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Building and correcting the Airfix Valiant B1


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OK Paul, well as Richards XD875 has the tanks and refuelling gubbins fitted I'll be doing a 199 sqdn ECM support aircraft without said gubbins, should look quite different, much cleaner shape.One of the other 4 will def be a camo jobbie..

It's been a long time since I've made a model that literally falls together , the fit of parts is exeptional especially the wing to fuselage and nose 'cap' joins. The only area that needs a bit of work is the closed bomb bay doors which are only held apart slightly by the centre brace.!!...next time I'll trim this one so that it's a bit narrower!!..might just cut it and rejoin...not sure yet...this things sailing along!!...and that of course is the 'kiss of death'...oh well too late now!!,

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Melchie

That last piccie of the wing join was the only area Richard really had a gap and Trevor told him about it and that airfix were correcting it. He used a sliver of 10thou to lift it up a little so it matched the fuselage. Can't tell for sure from the piccie but are they level without a sliver,

Regards

Paul

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Kev, it's grey, as you see it, soft but pretty rigid. The only problem with that side of things is the thickness of the 'sprue gates/trees' they really are thick and need careful cutting to avoid serious damage!.,

This is what I mean, and this is one of the better ones!!

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Paul, yep they seem to have fixed that one, perfect fit and level.....

Anyhoo a bit more done today, the the cooling intake under the port wing needed drilling out, small thing but very visible,

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The bomb bay fit is less than perfect, well on mine at least, this seems down to the central brace being a little too wide in the middle which forces the doors away from the fuslage sides. Easy remedy was to cut down the sides of the brace until a nice tight fit was achieved,

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Also the front bomb bay panel wasn't flush, so I found the best solution was to offer it up to the main doors and then fill later, this ensured that everything lined up saving a heap of sanding later,

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Once all the panels and doors were fitted and pushed into place everything was a nice tight fit...

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A little big more like a Valiant now..next the intakes..

Melchie...

Edited by general melchett
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Melchie

good to see Airfix tackling small problems. Can't say why your doors don't fit, Richard had no problems at all with that part. Keep going, p'raps you'll have all yours done for the next BC show,

Regards

Paul

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Bit more done...this bit takes a bit more time and effort, same with the Vulcan and Victor, namely the intakes!...a bit of fettling with wet and dry and a few shaped files and they are done. After coating the two intake sides with liqiuid poly cement I left them for a time to melt slightly before compressing the two intake faces together in a G clamp forcing the surfaces together. This results in a really nice tight join which just needs a bit of sanding, a touch of liquid putty smeared on and finally after drying overnight Tamiyas gloss white (X2) was carefully airbrushed in.

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Also very prominant on the real aircraft is the inner skin of the bomb aimers glazing which held the blackout shutters. I tried thin Plasticard but this just fouled with the front edge of the piece when fitted so ended up with off white painted paper.

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Damn, I keep getting drawn to your posts, must be the your sheer dedication and my sheer dedication to watch others do some amazing work. :P Reckon also it would appear we have same interests with era/type/nationality of the subjects, one day I'll maybe able to compete on standard of work but I doubt it, I'll just be content on seeing what you're up to next!

I've got a Valiant now and I'll be picking up a few tips from here for sure.........

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Ta Smiffy, I'll be using some aeroclub jobbies as the kit seats are way off beam as usual, though to be fair most folks won't give a fig as they can't really be seen...but I 'd rather get em right ...

Here's the real thing...Martin Baker MK 3A,

3CT_CanberraT4_popup_watermarked.jpg

And Airfix's...ummm, ' armchair type thingy',

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Gondor, cheers, bit busy this weekend with important matters such as decorating the living room and shopping for bedding plants :hypnotised: !!!...oh well, roll on Monday, I'm off....!!

As usual, Martin Baker seats can be very confusing. The 3a shown is physically very close to the Canberra 1c (without the thigh guards), in fact I'd go as far as to say it is a Type 1 frame with Mk3 mechanics. The Type 3's of the later V bombers are closer to JP's Mk4a seats with arm rests.

John

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For those modellers prepared to wait 6 months (OK, who am I kidding) perhaps there will be some tasty aftermarket Valiant seat sets?

