Reviewing Witty Wings’ 1/72 Sea Vixen
Aircraft: De Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XP924
Brand: Witty Wings / 72 Aviation / Sky Guardians
Scale: 1:72
Price: £79.99
Rating: 2.5
Background
The Sea Vixen has always been a holy grail of mine when it comes to model collecting. Ever since I was a child I’ve wanted to get my hands on a miniature of this magnificent naval aircraft, though back then it would have been in the form of a cheap toy.
Now that I’ve turned my childhood interest into a rather expensive hobby, I’ve been able to set my eyes on higher quality representations of the aircraft I love. The issue is Sea Vixen models have always been very expensive, and this newer release was no different. For several years I’ve held getting one at the back of my priority list just because of the intimidating price tag. Though when I saw the physical model at the Jersey Airshow alongside the other Fly Navy diecast aircraft, I decided it was finally the right time to cave in and buy it. But is this Sea Vixen worth the money?
The Model
My first discovery upon getting the model out of the well-packaged box was how delicate it is. Small attachments such as pitots and pylons are very sensitive to bending or even snapping off entirely. While the model collecting hobby is certainly one where this is something you have to get used to, for a price tag of £80 I expected something far more durable, so if you buy this model like I did, make sure to be careful about this.
The model also has particularly nasty seam lines running along the entirety of the fuselage, which really detracts from the overall look of the model; and, while I‘m not certain of this I‘m fairly sure the inner red spot of the RAF roundel on the right side of my Sea Vixen’s fuselage is slightly out of place, though this could just be an individual misprint.
In addition to this, the Sea Vixen’s optional undercarriage is very unstable. If placed down even slightly incorrectly the gear legs can slide out of position and force the entire airframe to slant over, which often makes for very stressful rearranging if you‘re dusting or rearranging your models.
At this point you may find I’ve been fairly critical of this model, and I have to agree I’ve made a lot of negative points. I will say there are certainly good features of this model, and it mostly lies in the detail. The model is well-painted and has a lot of panel lines that give the model a lot of depth. The decals and letterings are superb when compared to the issues of this Sea Vixen, so when you do finally place it down securely it generally does look excellent; and from further away the large seam line is actually quite hard to notice.
I believe that previous releases of this model did not include the red squares on the top of the airframe, so this is certainly an improvement.
Conclusion
Overall, I have to give a mixed opinion of this model. It looks good, but its overall sensitivity and fragility isn’t good value for its price in my book. I would be perfectly fine with paying for this model at half of its retail price, but for reasons I am unsure of it is incredibly expensive compared to the other Fly Navy models - I’m going to guess its large size is the reason. A Sea Vixen fan such as myself will still enjoy having this model on their shelf, but otherwise the daunting price tag is a big limiting factor for what it’s really worth.
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