this aircraft also carries a number of Desert Storm kill marks, the Cajun logo on the nose, and heart with the words "Desert Storm Heroes". Standard lizard scheme.

• A-10A, 77-240, 706 FS/917 FW/USAFR (NO) - this aircraft wears the standard lizard scheme, Desert Storm kill markings, Cajun logo on the nose, and an American flag.

• A-10A, 76-552, 47 FS/917 FW/USAFR (no tail code) - features an interesting experimental three colors of tan/brown applied in the same pattern as the lizard. The scheme was not adopted.

• A-10A, 76-530, 47 FS/917 FW/USAFR (BD) - this aircraft also wears an experimental camouflage scheme using the lizard green pattern, but replacing the green/grey with three shades of grey. This scheme was also not adopted.

Set 32-117 has markings for three aircraft:

• A-10A, 77-271, 706 FS/917 FW/USAFR (NO) - This is another Desert Storm veteran that sports a number of kill markings and the infamous nose art of an Iraqi soldier fleeing atop a running camel with a Maverick missile homing on his 'six'.

• A-10A, 80-186, 74 FS/23 FW 'Flying Tigers' (EL) - This aircraft sports the standard lizard paint scheme and the traditional Flying Tiger sharkmouth, reflecting the unit heritage to days of General Chenault.

• A-10A, 79-138, 75 FS/23 FW 'Flying Tigers' (FT) - This aircraft sports the newer Compass Ghost paint scheme along with a new tailcode for the unit. The traditional sharkmouth fortunately remained.

Both sets of decals contain TWO sheets of stencils. On sheet one are aircraft maintenance stencils, inert and live weapons bands (yellow and blue, respectively), AIM-7F Sparrow stencils (no the Hog didn't have them, but these will come in handy for your Tamiya 1/32 Phantoms, Tomcat and Eagle), GBU-10 stencils, AIM-9L/M Sidewinder stencils, AGM-65 Maverick stencils, and these are rounded out by great stencils for the ALQ-119 ECM pod (some of which will come in handy for the ALQ-135).

Both sets come with full color profiles and three full sheets of decals. The retail price is around $21.50, but when you see what is inside, you'll quickly understand what a deal you're getting!