Airfix 1;72 Vickers Valiant

[colin m]

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Well, I don't know how long I've been waiting for this, but finally it's here. The Airfix Vickers Valiant. Its release has been delayed so many times I've lost count ! I've only had time for a quick look inside and it looks pretty impressive. I know many of us have seen this model at various shows but to actaully hold one at last............................

With my Vulcan and Victor I didn't bother much with the interior mainly because there wasn't much to do, and you can't see it anyway. But with the Valiant, there's a bit more going on in the office so more effort will be needed here. Also the bomb bay is quite well detailed, so it might be doors open for this one.

So just for now I'm going to sit quietly in the corner holding onto my new shiny big Airfix box, whilst really thinking hard about the anti flash white colour scheme or the metal scheme ???????

Regards

Colin M.........

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[Dave W]

This is one of those lesser known aircraft that interests me.Look forward to seeing it built.I was at the RAF museum last month and the Valiant has gone from the Bomber hall.Dont know where it is now.Maybe at Cosford?.

 

[Ian M]

Well done Colin you got one !!!!

If I recall correctly, you have the Vulcan in camo and the Victor was white, so you almost have to do the metal fininsh.....

I must confes I have only ever seen the white and the sand one (in photos) so it would be cool to see a NMF/BMF finished one.

Ian M

 

[Ian M]

Scratch that last comment, Just found the pictures of both your Vulcan and Victor.

So the most obvious is to do the Valliant white as well.

Ian M

 

[colin m]

I actually ordered this so long ago, the credit card processing company cancelled my order as it hadn't been completed ! So a re-order later and I thought it would be despatched around mid July. What a surprise on Saturday morning when this huge box arived !!

Dave, Cosford does have a Valiant, and I think it's the last one........I could be wrong there.........

And yes, I think It will end up as white, just like the other two.

regards

Colin M...........

 

[yak face]

Hi colin, this is going to be an impressive beastie, its going to look great in the white , next to your vulcan and victor. I saw the sprues for this at the airfix tent at waddington on saturday and it looks a really nice effort, looking forward to seeing the build , cheers tony

 

[colin m]

Right, made a start. Well I got some of the cockpit bits together anyway. As with the Vulcan and Victor, not much of the 'pit will be visible, but as Airfix have included a few bits and pieces for the office, I might as well make an effort. General impression though is very good. To make my other two V bombers I had to battle with a very old Airfix kit, to make a Vulcan. Convert a Revell Victor tanker to make a B1 Victor, but this Valiant is going to be a pleasure to build, well that's the impression so far.

Recessed panel lines are good, not as fine as some, but good anyway. Other surface detail, like vortex generators etc, is nice and sharp.

Colin M.........

 

[Bunkerbarge]

There's obviously a lot of press activity interested in this model and from what i've seen so far it reads very well. It will be interesting though to see if it really does lead up to the hype so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes together.

 

[colin m]

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So made a start on the office. All OOB, absolutley nothing but paint and glue added. Very little will be visible with the canopy in place, and if the canopy wasn't in place, the two front seats wouldn't be there anyway !! With the cockpit fitted I closed the fuselage temporarily to check alignment. All looks good so far, tight fitting, no obvious gaps yet.

Colin M........

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[tr1ckey66]

Hi Colin

Great start on the Victor. I love the great job you've done on the interior.

I'm on with the Vulcan at the moment. I was quite surprised at how well the main parts fitted together but the smaller parts like undercarriage doors (my build is wheels up) needed a bit of help. I would think that this new kit would be a vast improvement on the venerable old Vulcan kit, is it?

Keep up the great work.

Paul

 

[colin m]

Hello Paul,

I've done the Vulcan (it was my first V bomber) and yes it's a bit fun, but nothing looks like the finished article, stick with it.

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So the Valiant build continues. The bomb bay is such a good fit, it practically snaps together. The fuselage halves are together, the fit very good. So, all was going well, until I decided to have a look at the wings. I was preparing to fit the wheel wells when I discovered the damage shown in the pic's above. The wing tip is bent 90 degrees on both wings. Also, both wings have damage to the trailing edges. I can't work how they got damaged, except to say that it wasn't me, and the box and all packaging was all intact. So, it must have happened in the factory. This is a bit dissapointing, but nothing that can't be overcome.

Now then, air intakes. Has anyone else had the pleasure of Airfix Vulcan intakes ? Yes, they are indeed a sod and take an absolute age to get right. Well, these are so much better. The seams may just fill with a small amount of thin CA, maybe. But, the overall size of the small intake is going to be a problem. There is lots of space on the Vulcan, and very little here. Right, wish me luck, I'm going in..............CA and sand paper..................

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[yak face]

Good luck with those intakes colin, although seeing how you tamed the vulcans im in no doubt youll conquer these!!.The damage on the trailing edge of the wings wasnt caused by removal of the parts off the sprue at the factory was it? cheers tony

 

[colin m]

Morning Tony,

Well who knows what happened ! Just a bit anoying at over £36 ish quid to find it damaged by Airfix themselves. I'm sure Airfix being as good as they are, would replace them, but it's quicker for me to fix them.

Anyway, I've just found this pic, Showing nicely (Ha !) my two extremes of weathering. The Vulcan has nothing, and the Victor too much, the Valiant will be somewhere in between, but closer to the Vulcan. Right, I'm off to spray a big bomb !

Colin M.......

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[colin m]

View attachment 31012View attachment 31013 So, got a bit done over the weekend. The air intakes fitted nicely into the wings with only a very small line (I wouldn't call it a gap) to fill. However, because the intakes are so small filling and sanding proved quite tricky. The wing to fuselage fit is so tight, there's probably no need to glue the thing ! They needed a good push to get them onto the fuselage which then promptly cracked the filler around the port air intake....doh....

The comedy looking bomb (it looks like something out of the pink panther) is the Blue Danube casing used during operation Grapple. So far it's all going together quite well. I've used a bit of filler on the wing seams but I think this was my fault not cleaning the 'sprue stubs' properly.

Colin M..........

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[colin m]

Oh forgot to say, Please note the tyres on the right. My first time spraying acrylic.............yea..............

 

[Sky Raider]

Looking good so far Colin. The tyres look fine to me mate.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Ian M]

Sure looks good to me Colin.

Also I dont think that the Victor is over done. Looks fine in the photo at least.

Ian M

 

[yak face]

Coming along at a rate of knots now colin, loving the big bomb, cheers tony

 

[colin m]

Thanks for taking a look gentlemen.

And the big bomb, designed by a 5 year old I think, well the casing at least.

Anyway, some more progress.

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Big Val is comming along nicely. This is a very fast build for me, I normally take ages, but big Val has an attraction and I just can't keep my hands off her. Well there were so many false starts with cancelled release dates I'm just so glad to see her !

So, the above pics show, the detailed bomb bay, this will get some pastel treatment at the end of the build as will the nicely boxed in wheel wells. Nothing extra added here, all from Mr Airfix. As I might have said already, it all fits very tightly, sometimes a little too tight. I kid you not, many of the parts wouldn't need glue. Right, I'm off to mask the bomb aimers windows.

Regards

Colin M......

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[colin m]

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Just a little update. I've just found this pic which explains the why there a number of parts in the kit which are not required in this build. This is a Valiant B (PR) Mk1. Included in the kit at present is a large clear part which would fit where the bomb bay doors are. Or more precisley fit into modified doors. So, it looks like there will be more versions of the valiant in the future.

Colin M........

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