This Italeri release
is not new but a re-release of the old ESCI kit which must be 20 years old but
don't let that put you off, when it was first released it was years in front of
the other manufacturers products and I once described it as the "best kit
in the world" at the time. It had engraved Panel lines (a little heavy by
today's standards but good) and the parts fitted perfectly in fact the joins
were like panel lines. It still is pretty accurate and one extra bonus is that
the cockpit can be fitted in after all the painting and assembly.
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When it was first issued it had a
clear glass canopy on which one had to darken the roof windows with Tamiya
smoke paint but later issues had Dark glass canopy which meant you could not see
into the cabin, with this release Italeri have made the canopy a lot lighter,
still not quite right as the front windows are supposed to be clear.
Some weight is needed in the nose
but that can be added just before adding the cockpit assembly. The undercarriage
legs are rather fragile and can easily be broken if you move the model around a
lot as I do at various model meets but there is a metal set available from
Aeroclub if you so wish.
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This view shows the fewer number
of sonabouy tubes that the Vikings use today and the mad booms are now deleted
and the hole plated over
There is a full review of the Vikings
on another page of this site.
The decals supplied with the kit are for VS-24, VS-38 and VS-31 but I had Yellow
hammer decals for "Navy one" in for review and I have used these on my
model to show the aircraft that President George W Bush flew to the carrier in.
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Decal
sheet cover |
Decal sheet
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kit decals |
The sheet comes with
markings in 1:72nd as well as 1:48th
Still a nice easy
build and a pleasure to work on.
Ted
Drop by Ted's
Website to see more of his models. Ted
Taylor's Modelworks