V-Bomber Curiosity

[Uncle Pete]

It would have been about 1964, my big bruvver (who, being 13 years older than me, was more like an uncle) was home on leave from the RAF and took me to a local shop where he bought me a kit of a Valiant that came with a joystick connected to the model by a multiple bowden cable affair that caused the control surfaces to move and the plane to tilt in the appropriate direction.  i'm not trying to find the kit again, this is just idle curiosity... Does anybody else remember something like that?  I seem to remember the text on the box saying they had all three V-Bombers.  As a kid of 11 it struck me as a splendid idea and, if I remember correctly, not as tricky to build as one would think although I did have my adult brother, an airframe fitter by trade and motor mechanic and model builder by hobby, to take care of the complicated stuff.

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

I don't remember that particular thing with the Valiant but a starting point would be Frog and Lindberg who had 1/96 scale (I think) around that time..

 

EDIT

I've just Googled Lindberg V bombers and I see that they have a 1/94 Victor which can be built with 'Remote Control'

Work computer doesn't allow me to see their photos unfortunately.

[Uncle Pete]

25 minutes ago, Scimitar said:

I've just Googled Lindberg V bombers

Google?  That never occurred to me.  Usually it's the first place I look!  Only reason I brought it up is that I never saw the kit again in any shop.  Starting to wonder if I dreamed it.  Don't remember the scale but 1/96 would seem about the right size.... I don't remember it being as big as 1/72... Maybe a bit over a foot wingspan.

 

EDIT

Just googled as you did and found it on an old thread on the Hyperscale site.  Lindberg.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Uncle Pete

[Graham Boak]

I don't remember Lindberg having all three V-bombers.  Perhaps memory is playing tricks and combining text from Frog, who did.

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

6 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

Perhaps memory is playing tricks

No it's not.

I don't think they did the Valiant.

I can never remember Frog having any of those gimmicks but am open to correction.

I think @Uncle Petewas thinking of this

[Uncle Pete]

11 minutes ago, Scimitar said:

Perhaps memory is playing tricks

Must be... I guess it was the Victor.  I only know for sure it wasn't Vulcan.  It was more than fifty years ago (yikes!) so I'll take that as an excuse for misremembering.  I do remember, though, that it actually worked, much to big bruvver's surprise, albeit a bit sludgily.

[Space Ranger]

Yep, Lindberg. There was also a Lindberg "remote control" B-58. I had a B-58, but not the Victor.

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

5 hours ago, Uncle Pete said:

It was more than fifty years ago (yikes!)

How many models since then I wonder?

I wish I still had some from then all nicely salted down but who ever heard of collectors then. Mine were bought and built and blown up after a couple of days.

[Duncan B]

2 hours ago, Scimitar said:

How many models since then I wonder?

I wish I still had some from then all nicely salted down but who ever heard of collectors then. Mine were bought and built and blown up after a couple of days.

Mine too, I'd like to think that in 1000 years time TimeTeam will discover a site of wonder where some ancient cult sacrificed tiny little plastic men in their flying machines and strange tracked boxes to their deities in hope of salvation.

 

Duncan B 

[Uncle Pete]

14 hours ago, Scimitar said:

blown up

Penny bangers in November cleared the shelves for the inevitable Christmas models.    Plastic shrapnel all over the backyard.

[Hepster]

The Lindberg kit of the Victor is still available - I saw a newish copy in my LMS a couple of years back priced at a silly £34.99 - I picked up an old '70s edition of the kit privately for £2!  Both Lindberg V-bombers are horribly inaccurate, but most closely resemble the prototypes of said aircraft.  The box art invariably shows the kit in operational markings...