Afterburner Decals Sheet 48-049, F-4E's 51st Tactical Fighter Wing
By Frank Anselmo
Recent rounds of releases from Afterburner Decals seem to be including one release of jet aircraft that are no longer in frontline service. This release should make all of the Phantom aircraft enthusiasts out there extremely happy since the F-4E's of Osan AB and Taegu AB have never been done in decal form by any other decal company. They also represent a variety of paint schemes worn by the Phantom during its later years of service.
This decal package provides markings for eight different aircraft, of which there are three different paint schemes. They are the SEA wrap-around, Europe I, and Hill Two.
Here are the examples provided in this package:
F-4E, 69-0329, 36th TFS Line Jet 1988, Hill Two scheme
F-4E, 69-0303, 36th TFS Line Jet 1985, Europe I scheme
F-4E, 69-0252, 36th TFS Line Jet 1983, SEA wrap-around scheme
F-4E, 69-7297, 497th TFS Commander Jet 1987, Hill Two scheme
F-4E, 68-0339, 497th TFS Line Jet 1988, Hill Two scheme
F-4E, 67-0351, 497th TFS Line Jet, Europe I scheme
F-4E, 69-7551, 51st TFW Commander Jet 1986, Hill Two scheme
F-4E, 69-7297, 497th TFS Commander Jet 1988, Hill Two scheme
This decal package provides you with sufficient markings and stencils to complete two aircraft. There are two separate sheets in the package: a standard sized sheet along with a smaller sheet with different colored walkway stripes and different national insignia.
The decals themselves come in a zip-locked poly bag, and have been printed by Cartograf. The quality of this sheet is top notch. The decals themselves are in perfect register, and have only the slightest amount of carrier film surrounding each separate decal.
The instruction sheets are in full color, and present the markings for each individual aircraft. There are also full page color instruction sheets for each of the three individual paint schemes.
There is also a full page Weapons & Stores page from 1988 for the various roles that the 51st Tactical Fighter Wing was tasked with. Also included is a full page Stencil Guide that is printed in black and white.
This and all other Afterburner Decals sheets can be ordered directly from their website: https://www.afterburnerdecals.com/.
My thanks to Scott Brown of Afterburner Decals for providing us with this review sample package.