S u m m a r y |
Catalogue
No. and Description |
VPD48007 - North American
RA-5C Vigilantes |
Price |
USD$19.95 available
online from Victory Models website |
Contents and
Media: |
One decal sheet (11
1/8" x 8 1/2"); Double-sided, full colour letter-sized sheets of
side profiles for all options; Double-sided, letter-sized sheets
of history and colour notes. |
Scale: |
1/48 |
Review
Type: |
FirstLook |
Advantages: |
Excellent presentation of
impressive package; 9 marking options; bright markings on grey
and white (plus some variation on the standard theme); very helpful and attractive instruction diagrams and
notes; decals printed perfectly and with minimal carrier film. |
Disadvantages: |
|
Recommendation: |
Highly Recommended |
Reviewed by
Rodger Kelly
HyperScale is proudly supported by
Squadron.com
48007 covering the North American RA-5C Vigilante is the latest
sheet decal sheet from Victory Productions.
As with the other sheets we have seen from them, Victory Productions
don’t do things by halves! Everything about the sheet is big, the
aircraft, the markings and the decal sheet itself - 8" x 10½" and
there is very little spare space on the sheet between the markings.
Markings are provided for nine different machines and they are:
-
151615
belonging to RVAH-1 of CVW-7 off the USS Independence in
October, 1965.
-
149297,
RVAH-6, CVW-2, USS Ranger in early 1968.
-
149313,
RVAH-6, USS Constellation in late 1966.
-
150831,
RVAH-7, CVW-11, USS Kitty Hawk in 1972.
-
156621,
RVAH-9, CVW-8, USS Nimitz, 1976-1977.
-
156614,
RVAH-11, CVW-11, USS Constellation, 1971-1972.
-
147858 (or)
145157, RVAH-11, CVW-7 USS Kitty Hawk late summer/early fall of
1967.
-
156640,
RVAH-12, CVW-12, USS Enterprise, 1975.
-
151627,
RVAH-13, CVW-11, USS Kitty Hawk, 9 March 1967
With the Vigilante wearing a vast array of markings, it must have
been hard for the guys at Victory Productions to choose what
aircraft they were going to include on this sheet. You can't please
everyone I guess but I think they have chosen wisely and have
included some pretty famous ones including the second option,
RVAH-1's 151615 which was the first to photograph the infamous
"Hanoi Hilton" in early 1968.
The research that must have gone into producing this sheet is
reflected in the notes contained on the back of the placement guide
– which is by the way the same size as the decal sheet - 8" x 10½".
The sheet is jammed full of notes – in what I'd guess at as 6 font
on each of the options which gives a potted history of the machine,
what was noteworthy about it and how it was painted and marked. The
front of the placement guide is in full colour and gives you a side
profile of each aircraft.
The decal sheets (there are two of them, the larger main sheet as
well as a smaller one that carries a set of standard and smaller –
for the camouflaged machines - national insignia as well as a set
of red intake markings and various stencil data, rescue information
and ejection seat triangles) have been produced in Italy by
Cartograf. They are beautifully printed thin and in perfect
register. The colours used look pretty right to me too. The decals
and placement are packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.
The recommended kit is the Trumpeter one. It has been written that
the Trumpeter kit represents a "1516" build machine. If this is
correct, then you can only use four sets of markings from the
sheet. However, like most, I would expect a blind eye being turned
to this fact and "modellers licence" being used in using these
decals!
In summary, this is another excellent effort from Victory
Productions. It not only supplies you with some truly great
markings, it also provides you with detailed individual histories of
each of the machines. If you area fan of the gull grey and white
era of US Naval aviation you are going to love this sheet.
Heartily Recommended!
Thanks to
Victory Productions for the review sample
Review Copyright © 2005 by
Rodger Kelly Page
Created 10 May, 2005 Last updated
10 May, 2005
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