First bird I have painted with a fictional VMFA-214 squadron based on the actual VMA-214. Since they don't fly the F-18 They fly the AV-8B. Anyways had to change the designation to VMFA because the F-18 is a Fighter/Attack multirole bird. Anyways had to make it because I loved the TV show Bah Bah Black Sheep, and Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington who was a real person with 28 kills during WWII. This bird's paint is influenced by the real 214's harrier, Skyhawk, as well as the real VMFA-225 CO's bird. I was enlisted in the navy as an aviation electricians mate onboard the USS Independence CV-62. After a year and then it was all men on carriers then I switched rate to a hospital corpsman. Because women were at the hospitals. But upon graduating from that C school I was sent to the Marines to Okinawa, Korea, DesertStorm, etc.
