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Shelf Oddity 1/144 Decals

By Matt Bittner

While Shelf Oddity has been a recent addition to the 1/144 modeling world they are definitely releasing plenty of product. This time around they have released no less than ten releases and we take a look at the the nine they sent for review (the set not reviewed is a set of 1/144 Canberra stencils).

SO31441 F-14A VF-143 Pukin' dogs: contains markings for one aircraft, 159457. You'll need to source the "common markings" from either the Revell or Trumpeter kit but the rest come from this sheet.
SO314402 F-14A VSTFE (NASA JF-14A 834 and 991): Again, Shelf Oddity requires you source the "common markings" from the kit you choose (Revell or Trumpeter) and then provides the specific aircraft markings, this time for the two NASA birds, 834 and 991. Plenty of color on these two choices.
SO31444 F-15A 72-0119 Streak Eagle: Another sheet with only one subject on it, this time the infamous "Streak Eagle", the stripped F-15A that broke a number of records. This one will definitely tax the patient modeler with the dissimilar panels that will need to be masked and painted. Their one statement in their instructions says it all: "Good luck and have fun" especially because first you have to convert whatever kit you use into an "early" F-15A.
SO31445 F-15A Prototypes #1 (71-0280), #4 (71-0283), #6 (71-0285): If you want to model an F-15A in "Air Superiority Blue" or white then you'll want to pick up this sheet. As with the Streak Eagle decals above you'll need to convert your F-15A model into an early version and that actually starts with using Shelf Oddity's photoetch set. Once converted then choose your scheme and follow the rest of the instruction sheet.
SO314413 NAMU, NACA and traing FM-2s: This release contains four separate training and the like FM-2s to be used with the Sweet kit. Not only does the release contain the decals but it also contains a small photoetch fret which contains wheel hubs and zero-length rocket stubs with bases. Add to this their already released photoetch set and you can make a stunning 1/144 FM-2.
SO311415 F-117A of 49th FW Holloman AFB: While the decals were meant specifically for airframe 80-0786 Shelf Oddity went further to include a few others, including one that was mostly white (before the application of the majority of the RAM paint) and based on one photo. You can take Shelf Oddity's word for it or just not model this one if you're the type of modeler that needs more than one photo for a particular aircraft. One thing I wish is that Shelf Oddity would have included decals for the gray Goblins. Be sure to couple this decal sheet with their already released photoetch set to make a really excellent Wobbly Goblin.
SO314416 Canberra B.2/TT.18: This set contains four B.2 and one TT.18 Canberras, all flashy or highly "visual". The TT.18, being a target tug, was painted yellow and black on the undersides. Note that Shelf Oddity has also released a set of stencils for the Canberra.
SO314419 RAuxAF Silver Spitfires LF.16e: These are all Royal Auxiliary Air Force, post-WW2, and are mainly painted silver (Hi-Speed Silver). While meant for the Eduard Spitfire they can be used on any other 1/144 Spitfires as well. This sheet contains two Spitfires, PR-F and BW-K.
SO314420 RAF Silver Tempests F.5/TT.5: While this set is recommended for the F-Toys kit it could be used for other kits as well. There are two F.5 and two TT.5 machines catered for on this decal sheet. While the sheet contains full stenciling and markings for only one model the stencils do come in four different versions. As with the Spitfire sheet above all the Tempests were finished overall in Hi-Speed Silver while the TT.5s had yellow-and-black undersides.

It's important to note that when you purchase the decals they do not come with instructions. Instead all instructions are .PDF downloads from their site. I really like that option because not only does it cut down on cost but the instructions are extremely detailed and point out everything different about each aircraft. Sure you can get that in printed instructions but usually at a higher cost.

These are mainly silk-screen printed decals and there is a little bit of carrier film around the images. Otherwise they're printed expertely with no visible registration problems.

Huge thanks to Shelf Oddity for sending all of these in for review.