Kit: No. SW72002
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Sword Models, available from Squadron Mail Order, 1115 Crowley Drive, Carrollton, TX 75011-5010, phone 972-242-8663.
Price: $18.98
Comments: Mixed media, 50 parts (26 injection-molded plastic, 6 resin, 16 photoetched, 2 vacuum-formed canopies), decals. Pros: Fine resin castings, canopies, and photoetched parts; good fit and decals. Cons: No parts-alignment devices, vague location of cockpit details.
The sleek Vultee P-66 Vanguard might have been famous as the mount of the legendary Flying Tigers, instead of being one of the war's forgotten fighters. An order of 144 Vanguards destined for European Allies was diverted to China, but due to diplomatic delays, the planes were sitting in California when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Some P-66s were assigned to stateside units, but at least 122 were finally shipped to the Orient. Because of weak landing-gear, Chinese pilots ground-looped P-66's as fast as they could be prepared, littering the delivery route to China with bent Vanguards. While some American pilots liked the P-66, they did not do well in Chinese service.
Sword's soft, light-gray plastic parts have petite recessed panel lines. The six resin castings and the pair of vacuum-formed canopies are excellent. The photoetched cockpit details are also well done, as are the decals, providing markings for three P-66s: one American, one British, and one Chinese. The multi-language, 10-step instructions include history and data, four-view drawings of each color scheme, and Federal Standard paint numbers.
Like most short-run injection-molded kits, there are lots of sprue attachment points, but the plastic is soft and easy to clean up. Despite the lack of locating pins, slots, or tabs, parts fit is excellent. It wasn't clear in the instructions or on the fuselage halves how and where the cockpit interior fits. I placed the back edge of the thick forward bulkhead against the edge of the canopy cutout. The upper surface of the bulkhead becomes the glare shield for the instrument panel, and the seat aligns with the notch in the canopy opening.
The resin interior castings are crisp and bubble-free. It took only a few minutes to cut them free from their pour stubs and sand the edges smooth. To eliminate mold-release agents, I soaked the resin (and the photoetched parts) in warm water and dishwashing detergent for a half-hour or so before scrubbing them. I also primed them before painting.
A slight gap showed when test-fitting the fuselage halves, so I sanded the edges of the interior tub and the fire wall until the halves mated perfectly. The upper wing halves fit the one-piece lower wing with no problem, but I had to sand the front and back of the lower wing stub to get the wing to fit up into the fuselage. Small gaps at the upper surface roots required a little filler.
All three tail surfaces are butt joints with no locators. I thought they may be too fragile, so I reinforced them with brass-wire pins in pre-drilled holes. I was able to fill the small gaps with a couple of coats of thick primer, then sand them smooth.
I painted my Vanguard with Testor Model Master enamels. My sample's American insignias were slightly out of registration, resulting in white crescents around one side of the blue discs. Micro-Set helped position the decals, and a little mild solvent pulled them into the panel lines.
Sword cast separate propeller blades, and there are no alignment aids. I tacked each in with liquid glue, refined the pitch and position on the hub, then applied a tiny dab of super glue to anchor them in place.
There are no holes for the landing gear struts, so I put a drop of superglue inside each wing and held the struts as they set up. Once I had all the angles right, another drop of glue between the strut and the end of the wheel well cutout firmly anchored them. The relief-etched landing gear doors are especially nice; they have near-scale thickness with visible structure. Once up on its wheels, the model looked a bit nose-high, so shorten the main struts about 1/8".
The spare vacuum-formed canopy came in handy. I wanted the cockpit open, so I cut the windshield and the fixed rear portion from one canopy and the sliding hatch from the second.
My finished Vanguard matches the drawings in the Summer 1984 issue of the American Aviation Historical Society Journal.
I had no significant problems building the little P-66, which took about 15 hours. The lack of alignment aids and mixed-media parts keep me from recommending it to a novice, but good fit and accuracy should make it a breeze for any modeler who has a little experience.
- Wayne E. Moyer