review Two Bobs 48134 F-117A Silver Anniversary Bandits decal sheet

Two Bobs Aviation Graphics

Operation Enduring Freedom

F/A-14's "Rampant Lions Over Afghanistan" of VF-213

Three different F14's

1/48 scale product #48031

Review by Steve Bamford

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Since the tragic attacks of 9-11, the US Military has been very much on an active war footing in Afghanistan and this strongly includes the US Navy and it's carrier forces. This decal sheet includes 2 of the Naval planes involved in Operation Enduring Freedom.

The first plane is F/A-14D #164348 looks like a CAG bird. This planes markings include a large black lion with yellow trim on the outside of both vertical stabilizers. Included with those loins are 2 small stars with playing dice in the centre of the stars. Next to that is the famous New York car bumper sticker "I love NY". On the left side of the fuselage are 30 bomb symbol mission markings. The paint scheme is 2 tone lo-viz grey. There are also little Lion decals that are on both drop tanks.

The second plane is F/A-14 # 159628, which has markings that are similar to the above planes markings except these markings are in lo-vis grey. On the left side of the fuselage are 6 bomb symbol mission markings.

The third plane is F/A-14D # 164603, which has markings that are similar to the above plane's markings except these markings are in lo-vis grey. This plane has been very active and has 56 bomb symbol mission markings. On the back of the instruction sheet is the story of this plane performing a strafing run to protect an American(s) on the ground working with the Northern Alliance. This F-14 had already dropped it's bombs and only had it's guns left and proceeded to offer support with a strafing run. You can read the rest of this story in the instruction sheet below.

I enjoyed this decal sheet because it will be one of the last times the F-14 will be seriously active in war it's operational life.

To the right are the front and back of the instruction sheets. In all you get markings for 2 of the 3 different F-14's on this decal sheet. The Two Bobs have captured a very recent moment in our shared history which is still very much unfolding as the forces that caused the events of 9-1-1 are dealt with by the F-14's of VF-213.

Further below you will find as scan of the decal sheets.

Also included is 2 pages of loadout information and pictures and diagrams for Operation Enduring FreedomF-14's as well as general loadout information for these F/A-14's.

The printing quality is clear and crisp. Some of the more complicated decals are done in layers to ensure you get perfect register of the decals when you build this model. I'm a big fan of the F-14 and found this sheet to be very interesting, especially considering it's historical significance. I would highly recommend this decal sheet to anyone interested in the F-14 or the events surrounding Operation Enduring Freedom.

This sheet is available through http://www.twobobs.net/ and select US Hobby Shops. Overseas customers can purchase these from Twobobs site or through Twobobs network of overseas distributors. Remember, shipping is always FREE to US Customers at Twobobs!!

Steve