Model Airplane International – August 2019

KIT BUILD

32 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - August 2019

There are 61 plastic parts supplied on two frames.

of air per hour without a major aerodynamic

penalty. The prototype airframe (LZ548/G)

fi rst fl ew on 20 September 1943, but such

was the perceived need for the capability

represented by the design, an initial production

order for 120 airframes (soon to be increased

to 300) was issued on 13 May 1944, the fi rst

production airframe fl ying in April 1945. In time,

the de Havilland Goblin engine was replaced

by a Rolls Royce Nene of nearly twice the

thrust, which necessitated several iterations

of redesign of the intakes, but such was the

success of the aircraft that around 3,268 were

built in various versions, being used by 31 Air

Forces around the world.

The simplicity of the design and its relatively

low cost made the Vampire attractive to

countries with smaller Air Forces keen to get

into the military jet age. Particularly popular

Surface detail is excellent, well up to the industry’s best.

The smaller details are cleanly moulded with no fl ash

or misalignment.

The clear parts are pretty good, although rather thick,

separate wing tips are provided to facilitate making the

navigation lights.

in South/Central America (where the UK was

trying to develop trade links) the Vampire

was used by Chile, Dominican Republic,

Venezuela, and for the purposes of this build,

Mexico.

Mexico began its attempts to gain access

to modern jet fi ghters in the early 1950's

and quickly established a unit intended to

receive them, the Escuadron Jet de Pelea

200 (200th Jet Fighter Squadron) in 1951.

Unfortunately, political constraints meant that

having been rebuffed by the USA, the fi rst

Mexican jet fi ghters didn't become a reality

until 1960, when the country acquired 15

ex-Royal Canadian Air Force Vampire F.Mk3

through a US intermediary. The aircraft had

been de-militarised in order to allow the sale

to proceed, so the Mexican Government

was obliged to buy guns direct from the

Government of the United Kingdom, by the

time the airframes were delivered in February

1961, their hosting Squadron had become

known as the 'Ghost' squadron, refl ecting is

paper existence. Fourteen of the aircraft were

put in service, with serials JP-01 to JP-14, the

15th being used for spares, and the Mexicans

managed to buy two ex-RAF dual-seat

T.Mk11 trainers direct from the UK. Although

originally painted overall aluminium with some

interesting shark mouths, for part of their

operational lives the Mexican Vampires were

painted overall olive drab with yellow wing and

boom stripes and yellow drop tanks; in this

scheme they gained the nickname 'Avocados'

which I found irresistible.

In The Box...

Revell have issued a couple of families of

Vampire kits; their fi rst offering being the ex-

Heller FB.Mk5 of the mid 1990s but the most

recent, represented by this review kit, is the

ex-Special Hobby/MPM moulding of 2014,

which has also been released by Special

Hobby themselves, sister company Azur, and

Xtrakit; the current offering is streets ahead of

the Heller mould.

The kit is presented in Revell's latest black-

themed box and comprises around 61 grey

plastic parts on two sprues, together with a

clear frame with rather thick, optically distorted

canopies. The clear sprue has rounded and

square wing tip mouldings which with some

care, will make representing the navigation

lights simpler. The moulding is crisp and free

from fl ash and the level of surface detail is

excellent although is a bit hefty in places,

notably around the intakes.

The base kit includes decals for 2 subjects:

● Vampire F.3, VT821/L, #601 Squadron

RAAF, North Weald, 1952.

● Vampire F.3, VF316/A, #608 Squadron

RAAF, Thornaby, 1951.

Both schemes are in overall aluminium with

the colourful squadron bars of the time, and

full-colour roundels and fi n fl ashes, VF316

sporting red wing tips, and true to Revell's

standard approach, colours are referenced to

Revell's own paints only.

Kit Construction

Surprise, surprise, the cockpit is the fi rst

part of the build. This comprises a fl oor,

rear bulkhead, control column, plain seat

and instrument panel, the latter decorated

with a rather generic decal to enhance the

raised surface detail on the plastic part.

Vampire cockpits were typically black but the

instructions call for the

fl oor to be aluminium

and I didn't argue.

The fuselage is

split horizontally

along the lines of the

intakes which is quite a

clever approach, since the length of the seams

is minimised, the lower fuselage includes

some nice wings which serve as the inner

sections of the intake ducts, and although

invisible on the fi nished model without a torch

and a sharp eye, lead to a representation

of the front compressor/ancillary face of the

engine. The cockpit assembly and jet pipe are

The cockpit build is straightforward, comprising a fl oor, rear bulkhead, seat and instrument panel. Here I've used some generic RAF

(late) belts, and have rather overdone the chipping...

EL VAMPIRO.indd 32 08/07/2019 15:20