Alitalia Vickers V.785D Viscount in 1/144

[Skodadriver]

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 She stayed with Alitalia until withdrawn in 1969.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

 

 

 

 

[GiampieroSilvestri]

Very nice!

 

Saluti

 

Giampiero

[Bertie McBoatface]

That's very nicely done. 

 

Can you tell me what the word 'Lift' on the nose gear doors means?

[Skodadriver]

1 minute ago, Bertie Psmith said:

That's very nicely done. 

 

Can you tell me what the word 'Lift' on the nose gear doors means?

It's part of the aircraft's registration (I-LIFT). Most airlines put some or all of the registration on the nose gear doors, presumably so that the aircraft can be identified from ground level when the main registration may not be readily visible

[Bertie McBoatface]

5 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

It's part of the aircraft's registration (I-LIFT). Most airlines put some or all of the registration on the nose gear doors, presumably so that the aircraft can be identified from ground level when the main registration may not be readily visible

 

Of course! Silly me. I was taking it for a huge stencil instruction to groundcrew but short of the actual aircraft, I couldn't tell what they were supposed to be lifting. 😆

[Maginot]

Superb!

 

[Wulfman]

Lovely looking Viscount, very nice work !

 

Wulfman

[Spitfire31]

Superb modelling.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[Viking]

That is really lovely Dave, those pinstripe cheatlines have gone on beautifully. I always try to avoid anything that has them!

Well done for persevering with an F-Rsin lit, like you say they need a lot of work, but you have certainly justified the effort.

 

Cheers

 

John 

 

[Michael51]

A really nice build and really well photographed.

 

TAA and Ansett Viscounts were a common site in the air and on the tarmac at Essendon airport in the fifties and sixties.

 

Your kit brings back fond memories of these machines,

 

Again, a really nice build,

 

Michael

[stringbag]

That really is nice Dave.

Lovely result from that particular kit and I love the lively.

Thanks for posting.

 

Chris.

[Sky Keg]

Impressive.  I really like how you made the stripes contour perfectly to the fuselage.  

 

Mike

[Alpha Delta 210]

Stunning model of a wonderful aeroplane. 

[Andy Dyck]

These old birds have something special! You brought it to the point! Very nice!

 

Andy 

[Malair]

A very nice build as usual Dave. It seems it took you a lot of hours and frustration though! What did you use for the wire antenna? I always use a hair as you might know, but I guess you use fishing wire?

 

At any rate, looking forward to your next build!

[Sergei]

Did I see this at the Dewars Centre this morning by any chance? If so it looks even better 'in the flesh'!

[Skodadriver]

Thanks for the comments and likes everyone. They really are appreciated.

 

On 5/13/2022 at 6:31 PM, Viking said:

That is really lovely Dave, those pinstripe cheatlines have gone on beautifully. I always try to avoid anything that has them!

Well done for persevering with an F-Rsin lit, like you say they need a lot of work, but you have certainly justified the effort.

 

Cheers

 

John 

 

 

Thanks John. I agree about pinstripes round the nose but the decals were so good that I only had to do the tiniest bit of touching up. The build wan't really that difficult. The biggest problem was getting all four engines properly aligned. This is the second F-RSIN Viscount 700 I've built and I'm planning an 800 for later in the year.

 

15 hours ago, Malair said:

A very nice build as usual Dave. It seems it took you a lot of hours and frustration though! What did you use for the wire antenna? I always use a hair as you might know, but I guess you use fishing wire?

 

At any rate, looking forward to your next build!

 

Thanks Martijn. As I said to John, the build wasn't really so difficult although it helped that I had done it before. The antenna is stretched plastic sprue.

 

10 hours ago, Sergei said:

Did I see this at the Dewars Centre this morning by any chance? If so it looks even better 'in the flesh'!

 

Thanks Sergei. You did indeed see it sitting beside its Cambrian/BOAC counterpart. I'm just getting ready to head back to Dewars and do it all again for a second day!

 

Dave G

[Ray S]

What a wonderful Viscount that is. The scheme really sets it off.

 

Cheers,

 

Ray

[Mig88]

Superbly done!!

 

Miguel

[NorbertBu]

Hello Dave,

 

I was very happy meeting You in Perth and to see all your nicely built airliners in real! What a stunning collection. That motivated me to continue some paused builds. 

 

Greetings from Germany,

 

Norbert

[Skodadriver]

Hi @NorbertBu It was lovely to meet you and have a chat. Thanks for your kind words about the display. My wife and I put a lot of work into it and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. We thought the organisers did an excellent job of getting the Scottish Nationals up and running again after a two year gap and we hope to be back next year.

 

All the best

 

Dave G

[michael301757]

Superb, Lovely build.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Cheers Michael.