Eastern Express 72264 Vultee Vengeance Mk.II — 1:72 Plastic model aircraft kit

Manufacturer: Eastern Express
Kit number: 72264
Aircraft: Vultee Vengeance Mk.II / A-35
Scale: 1:72
Barcode / EAN: 4620748781649
Kit type: Injection-moulded plastic aircraft kit
Origin of tooling: FROG / Soviet-era production tooling, later used by DZI and Eastern Express
Status: Discontinued / vintage tooling
Manufacturer and kit history

Eastern Express is a Russian model-kit company whose aircraft range has included many reissues of older moulds from manufacturers such as FROG, Toko and other Eastern European sources. The 72264 is particularly interesting because it is not an entirely new Eastern Express tooling.

The original Vultee Vengeance tooling was produced by FROG. After FROG's demise, the moulds went into Soviet production and were subsequently associated with the Donetsk Toy Factory (DZI). Eastern Express later obtained production rights to these moulds and released the model as 72264.

This gives the kit considerably more historical interest than its relatively modest price might suggest. It is essentially a piece of the history of the FROG → Soviet/DZI → Eastern Express lineage of plastic model production.
Kit contents and features

This is a relatively simple, old-style 1:72 injection-moulded kit.

The basic contents include:

Injection-moulded plastic parts

Fuselage halves

Upper and lower wings

Dive-brake components

Tail surfaces

Engine and cowling

Propeller

Cockpit/interior

Pilot's position

Undercarriage

Bombs/underwing stores

Clear canopy parts

Decal sheet

Assembly instructions

The kit is intended to represent the Vengeance Mk.II, rather than merely the earlier American prototype.

One particularly useful feature of the Eastern Express release is its new decal sheet. Historical kit documentation states that the 72264 boxing included markings for Australian aircraft AN709 / DB-V and AN845.

The Australian connection is significant because the Royal Australian Air Force became the principal operational user of the Vengeance.
Tooling quality

This is an old tooling, and that is important when assessing the kit.

A recent builder's assessment describes the mould as originating with FROG and notes that the detailing is very basic by modern standards, although the main dimensions are reasonably close. The builder specifically describes the surface detail as simplified and some geometry as less accurate than modern kits.

Another historical assessment is more forgiving, noting that despite shortcomings in detail and geometry, the kit builds reasonably well and can produce an impressive-looking finished model.

So this is best regarded as a vintage modelling project, rather than a modern highly detailed representation.

For a collector, I would check that the following are present and undamaged:

Dive brakes

Undercarriage legs

Propeller

Canopy

Bombs/stores

Wing halves

Decals

The dive brakes are particularly characteristic of the Vengeance and are worth checking carefully on an opened kit.
The full-size Vultee Vengeance

The Vultee Vengeance was an American-designed dedicated dive bomber developed shortly before WWII.

It was designed around steep-angle dive bombing, rather than the general-purpose fighter/bomber role undertaken by many contemporary aircraft.

The aircraft had a distinctive straight-wing configuration and substantial dive brakes. These allowed the pilot to control the aircraft during a steep bombing dive and release bombs accurately at low altitude.

The US Army Air Forces eventually designated the aircraft A-35, while the earlier production version was known as the A-31.

Interestingly, the aircraft was not widely used by the United States itself. Instead, large numbers went to Britain and Australia under Lend-Lease arrangements.
Australian service

The Vengeance is particularly associated with the Royal Australian Air Force.

Australian squadrons operated the aircraft in the South-West Pacific and Burma/India theatres, where it was used against Japanese positions.

The aircraft's ability to make steep precision attacks made it useful against tactical targets, particularly Japanese ground positions.

The Australian Vengeance force eventually included aircraft from several squadrons, although the type's operational career was relatively short.

By the later stages of the Pacific war, more versatile aircraft had become available and the Vengeance was increasingly displaced by types such as the Bristol Beaufighter and Curtiss P-40 in some tactical roles.

A modern builder's account also specifically notes the Australian use of the Vengeance against Japanese forces in Burma and the East Indies, reflecting why Australian markings are such an appropriate choice for the kit.
Aircraft specifications

The Vengeance was a fairly large single-engine aircraft for its class.

Typical specifications include:

Crew: 2

Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp

Power: approximately 1,200 hp

Maximum speed: approximately 275 mph

Role: dedicated dive bomber

Armament: machine guns plus a substantial bomb load

Special equipment: retractable dive brakes

At 1:72 scale, the finished aircraft is approximately:

Length: 17 cm

Wingspan: around 19 cm

The model therefore makes a reasonably substantial display piece despite being in 1:72.
Why the Vengeance is an interesting modelling subject

The aircraft is unusual because it was purpose-built as a dive bomber, rather than being a fighter adapted to carry bombs.

Its large wing, dive brakes and relatively compact fuselage give it a very distinctive appearance.

The Eastern Express/FROG tooling also has an interesting place in model-kit history. You're not simply buying a model of an obscure WWII aircraft; you're buying a kit whose tooling history spans several generations of manufacturers.

That history is:

FROG → Soviet/DZI production → Eastern Express 72264

The Eastern Express boxing therefore has some additional collector interest compared with an ordinary modern reissue.