Matchbox 1/72 T-2C Buckeye

Kit Number: PK 42

Price: $5.00 when new

Decals : Two schemes; USN VT-23 and Greek Air Force

Accuracy: Hey, it's a Matchbox kit.

Overall: see review

Comments: One of the few USN aircraft that is still relatively colorful is training command's T-2 Buckeye. They are a vanishing breed and rapidly being replaced with the T-45.

The Matchbox T-2 is all you can expect from Matchbox. It is a very easy build and it is evident that it is designed for beginning builders in that it just a basic shape. The interior is almost non-existent and has just seat shapes: no control sticks, not consoles, no instrument panels. The canopy is clear, but thick. It needs a lot of weight to sit on the nose. The decals are not very good being very flat with lots of carrier film. In addition they do not conform to the Matchbox trench panel lines even using industrial strength Solvaset. And that is too bad as there are no aftermarket decals for the kit. It is a shame as the aircraft carried some pretty colorful marks during the 75th Anniversary of the USN and during its early use. The addition of some aftermarket ejection seats would help a lot, but I have no idea what the aircraft uses.

Naturally, I used the USN decals and used lots of Future floor wax to shine them up. The Future also helped to blend in the decals to the paint. Overall, this is a nice, easy to build kit. If you are tired of the long-term ultra detail kit, pick up a Matchbox kit and learn to enjoy how easy modeling can be. Highly recommended to all.

2011 update. Since this article was written, several things have come to pass. One is that the kit was reissued by Revell AG (at considerably more than $5.00). Second is that Pavla has made a very nice resin detail set for this that takes care of those horridly bare interiors. So far, no new decals.

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