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Here is F-RSIN’s Viscount 700 finished as I-LIFT of Alitalia circa 1959 before application of the “flag tail”. I-LIFT was built in 1957 and delivered to LAI which merged with Alitalia a few months later. She stayed with Alitalia until withdrawn in 1969. She was broken up in 1971 after spares recovery. F-RSIN’s Viscounts are among their best kits although as always with short run mouldings the end result depends on the amount of work the modeller is prepared to do. The 700 gives a choice of radar or non-radar noses and straight or bulged engine nacelles. The bulged nacelles (necessary for the V.785D) are a little too bulged but I didn’t fancy trying to sand them down and get all four identical so I decided to live with the minor inaccuracy. The panel lines on the fuselage are very poor. I gave up trying to fix them and just filled them in. The props are supplied as separate hubs and blades. They are unusable and I replaced them with a set of Aeroclub metal props salvaged from a deceased S&M model. Paint is Halfords Appliance Gloss White and some original Humbrol Metalcote exhumed during an audit of my paint stash. Original Metalcote was a good product and having found it I decided I might as well use it. Despite being about twenty years old it performed pretty well but it did show how paint technology has moved on and I ended up wishing I had stuck to my usual AK Interactive. The kit came with Alitalia decals but these are inaccurate around the nose. They also include the door outlines which were only carried at the very end of the Viscount’s Alitalia service. I used the Classic Airlines sheet instead. The cheatlines went on beautifully but the “flag tail” fin decal was obviously designed for another kit and nothing I did would make it fit. The F-RSIN tail decal wasn’t a lot better and eventually I decided to swap to the original livery. I made up small Italian flags from spare decal and sourced registrations from the spares box. I don’t think the “Servizio Postale” logo was carried on the earlier livery but I had applied the cheatlines before I found the problem with the fin decal so it stays the way it is! I also used some items from the very handy 26 Viscount details sheet. Thanks for looking and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Dave G

Hello forum members & vickers experts, I have a little problem. Just ordered the F-Resin Vickers Viscount 800 (Hannants) but in the package was a -700 (in a -800 Box...). As I ordered some lovely -800 decals from 26 already too, and I'm too lazy to make an inquiry and send it back and wait for a refund or exchange kit I wondered, as I planned to do some scratchwork anyway, is it so hard to convert a -700 to an 800? What would be required? Different Cockpit Windows style (fixed by decals ) Different doors (filling the old ones, fixed by new -800 style door decals) Lengthening the fuselage (now my question, I calculated 28 mm length difference in 1:144 scale according to my references, is that correct? Where to cut the fuselage - in front or aft of the wing? any other major differences (worth mentioning in 1/144 scale ?) Thanks a lot !! Happy modelling, Olli

I would like to share that I am looking for project backers for my crowd funding metal display model projects as listed below, which have been posted on the new AeroBackers aviation crowd funding website. Please click on the links to view project details and the project video: 1/72 Austrian Airlines Viscount 800 cast aluminum http://www.aerobackers.com/campaigns/172-vickers-viscount-800-austrian-airlines-cast-aluminum-model/ 1/72 American Airlines BAC One Eleven cast aluminum http://www.aerobackers.com/campaigns/172-bac-one-eleven-american-airlines-cast-aluminum-model-2/ 1/72 Western Airlines L-188 Electra cast aluminum http://www.aerobackers.com/campaigns/172-lockheed-l-188-electra-western-airlines-cast-aluminum-model/ These projects require 10 backers to put each into production, and the projects are open for 10 days until AUG 24, 2014. I would be happy to answer any questions, and hope I can find sufficient backers as these models are fabulously accurate and deserve to be made!

Je suis un rock star Je avais une residence Je habite-la In the sarf of France Voulez-vous Partir wiv me And come and restez-la Wiv me in France. Nope. I'm not building a Concorde. Or a hovercraft (that would've been cool!) But BEA's on strike. There's no planes flyin'...