Venturas in Canada 1 - 1:72 Aviaeology

[Paul A H]

Venturas in Canada 1

1:72 Aviaeology

The Lockheed Ventura was developed as a replacement for the Lockheed Hudson patrol bomber. Although strikingly similar to its predecessor, thanks to a raft of improvements it benefitted from longer range, bigger payload and a higher top speed. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engines with propellers that had to be specially designed in order to provide clearance from the fuselage due to their compact installation. The Ventura could also carry a substantial number of forward-facing machine guns when necessary, as well as the Martin dorsal turret housing a pair of .50cal machine guns with 7.62mm machine guns in a ventral window installation.

Aviaeology is the in-house imprint of SkyGrid Studio, a Canadian firm concerned with research, illustration, model decals, full-sized markings and publications. Their customer base includes modellers like us, but also extends to the R/C model community, vintage aircraft restorers, museums, specialty publishers, model kit manufacturers, and historians. The Aviaeology range is now comprised of a growing line of books, model decals, and profile prints.

Their latest 1:72 scale sheet is dedicated to Lockheed Venturas that were either based in, or visited, Canada during the Second World War. There are no fewer than eleven subjects to choose from, which is pretty impressive. The aircraft featured on the sheet are:

• Ventura B.II AE929 01 'Vivian', 34 Operational Training Unit, August to December 1943;
• Ventura B.II AE934 EX-Y, 34 Operational Training Unit, August to November 1942;
• Ventura B.IIA FD640 B2 'The Blissville Jinx', 34 Operational Training Unit, January 1944;
• Ventura B.IIA FD675 S2 'Fancy Juggler', 34 Operational Training Unit, 1943 to 1944;
• Ventura GR.V FN974 K2 'What did I do!', 34 Operational Training Unit, 1943 to 1944;
• PV-3 Ventura BII of US Navy VP-82, Argentia NAS, late 1943;
• PV-1 Ventura B6 of US Navy VP-82/VB-125, Argentia NAS, early 1943;
• Ventura B.II AE860 ski test aircraft, Rockville, early 1943;
• Ventura B.II AJ164 anti-submarine warfare test aircraft, early-mid 1943;
• Ventura B.II AJ247 anti-submarine warfare test aircraft, early-mid 1943; and
• Ventura B.II AJ430 ski test aircraft, Rockville, late 1943.

The subject aircraft cover a range of sub-variants and markings, so there are lots of options to choose from. The decals themselves are neatly printed and colours appear to be accurate The roundels appear to be very slightly blotchy, although this has been greatly exaggerated by my scanner. The decals are accompanied by incredibly comprehensive instructions which include black and white diagrams and comprehensive historical notes about each aircraft. It's a shame that the instructions are not in colour, but I suppose it keeps costs down and there is a small slip of paper supplied with the decals which explains how to obtain a colour .pdf version.

Conclusion

This set is nicely printed, with crisp, clear details and bold colours. It will allow you to produce a range of aircraft with interesting variations in camouflage and markings. I would have preferred colour instructions and a few extra sets of roundels in order to avoid having to dip into the spares box, but the range of subjects, quality of production and thoroughness of research more than makes up for this. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Paul J]

Thye are lovely decals. I have the post war set for my Academy kit which is now in progress. These decals are also available in 1/48th. So all those people who have bought up those "cheap 48th2 kits can have lots of fun!

[Viking]

They look rather nice, and cover a fair few that I haven't seen before. Tempting!