Sheet:

Superscale 72-219 S-3A Vikings

Units: See review

Price

$Long out of Production

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

 

Those of you who have been reading MM for any length of time know that I have had a number of my Naval years with the S-3A Viking. This particular sheet is one that came out a few years after the Viking had become well integrated into the fleet, but was still a relatively new aircraft. All of these aircraft are in the very early scheme of light gull grey over white with black around the cockpit and a thin white line that goes up over the fuselage just behind the cockpit section. In most cases, the demarcation line between the upper and lower colors was hard and straight, though some touchup did cause this to waver. Most radomes were a buff color though there is one that is white, which later became standard. All these are S-3As so the Airfix and Hasegawa kits can be built pretty well out of the box with no modification.

First up is from VS-33 in their old pre-Screwbird markings.

Another VS-33 variation is next. Both these are from the USS Kittyhawk.

Next is a VS-22 aircraft from the USS Saratoga with the Hagar the Horrible marking.

Fourth is from the training unit VS-41 with their old RA tail codes.

Finally, from VX-1 at NAS Pax River is this aircraft that was used to test upgrades to the weapons systems.

As was so typical of Microscale sheets at the time, you'll have to glean all the common markings and insignia from the kit or other aftermarket sheets. The sheet does have a nice selection of data markings, though.

September 2006

Review copy courtesy of your editor and his wallet.

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