de Havilland DH 100 Vampire FB.3/5 & Foreign Operators

Xtradecal, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

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It’s no surprise that Xtradecal should release some markings options to coincide with Xtrakit’s release of their Vampire FB.5 kit, reviewed separately reviewed here in today’s “What’s New”. After all, the Vampire served with a wide variety of operators and offers the possibility of many different colour schemes.

The Decals

The two sets reviewed here cover the Vampire F.3 and FB.5 in RAF service, and these marks or their export equivalents in non-UK service. Both sheets acknowledge research assistants who contributed to their development.

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Thumbnail panels:

The decals are supplied in Xtradecal’s usual A5 window envelope. The instructions are nicely produced in colour and clearly indicate markings placement. A brief note regarding the aircraft and its station location is given for each subject. Not surprisingly a list of Xtracolor paint codes is also provided for the colours required. The decals look to be superbly printed and with excellent colour density. The subjects covered by each sheet are listed below.

X72191 – de Havilland DH 100 Vampire FB.3/5:

• F.3 VT809/Z, 73 Sqn Malta 1949; VF321 604 County of Middlesex) Sqn RAuxAF North Weald 1951;

• F.3 VF321,604 (County of Middlesex) Sqn, RAuxAF North Weald 1951;

• F.3 VT799, 614 (County of Glamorgan) Sqn. RAuxAF Llandow 1951;

• FB.5 WA163/G, No 71(Eagle) Sqn, CO Sqn.Ldr.Hardy, RAF Gutersloh 1951;

• FB.5 WA402/J 612, (County of Aberdeen) Sqn RAuxAF Dyce 1956;

• WA320, RAF Honiley Wing Leader, February to October1953;

• FB.5 WA432/D, 603 (City of Edinburgh) Sqn, RAuxAF Turnhouse 1954 (High speed silver and camouflaged options for same aircraft);

• FB.5 VX474/A-K, 118 Sqn RAF Fassberg 'Op Coronet' 1953;

• FB.5 WA189/K-B, 4 Sqn Fg.Off E.Lack RAF Jever 1952;

• FB.5 WA331/A-T, 112 Sqn RAF Fassberg 1951;

• FB.5 WG833/GM, Wg.Cdr E.G.I Millington, Caledonian Wing Leader, 603 (City of Glasgow) Sqn RAuxAF, RAF Turnhouse 1954/55, or alternate personal code “DS”of  Wg.Cdr W.G.G. Duncan-Smith, Caledonian Wing Leader, 1953; and

• Fb.5, VZ305/RLS Wg.Cdr R.L. Smith, Wing Leader RAF Ouston, 607 (County of Durham) & 608 (North Riding) Sqns, RAuxAF, Sept 1954-Feb 1955.

X72192 – de Havilland DH 100 Vampire Foreign  Operators:

• F.3 RCAF, 17038 VC-ACO 402 (City of Winnipeg) Sqn early 1950’’s;

• F.3 Royal Norwegian AF, P42459 PH-X 336 Sqn;

• FB.52 Royal Norwegian AF, V0209 ZK-L 337 Sqn early 1950s;

• FB.5 No 210 AX-A 1 Sqn SAAF 1951;

• FB.5 NZ5751 75 Sqn RNZAF Tauranga 1960s;

• J.28B, 5-10 F.5 Sqn, R, Swedish AF Ljungbyhed 1956;

• J.28B, 28179 Red F-18 R, Swedish AF;

• FB.5, VZ221 4-LF EC.22/4 'Lafayette' French AF 1950s; 10090/Y EC 2/7 'Nice' 1950’s

These are superbly produced sets of decals. They provide some interesting options for the new Xtrakit Vampire or indeed any other brand of suitable Vampire kit.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Hannants for this sample.

Text and Images Copyright © 2013 by Mark Davies
This Page Created on 14 April, 2014
Last updated 16 April, 2014

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