| Scale | 1/72 |
| Manufacturer | Modelmaker Decals |
| Decal Sheet ID | D72157 |
| Decal Sheet Title | F-16C Viper Demo Team “Venom” |
| Types Featured | F-16C |
Model Maker Decals from Poland provide markings for the F-16C marked specially for the Viper Demo team during 2020/2021.
This aircraft was operated by the 77 FS, 20 FW at Shaw AFB and carried a special “Venom” scheme. The aircraft was overall FS36270 Neutral Grey. The upper surfaces were black and the lower fuselage and under-surfaces were light grey, both marked to imitate snakeskin. The scheme continued up the vertical fin.
Markings were predominantly yellow with “SW” tailcodes and the serial number. Eyes on either side of the forward fuselage gave the look of a snake’s head. The aircraft also wore a black fin band with “VIPER DEMO” in white.
ModelMaker provide a comprehensive sheet with decals for both the black (upper) and light grey (lower) snake scales on two large sheets. An additional sheet provides stencilling and the yellow markings. Instructions comprise 16 sides of A4 with step-by-step guidance for applying the decals.
The decals appear to be printed by ModelMaker themselves, and are quite thin, although the adhesive is quite aggressive and they do “stick” very easily.
The decals do settle down well, although even slight misalignment at an early stage will be multiplied as more decals are added. Additionally, the decals tear easily as they are very thin. To resolve this, I resorted to touching up with a fine paintbrush (black or Neutral Grey as required).
Ultimately, this is a fantastic scheme and ModelMaker are to be applauded for providing a comprehensive decal sheet to enable the modeler to reproduce this in scale!
Review, model and images by Chris St Clair