Fab work by the way General, most inspiring, and mouthwatering at the same time! I can't wait to get my hands on a Valiant (I now make a daily trip to the Model Department in Boswells of Oxford in the vain hope that they'll have got a delivery: I think the man there must be thoroughly sick of me!)

Edited by Vulcanicity
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Thanks fellas, appreciate the comments as ever,

Toe, glad to see we share common interests, with me anything V Force and /or Soviet heavy metal gets my vote every time!, just keep plugging away, I'm glad my threads are of some interest to you.

John, yep you're dead right doesn't ever seem to be one seat the same as the next!, Most folks won't care two hoots about detailing the seats as you really can't see them, I just find it adds to the enjoyment to get stuff like this into the model.

Vulcanicity, you're probably right but to be fair Airfix have done a pretty good job on this one so it's a great starting place for super detailing your own stuff, (which I find infinitely more fun than shelling out vast amounts of cash on resin and PE sets)... The only places I could see improvements would be the cockpit, possibly rear enders station, and solid one piece intakes...............ohhh and some proper bombs!!

Cheers, :cheers:

Melch.

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No, I quite agree, scratchbuilding is generally the way to go, and I would definitely go this route in preference to buying a whole replacement cockpit! Just occasionally I do get weary or lazy and like to buy resin seats though, and I was just idly wondering if Pavla et al might do other modellers a favour in this regard. At any rate, the windows on the thing are a bit small to see all that lovely detail through! Are you going to pose the door open so the viewer can glimpse your splendid interior?

One other thing, I wondered if you'd possibly do me small favour?

I am hoping to pick up my Valiant at RIAT this weekend, but don't quite know what sort of rucksac/bag to take so I can comfortably carry it around for the day. Would you mind awfully having a look at one your other ones and measuring the three dimensions of the box? This would be most helpful, thanks... :winkgrin:

EDIT: SCRUB THAT! My LHS in Oxford just rung me up and I've just gone and collected my Valiant from there... :frantic::yahoo::lol:

Edited by Vulcanicity
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Vulcanicity, no this one will have the door closed though the next one will be open. Seems a waste of effort but I just wanted to know how things fitted really and it didn't take much time to do to be honest...

Progress a little slow due to good weather + newly landscaped garden + memsahib :poke: = a lot of hard labour !!! but managed to finish off the U/C, intakes and bomb aimers blister when I could sneak off for five minutes !,

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The intakes just need small splitter plates, the kits ones are too close to the centre wall anyway and need a horizontal 't' shaped section,.

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As the glazing is super clear don't forget to darken the area under it so that it looks the part, a bit of ultra thin masking tape was used to outline the area as I don't want black overspray on an area that will be sprayed white later.

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Masked off,

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The rear of the glazing also got a rear'wall' to givea bit more depth,

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attached with Gator glue, best stuff around, just needs cleaning up before first coat of primer goes on...

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attached with Gator glue, best stuff around, just needs cleaning up before first coat of primer goes on...

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Andy,

notice that you are doing a 199/18 Sqdn aircraft - which one ? - decided yet ?

Dennis

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Thanks chaps, have to agree with you Jeenyus..............almost but not quite as bilious as the Soviet cockpit colours!!.................though I'm sure that they faded pretty heavily in time..

Dennis, I was thinking of doing either WP213 which arrived at Honington on 29th May, 1957, WP215, (sept 16th, 58) or WP212, (22nd April 58), all belonging to 199 ECM/RCM support squadron.

I think my next will be an all' high speed silver' B1 of 7 squadron, possibly WZ378, not sure yet I want to make sure that I don't replicate aircraft that others are doing for our Bomber Command SIG..( the way things are going I think we could well end up with a table just full of Valiants!!! :analintruder: ).

Edited by general melchett
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Right bit more done dodging the rain showers!!,

The small triangular upper windows in the canopy have a delicate frame work within which was added using stretched sprue, this is quite obvious in most pics of the Valiant so needed to be added,

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Also drilled out the ends of the fuel dump pipes on each wing tip,

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The inner sections of trailing edge also needs a lot of thinning to match the flying surfaces so they were done at the same time...much better,

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The engine exhaust fit is a bit of a pain 'coz you need to paint the pipes first, (I used Alclad dark aluminium and burnt metal inside) before pushing them into the units which then attach to the rear of the wing. All a great fit but means the pipes must now be masked up again...notthing too terrible but could do with just pushing them in from the rear really!.

