Czech Master Resin 1/72 de Havilland Sea Vampire F.20
By Jacob Russell
The Plane
The De Havilland Vampire was modified for naval service under Admiralty Specifications 45/46P and 46/46P. The changes included modified wings, air brakes, main undercarriage and an arrestor hook. The Sea Vampire equipped approximately 7 Fleet Air Arm Squadrons before it was replaced by the De Havilland Sea Venom in 1955.
The Kit
The kit comes in CMR's usual stout cardboard box with a colorful profile on the box top. It consists 99 parts in 6 plastic bags, 65 of which are black and cream colored resin. You get 2 vacuform canopies, a set of canopy masks, and an Eduard photo-etch fret with 34 detail parts, some of which are pre-painted. There are also 2 decal sheets, one of which is entirely devoted to the extensive airframe stencils.
The Eduard bits speak for themselves. The resin parts are well molded with very fine recessed panel lines. The landing gear and wheel wells are especially well done. Because the Vampire is a twin-boom aircraft, and there are no alignment pins, I would recommend that you fashion a jig to ensure that the tail booms are aligned. The cockpit is a multimedia affair with a photo-etched instrument panel, seatbelts, throttle lever and sidewall consoles. The decal sheet has four options, all of which are Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky.
Accuracy
I laid the fuselage halves, wings, and tailbooms over the 1/72nd scale plans in Warpaint Series No. 27: de Havilland Vampire, and they match the plans almost exactly.
Conclusion
The de Havilland Vampire-in all of its variants-was a very important postwar aircraft This is an accurate and well detailed kit. It has a high level of finesse and I think you will be happy with the finished product. I recommend it and I would like to thank Czech Master Resin for providing the review sample.
References
Warpaint Series No. 27: de Havilland Vampire, W.A. Harrison, Hall Park Books Ltd., publication date unknown
