AOA Decals: Black Ponies & More Broncos

With the release of the New Kitty 1/32nd scale OV-10A, a new (to me) company announced a sheet of decals specifically for this kit.  AOA Decals has released a sheet of US Navy and USMC Broncos in both 1/32nd and 1/72nd scales.  What attracted me can be seen on the fuel pod in the cropped image below:   AOADecals32004c After all, my Internet name is sharkmouth!  Visiting the web site, I saw that the sheet lists for $22 USD with shipping included within the US.  Upon arrival, one realizes that the price is well worth it as the sheets are huge!  See below where I put my No. 6 scalpel for scale.  Note that there are two sheets and the one on the right is sold separately for $12.50 USD as 32-005 Bronco Airframe Stencils. AOADecals32004a Both sheets are printed by Cartograf and are in perfect register with very little carrier film visible.  The samples used reacted very well to the MicroScale (SuperScale) system but I did not try them with hotter decal solutions.  The larger sheet measures approximately 8.25 by 9.75 inches with the stencil sheet being approximately 4 by 8.125 inches.  The artwork is very well reproduced and the stenciling is legible.  Now let’s discuss what makes this release a work of love; the instructions. AOADecals72003b There are sixteen pages of instructions on eight full page sheets with a correction sheet added.  The latter is not truly a correction set as it was included to make stencil selection for particular airframes easier since the profile image  stencils may be too small to discern.  There are 21 marking options on the sheet:

  • 1 option for VMO-6 “Cherry Six” at Quang Tri, South Vietnam (1969)
  • 2 options (1 aircraft) for VS-41 Shamrocks at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, California USA (1969/1971)
  • 18 options (11 aircraft) for VAL-4 Black Ponies at Vung Tau and Binh Thuy, South Vietnam (1969-72)
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To make things complete, there are helmet markings, pylon and ejection seat decals, as well as two types of shark mouth schemes for fuel tanks or Mk.4 HIPEG gun pod.  To help out, a full ordnance chart is also included!  Looking through my references, the markings seem to be the correct size with the proper fonts and markings.  Very well researched!  For those that prefer to paint the walkway areas on the wing themselves, separate white stencils are included.  However, it should be noted that only one set of stencils is included for the 32nd scale offering.  If 1/7nd scale is your preference, see below and note that all the markings are on one 4.5 x 8.125 inches sheet which does include two full sets of stencils! AOADecals72003a

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Author: Saul Garcia

I have been building models for most of my life. Suffering from terminal AMS, I have not been able to build OOB until my son's birth and his room's ceiling seemed empty.

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