Fairey Battle Nose for Airfix Kit - 1:72 Valiant Wings

[Paul A H]

Fairey Battle Nose for Airfix Kit

1:72 Valiant Wings

Airfix’s Fairey Battle is one of the older kits currently in the famous manufacturer’s range. I’m not sure exactly when it made its first appearance, but it’s certainly older than I am. Unfortunately, it has something of a poor reputation as far as accuracy is concerned. To be fair to Airfix though, this was never really their fault. The story goes that Airfix approached the Fairey Aviation Company in order to borrow a set of plans (which should give you a clue as to how old this kit is!), but due to an unfortunate mix-up, they received plans for a pre-production or prototype version. This resulted in a number of issues with the finished kit, including the size of the wings, the shape of the vertical stabiliser, the shape of the canopy and, particularly relevant to this review, the shape and length of the nose.

Valiant Wings have now made available a replacement resin nose for the flawed Airfix kit. The single piece of resin arrives packed into a strong cardboard box adorned with a colour photograph of an Airfix Battle with the replacement nose in place. The cream coloured resin is hard but not brittle, and the quality of casting is pretty good. The surface detail is reasonable, and whilst it isn’t a match for the very best resin producers, it’s more than a match for the elderly Airfix kit with its raised panel lines.

The nose is attached to a resin wafer about two or three millimetres thick. This must be cut away or sanded off prior to use. The corresponding part of the Airfix kit must then be cut away and the two parts cemented with superglue. The instructions don’t contain any illustrations showing exactly where to make the cut, but fortunately there is an extremely clear written description instead.

Overall, this is a handy little correction set and it should help to breathe life into a venerable kit. At the time of writing, Modelzone are offering 50% off the Airfix Battle, so you can pick one up, buy this corrected nose and still have enough left for a sherbet fountain. You can’t say fairer than that!

Review sample courtesy of