Hi Guys
Well the title says it all really. I am after the decals that come with the kit as they only give the modeller eight of each f-14 sqn and I want more. I can pay by paypal or trade. Thank you for reading this Please contact me direct if you can help
For the record the sqn's on the decal sheet are VF-31, vf213,vaw124, HS-3,VAQ141 and vs-24
John

Wish I could help with the decals, but don't have that kit.

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if they didn't provide any decals for the Hornets embarked on the TR?.

This lineup matches the 2003 OIF deployment of these squadrons as part of CVW-8 (tailcode AJ) on board the TR, but should also include the following three squadrons as well, all equipped with the F/A-18: VFA-15, VFA-87 and VFA-201.

Don't know if they have them or if they'd even be visible in 1/700 scale but the side numbers for the aircraft in VF-31 should be 1xx (i.e. 100, 101 etc) and for VF-213 they'd be 2xx. The VFA squadrons would be 3xx, 4xx and 5xx in the order listed above.

Your E-2Cs in VAW would carry 600 -603, the EA-6B's in VAQ-141 would carry 604-607, the HS-3As of HS-3 would carry 610-615, and the S-3's in VS-24 would carry 700-707 and 710 and 711.

For some reason I'm not exactly clear on, no squadrons use either 08 or 09 as a side number, and while most of the helo squadrons don't mind using -13, almost none of the fighter squadrons will use it. The only exception appears to be the Blacklions of VF (now VFA) 213. Since they are usually the "second" squadron embarked in a wing and draw the 2xx series, they always proudly have a squadron plane with a side number 213 matching the squadron designation.

Tom

Hi Tom
looks like I will be doing the Tomcats last cruise as I think these must be the decals as they come in the kit. I have so far got the kit sheet
VF-31 =6 low vis and the two hi vis= 8 F-14's
VF213 =5 low vis and three hi vis =8 F-14's
VS 24 =3 low vis and one hi vis = 4 S-3's
VAW124 =2 high vis E-2's
HS3= 1 high vis and 1 low =2 SH-60's
VAQ 141= 1 high vis and 3 low vis=4 EA-6B's

I have also got the Starfighter decals sheet 700-51 where I can get the following
VFA 15 =1 high vis and 10 low vis =11 FA-18's
VFA 87 = 1 high vis and 11 low vis = 12 FA-18's
VS24 = 1 high vis and 6 low vis =7 S-3's
VAW 124 =4 high vis E-2 hawkeyes
VAQ141 =1 high vis and 3 low vis =4 EA6B's
HS3 =5 low vis SH-60's
VRC 40 =1 high vis C2

I think I am almost there with the markings just need more tomcats, I might even scan them and try to copy them. I make this a grand total of 74 aircraft as I stand now however this will be less as there are some duplications so I reckon I currently have usable markings to go on with 60 aircraft any ideas on what more I need to make the full airwing?

Any help appreciated
John

Well there's no substitute for good reference material, and luckily I happen to have access to the best source of all on this particular subject, that is the quarterly journal of carrier aviation, "The Hook".

The line up you have is CVW-8 during the Roosevelt's Med cruise of 1 Sep 05 through 11 March 06, and you are correct that this cruise is the last cruise on which the F-14 Tomcat was deployed by the Navy. The squadrons deployed for this cruise were as follows:

VF-31 flying the F-14D with side numbers in the 1xx series.
VF-213 flying the F-14D with side numbers in the 2xx series.

Normally each squadron would deploy with 12 aircraft, but on the return fly-in there were only a total of 22 aircraft. I don't know if there were a couple of hanger queens left aboard or not, but it's also certainly possible that there were some operational losses during the cruise.

VF-31's aircraft would have been numbered 100-107, and then most likely 110-112, and 114.

VF-213's aircraft would have been numbered 200-207, and 210-213. As I mentioned aviators are a bit superstitious and generally avoid "unlucky 13" but VF-213 always has an aircraft with the same side number as the squadron, in fact there was a picture of 213 in the issue. Since it appears the each squadron was down one plane, if you have side numbers it probably doesn't make any difference which you delete, because I really can't tell for sure what the exact line up was. But for sure you'll want to have 00 and 01 for both squadrons, and those are good candidates for the color decals.

VFA-15 flew the F/A-18C with side numbers 3xx and VFA-87 flew the F/A-18C with side numbers 4xx. Again, the normal composition for each squadon would be 12 aircraft numbered similar to VF-31, avoiding 08, 09, and 13.

VAQ-141 flew the EA-6B with side numbers 50x, and since there are generally 4 planes per squadron, they would probably be numbered 500-503.

VAW-124 flew the E-2C with side numbers 60x and again, with a normal complement of 4 planes, they'd have been numbered 600-603.

HS-3 was equipped with the HH/SH-60F/H with side numbers 61x. I believe most helicopter squadrons deploy with 6 aircraft and I'd expect these to be 610-615. I have seen a few photos of helos in various squadrons with 613, and I've ALSO seen some wearing 616, leading me to GUESS that in this particular case the squadron skipped -13 so there doesn't seem to be a particular pattern, and I don't know for certain what HS-3 did. And neither will 99.999999% of the people viewing your model, so whatever you've got should work fine.

VS-24 flew the S-3B with side numbers 7xx. I think these squadrons only deploy with 10 aircraft, so I'd go with 700-707, plus 710 and 711.

Finally VRC-40 Detachment 1 operated with 2 C-2A "COD" (carrier onboard delivery) aircraft, and according to the table, these wore numbers 41 and 44.

So I'd go with 11 F-14s in each squadron, 12 F/A-18s in each squadron, 10 S-3s, 4 each on the EA-6 and the E-2 and 6 helos, for a total of 70 aircraft in the airwing. If you HAVE any C-2s that would take things to 72.

Keep us up to date as you build!!!

Hi Tom
I really appreciate the info you have provided. This kind of information is really useful. Once again Thank you
John

Just curious as to what may have come about here! I was on that cruise and it was sweeeet just remeniscing!