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