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.

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.

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.

The sheet come with markings in 1:72nd as well as 1:48th

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

Still a nice easy build and a pleasure to work on

Ted Taylor Nov 2003  

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