Entex 1/240 scale Lockheed P2V-7 Neptune
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Originally a Fuji kit, Entex released this Neptune in 1971 as part of
its 'Sky Giants' series. I've been after this one for a while since its
scale matches my Monogram Air Power set exactly. I didn't expect much
knowing how crude Japanese kits of the 60s tended to be but I was pleasantly
surprised by this one.
 Molded
in a weird shade of blue, the kit's 25 parts have finely recessed panel
lines with appropriately heavier engraving for the control surfaces. Thankfully
the decal locations aren't marked into the plastic. There's no landing
gear and the clear areas are molded solid but that's consistent with the
aircraft in the Monogram set so in this case both of these 'features'
are appreciated! The props are a bit thick but not too bad and the rest
of the kit is cleanly-molded with sharp detail and no sink marks - if
it fits together as well as I expect it should be an exceptionally easy
build. There's no representation of the twin-row radial engines and the
jet intakes & exhausts need to be opened up but it should be easy
to noodle something up to improve those two areas a little.
 The
instructions are very simple, consisting of a single page with an exploded
view and a parts diagram. Not much else is needed but it would have been
helpful to have a front view showing the dihedral angles of the main wings
and horizontal stabs. Another problem area is the painting suggestions,
referring the modeler to the box art which shows a completely bogus scheme
- the blue is too light and by the time -7s were in service the Navy wasn't
even using glossy Sea Blue on its Neptunes anyway. Finding decals other
than possibly the national insignia and NAVY lettering to fit this tiny
kit is hopeless so I'll probably resort to Corel Draw and my ALPS printer
to make my own.
 Speaking
of decals, they can be quickly consigned to the trash. The national insignia
are out-of-proportion, out of register, and use the wrong shade of blue
and while the NAVY titles might be okay in a pinch I doubt that the sheet
in my kit is usable anyway.
John Burns' 'PAK-20' gives the value of this model as $2-4 in either
its Fuji or Entex guise but I suspect that's a bit low. I paid a little
more for mine off eBay and think it was well worth it. This is a cute
little kit and highly recommended to small-scale fans.
Until next month, "Build what YOU like, the way YOU want to"
(and I don't want to build this one!), have fun, and be
sure to visit Al's
Place while you're surfing the 'Net!
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