Glencoe 1/96 Vickers Viscount 700

The Vickers Viscount became the first medium-range turboprop airliner in the world when it was first flown in 1948. It became a favorite with passengers for its speed, comfort and quietness. Airlines liked it because it was economical to run. Original designs carried 32 passengers at a speed of 275 mph (443 km/h). It was considered too small and slow, making the per-passenger operating costs too high for regular service.

The designers returned to the drawing board and produced the Type 700 with up to 45 passengers. The new prototype flew on 28 August 1950 and the first of 20 aircraft was delivered to British European Airways in January 1953. It went into service in April to start the world’s first turboprop-powered service.

In 1955, Capital Airlines (as shown on the box) became the first U.S operator of the Viscount enabling it to compete effectively on longer routes such as Chicago to Washington. Capital experienced financial difficulties in the late 1950s and Vickers foreclosed on the entire fleet of Viscounts. Capital Airlines merged with United Airlines in July 1960 to save the airline and when completed, it was the largest merger in airline history.

I found this kit in the “sale” section of our local hobby shop and grabbed it because the Viscount is such an important airplane in the history of civil aviation. I’m not sure when this model was produced but the copyright notice on the instructions shows 1989, and the box looks like it’s been in storage for a few years.

The parts came in a sealed plastic bag and consist of the 44 main aircraft parts in light grey and 14 clear parts for windows.
The surface detailing on my model is reasonably defined but showed a small amount of flash. An interesting addition was the inclusion of parts to build the gangway stairs for the aircraft as well as two people.

The instructions consist of 8 instructional steps and a basic color and decal diagram. The Scale-Master printed decals look excellent and offer two liveries; British European Airways in the markings it carried in October 1953 for the London-New Zealand air race, and Capital Airlines.

This looks like an easy model to build thanks to the few parts. A lot of preparation work such as filling gaps and sanding parts may be required but the model is large enough that this should not be too tedious. I don’t expect to win any competitions with this model but the end result could be a satisfying and welcome addition to my eclectic collection.

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