Lockheed Vega 5b

Dora Wings, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Special Hobby’s Mirage F.1B/BE is available online from Squadron.com

The Lockheed Vega is an American six-passenger high-wing monoplane airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record-breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-range design. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in one, and Wiley Post used his to prove the existence of the jet stream after having flown around the world twice.

Designed by John Knudsen Northrop and Gerald Vultee, both of whom would later form their own companies, the aircraft was originally intended to serve with Lockheed's own airline routes. They set out to build a four-seat aircraft that was not only rugged but also one of the fastest aircraft of its era. Using a wooden monocoque fuselage, plywood-covered cantilever wings and the best engine available, the Vega delivered on the promise of speed.

The fuselage was built from sheets of plywood, skinned over wooden ribs. Using a large concrete mold, a single half of the fuselage shell was laminated in sections with glue between each layer and then a rubber bladder was lowered into the mold and inflated with air to compress the lamination into shape against the inside of the mold.

On the production versions the undercarriage had teardrop shaped fairings covering the wheels, wh

The Vega was powered by the Wright Whirlwind air-cooled radial engine, which delivered 225 horsepower (168 kW).*

AMT released a 1/48 scale Lockheed Vega kit in the mid 1970s. This was a very simple kit with no cockpit or interior detail (just a pilot), and only 27 parts in grey plastic and 11 parts in clear plastic. In other words, this was a typical product of its time and is long overdue for replacement.

Dora Wings has answered the call with its all-new 1/48 scale Lockheed Vega 5b.

The kit comprises 153 parts in grey plastic, 30 parts in clear, 11 photo-etched parts on a single fret, die-cut masks and markings for a single aircraft.

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Thumbnail panels:

Main surfaces are smooth and free from panel lines and other textures, as would be appropriate for plywood construction. The box art implies fabric texture on the wings but the kit itself gets this correct.

Basic structural detail is moulded to the inside of the fuselage.

The cockpit comprises 18 plastic parts and a photo-etched instrument panel and lap harness. A decal is supplied for the instrument dials although this is not mentioned in the instructions.

A cabin floor and roof is provided behind the cockpit. The entry door is a separate clear part that may be posed open with a little extra work if desired.

The engine is nicely detailed with a ring of pushrods, finely detailed cylinder banks, exhaust manifold, mount and more. The NACA cowling is made up from a top and bottom half plus a forward ring.

The wings are made up from a full span upper and port and starboard lower parts. All control surfaces are separate parts and may be posed neutral or offset.

Each undercarriage leg is made up from three separate struts and four parts for the wheels and fairings.

Clear parts look good. The windscreen is made up from three separate parts so you will need to take care to avoid smearing glue on the small side sections. Two doors and unused windows are included on this sprue, so it would appear that Dora Wings will be releasing different versions in future.

Dora Wings has very thoughtfully included die-cut, self-adhesive canopy, window and wheel masks, which will save some time!

This is a limited run kit so you won't find little luxuries like locating pins on the main parts. Take a little extra time with preparation and test fitting before you apply glue.

Instructions are supplied on a ten-page, glossy folded from two A4 and one A5 sheets. There are 14 illustrated construction steps.

The marking guide is in full colour.

Markings

The decal sheet is printed by Decograph from Ukraine. The decals are satin in finish.

Registration and printing look good. The gold striping is particularly nice.

Markings are supplied for a single aircraft in overall red - Amelia Earhart's famous Vega depicted when it was at Comore, Northern Ireland, on 21 May 1932.

This is a nicely detailed kit and a worthy replacement for AMT's almost ancient Vega.

As a limited run kit, some modelling skills will be required for parts preparation and alignment, but I don't see anything very scary here.

This will be welcomed by Golden Age of Flight and passenger aircraft fans.

*Historical summary adapted from Wikipedia

Thanks to Dora Wings for the review sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2020 by Brett Green
Page Created 17 February, 2020
Last updated 18 February, 2020

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