The exhaust pipe lips also had to be shaved down considerably using a new scalpel blade,

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Then the wings were attached to the fuselage...feels like I'm getting somewhere now!, the ailerons have been fitted to the wings and glued in the neutral position but I've just taped the elevators to the tailplane as these will be added at the end, making painting the fin easier. Don't know why Airfix had these as seperate pieces as they were alwys parked up in the level position unless there was a problem!

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The fit of the wing especially the underside is extremely good...hardly any gap...but remember to glue the inner face or elxre it'll be flappin in the breeze!!!,, also the intakes fit a treat....

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Right bit more done dodging the rain showers!!,

The small triangular upper windows in the canopy have a delicate frame work within which was added using stretched sprue, this is quite obvious in most pics of the Valiant so needed to be added,

P1110165.jpg

Looks great, General!

My two Airfix Valiants have just lined up in the que for future builds, and will have to be patient for a while as I have to finish my Mach 2 first.

Looking at the cockpit glazing (which really is beautiful) it meets the fuselage very close to the windows, so close that the surface you normally glue to the fuselage is visible through the glass.

Painting the bottom of the cockpit glazing black and use white glue; is that what you recommend? But you will still see the edge of the glazing.

Any thoughts?

/Jan

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Hi Jan, great job on your B2!!!, the Mach 2 really is from the stone age compared to this !, I know coz I've struggled through two of them myself and know just how much needs to be done to correct the horrendous shape and fuselage length issues :analintruder: .,

My photo is a bit deceptive as the frame does sit a little way above the 'sill' as below, I sprayed the whole area black and will indeed use white glue (gator glue) which I use for all small parts, PE and glazing as it's as strong as CA and dries completely clear,

Cheers, :cheers:

Melchie...

Apols about the quality but shows the sill line...the line next to the third window is one of the windscreen wipers, (which I'll replace with a pair from a spare FlightPath Vulcan set).

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Nice work Melchie; you have been working fast. I must get to the National Archive and get the AP out to see what I couild open up on mine.

Martin

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Thanks Martin, this is between fettling the TSR2's vac canopy and airbrushing the camo on the wings and tailplanes of the F-111..

There are quite a few panels to open to be honest, so you should enjoy yourself ;) . I would like to finish all 5 of these this year and at least one will have flaps detailed and dropped...

Melch

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One thing I've just noticed, though I remembered it from building the prototype from the Mach 2 'thing' concerning the main gear wells and doors,

If you intend to build the second prototype WB215 as Airfix intended then there will be a noticable problem. The main gear doors and therefore the wheel wells were a different shape to the production aircraft having a triangular front end rather than rounded) and would need a fair bit of work to make accurate. Mind you if you have the tanks fitted then it wont' be quite so noticable...just a thought!... and remember to use the canopy WITHOUT the triangluar windows above as these didn't appear on the two prototypes,

Valiant-01.jpg

A very well worn Valiant in high speed silver with an unusual view of open bomb doors...

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This is coming on leaps and bounds! I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like I'm watching and learning from the master here, as you've done so many little extras and tips which will help me when I build mine. (Once I've stopped feeling daunted by its sheer size, that is!

Another thing to note with WB215 (at least early on its career, as visible in the General's first photo) is the multiple intake vanes. I think these were probably removed by the time the polished bare metal finish was painted over in silver.

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Thanks , actually' 215 had the strakes fitted only to the outside set of intakes and then only briefly as the beautiful polished metal finish was painted over with dull matt silver. Also WB215 was the first aircraft to be fitted with the vortex generators used to re energise airflow over the flying surfaces, (though if you are building the high polished version these should be left off) and the big ugly wing tanks. She also was only ever fitted with the blunt tail cone not being fitted with rearward radar, this is included in the kit...points to Airfix!!!Also of note is the blister on the side of the fuselage , I'm not entirely sure but I think it was a camera housing for monitoring the behaviour of the Super Sprite during take off and release. '215 had a very hard life being damaged several times until eventually almost breaking up in flight, the consequence of so much hard testing and a crash landing. I'm going to model '215 but it will be later in her career when fitted with the Super Sprite rocket packs.

Here's WB215 in happier times with vortex gens now fitted and standard intakes. You can just see one of the Super Sprite RATO packs under the inner wing.

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