The company’s blossoming Vintage Classics series gets another ‘new’ member in the venerable 1/72 F-80C Shooting Star – reviewed here by CHRIS CLIFFORD.
Of all the wonderful examples of Airfix box art by Roy Cross, the F-80C surely stands out as one of the most inspiring. It’s pure ‘golden age’ Airfix, as is the kit itself, first released in silver styrene, in 1973. The model is certainly a product of its time, echoing many other Vintage Classics returnees… yet it’s still the basis for a potentially fine build for modellers who enjoy the challenge of breathing extra life – and accuracy – into old kits.
Lockheed’s F-80, originally designated P-80 (P for Pursuit), was the first fully operational US jet fighter in widespread service. Its predecessor, the YP-80 development airframe, was sent to the UK and Italy in April 1945 for combat testing, in the hope of meeting Messerschmitt’s Me 262 in the air. This didn’t happen, though – the UK-based examples suffering technical problems, and those stationed in Italy flying just a handful of fruitless missions before VE Day. However, the US Army Air Corps was convinced of the design’s value and ordered it for full-scale production as a frontline fighter, the P-80A, which duly evolved acro…
