This is one of my favorite Aurora models. It's almost toy-like with it's opening rear clam shell doors, loading ramps, and cargo on pallets - I got a lot of quality "play time" with it. It was for many years, the only plastic model kit of the C-119, other than a very hard-to-find version from FROG, which was not widely available in the U.S. As with most of Aurora's other kits, the C-119 was produced well into the seventies. Early versions were moulded in gray, but later ones such as my rebuild pictured here are moulded in silver, which makes for a better, unpainted model. The model has raised lines for decals placement, and I painted in the "USAF" markings with a black paint pen. The stars & bars and other markings are from the original decal sheet, but the stars & bars started curling and flaking off shortly after assembly.
Italeri released a superior version of the C-119G in 1/72 scale in the 1980s. Testors co-released the kit in the U.S., and it is by far the best kit out there of the Boxcar. Italeri converted their "G" model moulds to produce a "C" model Boxcar, which is also a very fine kit. But the old Aurora Boxcar will live on in my memory (and my office shelf) as one of my favorites.
A favorite airplane of mine. I saw many of these fly over my childhood home in Levittown, Long Island, that were stationed at nearby Mitchel Air Force Base where my father was a C-119 crew member. Although not the most glamorous aircraft of the time, there was a great thrill watching one fly over with it's droning R-4360 engines and twin tails. The Aurora factory was in nearby West Hempstead and patterned their C-119 model after a 514th Troop Carrier Wing example based at Mitchel. Enjoy the blog very much.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I have plans in the future to build the much superior Italeri 1/72 C-119G.
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