DH.100 Vampire Mk.3
‘European and American Operators’

Special Hobby, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Graham Carter

The Vampire was one of the most widely used of early British jet fighters, with thirteen air forces across the planet operating it in various marks and guises from the late 1940s through to the 1970s.

Designed during WWII and flown as the war ended, it was first called the Spider Crab, a name fortunately dropped! Over 3,250 were produced, and it started RAF service in 1946. A trainer version was developed early in the piece and has been ably kitted by Airfix and CMR.

Kits have been produced in most of the major scales and in 1/72 they started with Penguin, then FROG and Frog-spawn, while later we have had a full range of marks produced by the likes of Airfix, Heller, AModel , Tasman, CMR and Special Hobby, amounts others.

This is the ninth issue of Special Hobby's 1/72 scale Vampire kit, having previously appeared with different decals or parts since 2014.

This particular boxing offers schemes for Canada, Norway, Mexico and an RAF Auxiliary Squadron.

The kit comes in the familiar end-opening SH box that feels a lot stronger than some of their earlier ones and holds a resealable clear bag containing 62 parts in grey coloured plastic (including 13 parts not used), nine parts in clear (including three not used) and one decal sheet with markings for four aircraft plus full stencil data. The full colour instruction sheet complete the contents.

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Thumbnail panels:

Parts are very nicely moulded and the parts map indicates that some sixteen pieces can join your spares box mainly rockets and small intakes or aerials. Panel lines are fine, although the pedant might not like them on the fuselage as it was a continuous wooden surface and as smooth as a baby’s derriere!

The moveable flying surfaces probably also need to be accentuated a bit better as in most cases they are the same depth as panel lines

The clear sprue contains an alternative nose, wingtip lights and canopy for other variants in the kit series. The canopy allows the modeller to have it open or closed, and the clear wingtip section is a neat way to produce tip lights.

Instructions are very nice and clearly drawn with colour call-outs in Gunze numbers and names for just about all parts. The assembly starts with interior which is detailed for this scale except that full intake trunking is not provided and the impeller face looks really wrong as shown here. As represented it is either figure-eight shaped or there are two of them - both impossible for a single jet engine! Airfix got this bit right. It is buried in the fuselage so it will probably not worry most modellers.

It is also good to see an acknowledgement of the need to add nose weight but no amount is recommended - I would cram as much into the nose as possible as this little plane is a committed tail-sitter!

This variant did not afford the poor pilot a bang seat so we get a simple pressed wooden or bakelite one with decal seat belts. Decals also cover the instrument panel.

Wings, tail and undercarriage details look to be very good and the booms have very positive joining flanges. The wheels are nice and have seperate hubs which always makes painting easier.

Step 13, which requires the modeller to remove some small pips from under the inner port wing would be probably done much earlier to avoid damage to the undercarriage already in place beside them.

Markings

Decals are provided for:

• 067-BQ of 438 Sqn RCAuxAF, St. Hubert Canada, 1955, in overall aluminium dope with red wing tips, elevator and fuselage flash, the latter as a decal,

• B-AG of 331 Sqn, RNoAF, Norway, 1948 in overall Aluminium,

• Yellow 3 of Escuadron Aereo de Pelea 200, FAM, Mexico 1961-70 in overall dark olive with yellow wing and boom stripes and tanks, and

• VT799 of 614 Sqn RAuxAF, Wales 1951 in overall aluminium and green and red boom flashes.

Each aircraft has a four-view scheme illustrated in colour to show decal placement.

The kit also includes reference to accessory kits available from affiliated manufacturers for masks, photo-etch and resin wheels - some of which I will review later here on HyperScale.

In summary, this is a great little kit that will go well in any collection of RAF and other airforce early jets and comes highly recommended.

Thanks to Special Hobby for the sample.

Text Copyright © 2021 by Graham Carter
Images Copyright © 2021 by Brett Green
Page Created 23 November, 2021
Last updated 25 November, 2021

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