Icarus Decals 1/72 & 1/48 Hellenic Air Force Freedom Fighters Pt. 2
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
The Northrop F-5 was in many ways the perfect fighter for small air forces. Simple in both operation and maintenance and cheap compared to the frontline fighters of the time, the F-5 quickly made its way into small air forces around the world. Greece was the first nation in Europe to receive the F-5, and they flew the type from 1965 to 2001.
The Decals
This is not the first time Icarus has covered the F-5. This is Part 2 in their decal series, but they have also done individual special scheme aircraft. This sheet complements the first release, providing markings for Greek F-5s in overall silver, US Vietnam camouflage, and Asia Minor camouflage.
The decal sheet is produced in such a way as to allow the modeler to build five F-5As and one F-5B. For the Asia Minor scheme, there is an F-5A, 075, from 343DIS, 113CW at Mikra AFB in 1990 and an F-5B, 609, from 343DIS, 113CW at Mikra AFB in 1995. For the F-5B, this aircraft also has Jordanian markings, showing its original heritage, while the F-5A is depicted with European-style gray and green camouflaged tip tanks.
The US Vietnam camouflage is also depicted in two choices, both of which are F-5As. The first is 01617 from 343DIS, 113CW at Mikra AFB in 1996, while the second is an RF-5A, 97170, from 349DIS, 110CW at Larissa AFB in 1988. These two options are pretty sedate, with nothing special really standing out in their schemes.
The two silver options are from an earlier era in Greek F-5 history. The first is an F-5A, 38417, from 343DIS, 111CW at N.Aghialos AFB in 1966. This plane has a buzz number of FA-417 on the fuselage side and uses a light blue variant of the roundels. The second silver option is an RF-5A, 97164, from 349DIS, 110CW at Larissa AFB in 1972. This option adds a bit more color to the overall silver, with orange on the tail, two orange stripes around the nose, and orange tip tanks.
The main markings for these schemes take up only a small fraction of the decal sheet. What takes up most of the sheet, and what is really impressive about this release, is all of the stenciling. These aircraft are thoroughly covered with stencils, and the decal sheet provides lots of it. The instructions are clear on their application as well, so your finished model will be much more realistic when you're done. Printed by Cartograf, the decals are sharp, with great color and perfect registration.
Conclusion
While I like the F-5 already, seeing this sheet really has me wanting to build a few Hellenic F-5s now. The nice selection of color schemes is good to have, and with the sheet available in both 1/72 and 1/48, I am sure this one will be popular with lots of modelers. My thanks to Icarus Decals for the review sample.