Italeri 1/9 Vespa Primavera 125

The Vespa Primavera is a scooter produced by Piaggio under the Vespa brand since 2013. The Vespa Sprint was also derived from the Primavera, a sportier evolution with specific aesthetic details. Both were created to replace the Vespa LX and S.

The Vespa Primavera was presented in November 2013 at EICMA and represents the heir to the previous Vespa LX. Production in the Pontedera plant started there and at the same time also sales on the European market. For the Asian market, the Primavera is produced in the Vin Puch (Hanoi) plant in Vietnam. The name Primavera pays homage to the homonymous model presented at the motorcycle show in 1967 and produced until 1982.

I won this kit in a raffle at the local IPMS Gateway show a few months back. I've not built a motorcycle/scooter before and based on going over the instructions, this one looks like a good one for a beginner. Molded in multiple shades of plastic, the body parts are red, engine bits in red and the rest in black. A nicely done chrome sprue is also included. The clear bits consist of a headlight and tail light lens. Rubber/vinyl is provided for the tires and several other items such as a foot rest. Not sure how one would go about gluing those, but I suspect something like E6000 would work well. There are also lengths of colored tubing and a spring as the suspension is supposed to work.

One starts by assembling the wheels then the rear shock attachment on the inside of the body. This has the attachment peg heat sealed so that the shock can articulate. Then the body is glued together. Front suspension and handlebars are next, followed by assembling the engine.

The engine is then attached to the rear wheel along with the fuel tank and hoses. Instructions provide the proper length to cut the tubing. One then places the front wheel/handlebar assembly to the front followed by the rear suspension and engine. Last few steps deal with the kickstand and other smaller final bits.

Instructions are well done and provide detail images where needed. The minimal color info is provided using ModelMaster paints. The small decal sheet provides a license plate, 'chrome' logos and a few other items.

This appears to be a fairly straight-forward kit. Instructions look to be easy to follow and the kit has room for some nice detail painting. As mentioned earlier, it would be a fairly good choice for a modeler new to motorcyles/scooters. A quick web search found several current boxings in the $40-90 price range, so they are out there if you want one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa_Primavera

October 2024

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