C-119C Flying Boxcar

Italeri, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mick Evans

Italeri's 1/72 scale C-119C Flying Boxcar will be available online from Squadron.com

The re-release of the Italeri C-119C Flying Boxcar is a welcome return of a nicely detailed kit. There are 108 light grey injection moulded plastic parts and 35 clear parts in the kit, a large decal sheet covering 4 different schemes, and an information book.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

When this kit was first released many years ago it had some very nice internal detail and Italeri moulds are holding their age well, the detail is crisply moulded. The surface detail is raised and a bit sparse by today’s standard. On the down side there are some major accuracy problems when compared to the Warpaint plans. The outer wings are too narrow in cord by approximately 5mm. The inner wing section is too wide forcing the tail booms to be too far apart by approx 6mm and finally the fins are too tall by approximately 4mm.

A reasonably detailed interior floor is provided but the cargo bay is a very busy area, so there is plenty of scope for extra detail. The rear cargo clam shell doors can be positioned in the open or closed position. The flight deck is detailed adequately for the amount that is visible but can easily be made a bit busier with some extra detail work.

The transparencies are moulded crystal clear. A nice addition is a colour information book with some very nice photographs and a short history of the Boxcar through its development is provided.

A nice touch is the inclusion of an Italeri 1/72 Dodge WC51 kit no 1146/B to be positioned in the cargo bay. This is a nice little kit in its own right and will finish the kit of as a cargo carrier. This kit contains 86 dark green injection moulded plastic parts with plenty of detail.

The fit of the C-199 C kit should present no major problems, but previous experience suggests that some filler may be required on the fuselage seams and wing to fuselage joins.

Decals are provided for four aircraft as follows:

• C-119C Boxcar of the Armee de l’Air based at Gla lam air base Hanoi Vietnam in 1954. This aircraft was finished in overall aluminium with orange wing panels and tail area with the lower fuselage finished in black.

• C-119C Boxcar of the Armee de l’Air based at Cat Bi air base Hiapong Vietnam in 1954. This aircraft was finished in overall aluminium with the lower fuselage finished in black.

• C-119C Boxcar of the USAF, 63 TCS, 403 TCG based at Kimpo air base in Korea in 1952. This aircraft was finished in overall aluminium with orange wing panels and tail area with the lower fuselage finished in black.

• C-119C Boxcar of the USAF, 64 TCS, Ashiya air base in Japan Korea in 1954. This aircraft was finished in overall aluminium with orange wing panels and tail area with the lower fuselage finished in black.

The decals are crisp, accurate in colour and in register. My previous experience with Italeri decals is they have been a bit stiff and have not conformed well to the surface detail, but these look very good.

Recommended for all modellers of average skill and experience.

Thanks to Italeri for the review sample