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Building and correcting the Airfix Valiant B1


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Hope the chaps on the site don't mind but this certainly proves the colour of the interior of the crew stations really was that lurid colour!!,

Brooklands_Valiant_photo_8_A.jpg

Brooklands_Valiant_photo_9_A.jpg

And everybody laughs at the Russians.......

Tu-95K-22 Bear....

day04_044.jpg

day04_045.jpg

Great build BTW General :worthy:

Ken

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Thanks guys, got a few days off now so hopefully get a majority of the work done now...famous last words,

Thanks Ken,...know what you mean, however they were also responsible for this,

TU-104A.... :sick:

1267590-1.jpg

And this, note the matching threadbare carpet and colour co ordinated ceiling .. :puke:

What the heck were the Soviets on???

TU-154B

1084227.jpg

Grooooovy baby!!

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Well, my wife and I jumped in the car today and off to Cosford we went.

Some hours later, there we were staring at the big beautiful white bird - XD818.

What a magnificent sight!

"Thank goodness for the Airfix release!" I cried.

"What's that?" said the wife.

"Nothing" I replied.

Keep up the good work general. Can't wait to see the finished result.

Jon

:)

Edited by JJL567
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Hello General,

Haven't seen the Valiant for real just yet, but am looking forward to getting one. I know Mr Caruanas drawing have a reputation for being uh....erm... well, sometimes less than a faithful representation. However, for a sense of perspective, what we're dealing with here is a model that is basically OK, shape-wise, right? We're not talking about a dimensional travesty on the magnitude of say, the Italeri B-58 Hustler, are we?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cheers from the Sandbox,

d-bot

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Hi Dave, long time no chat...No this ones not bad at all, lining the kit up with the Caruana drawings I was relieved to see that Airfix managed to get the nose right, ( Caruanas one is too short and slightly blunt!), though the odd tail fin cap error is strange, makes you think that they used the drawings up to a point and then thought better of it). This is no Italeri B58 or Mach 2 either...

I've been tidying up bits and pieces, nothing exciting, finished detailing ejection seats, added a new higher coaming and instrument binacle, coz the kits one is way too low and small, (this shows through the front windshield glass , as do the ejection seat handles and detail through the top 'quarter lights',

the rudder trim actuators have been shaped and canopy glued on, glazing masked, ready to prime,

P1110219.jpg

Melchie..

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Coming along nicely as usual, I asked at Brooklands about the front section Valiant, but it is not open to the public to view, which is a shame as I was going to take some pictures of it.

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Sean, i hate to say it but The Italeri B-58 kits are a disaster. I disagree with Jennings Heilig on 99% of things, but in this case, he's right on this one. There's a 72 inch error in the length, which is spread thru the length of the fuselage and affects the length of the engine pods, the sweepback of the vertical fin, as well as the chord, camber, and sweep of the delta wing.

Where this mistake came from is subject to argument. One school of thought says the measurements were taken from the B-58 at Wright Pat while it was undergoing restoration (with the pitot boom removed), but long before that Aviation News made a set of three view drawings with all of the shape errors of the Italeri kit. I know which smoking gun I prefer.

Accuracy-wise, even the jurassic Monogram kit from the 1950s, with its functional weapons pod and odd scale, is more accurate than the Italeri kit. The best kit out there shape wise is the 48th scale Monogram kit. i don't have an opinion about the two Lindberg kits from the 1960s.

Sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl. Its just that the -58 is my all time favourite aeroplane.

david

Say what? Do tell.
Edited by David H
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Yep I had heard that the Italeri was a bit of a mutt!!...but not by that much!...I have the ancient Revell 1/96th and Monogram kits and to be honest they are a lot nearer the mark than this one!!.

Anyhoo back to the Valiant, I've finally stopped faffing around with all the sanding, filling, sanding..etc, etc..and as it was such a great day weather wise decided to prime the thing which turned out very well...... except for all these damn frips (thunderbugs) making a determined effort to commit suicide on the paint before it had time to dry, luckily unsuccessfully!!. A small hole was driilled on the fin under the main tailplane, some sort of exhaust/drain as it often has a darkish stain running back from it. I'll write all these bits and pieces down at the end of the build for those wishing to make a more accurate Valiant...

Cheers,

Melchster..

P1110225.jpg

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P1110230-1.jpg

Edited by general melchett
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. I'll write all these bits and pieces down at the end of the build for those wishing to make a more accurate Valiant...

ooo, thanks General, that will be MOST useful...ive got mine now and im waiting for a quiet day or so to get started on it...theres always the mach poo one to be getting on with :wall::yikes:

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Good idea Melchie. Perhaps we could get a quick guide to correcting the Airfix kit pinned, as I am sure a great many members would find it useful. Nice work BTW.

Martin

Edited by martin hale
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I concur, it would be most helpful to benefit from the General's knowledge. If you could put up those photos you had of the outer gear bays in the rear thread (think you posted them in Mike's buidl thread), this might also be a great help, as most walkarounds I can find seem to have the outer gear doors of XD818 closed. Cheers!

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OK thanks all,

Another detail that's been bought to my attention, (thanks Ali) that's missing from the kit is the anti icing duct situated just below the air pressure inlet tube at the base of the fin. It's only a small thing but again very evident on the silver and white Valiants. Luckily its more a cut out than a moulded scoop which makes adding it a lot easier.

I'll put together all the salient points as well as the U/C gear detail photos soon and as Martin suggests hopefully get them pinned for folks to use.

These shots show the location of the anti icing inlet,

P1110235.jpg

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Photos of the inlet on WP199 that was used for testing the Hawker P1127 pegasus installationtestbed, hence the tufts for monitoring airflow,,

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This one also shows the port side circular exhaust vent under the tailplane and the associated staining......

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And finally the model part. It's actually a fairly complex shape being arced over slightly with the section under the intake being flattened somewhat,

P1110231.jpg

Also today rubbed down first coat and reprimed twice to get a nice glassy finish ready for the glossy top coat.

Melchie...

Edited by general melchett
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Just a short question in preparation for my own Valiant build: What colour/paint did you use for that 'orrible green in the cockpit? And, come to think of it, a second question, more related to the Valiant service history: During the early years when painted in High Speed Silver, was the Blue Danube nuke in service? I.e. can I build a silver painted a/c with an open bomb bay with a Blue Danube loaded? :unsure:

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Sten, the colour I chose is Humbrol enamel matt 101, after applying the centre of each panel was in filled with a mix of 101 and light panzer grey to add tone.

Yes you can finish a Blue Danube aircraft in HSS, the weapon was operational from 1954, (1321 flight at Wittering) up until 1962. In 1958 production was shifted to the more capable and much smaller Red Beard, in total 58 Danubes having been built up to that time.

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Terrific job, Melchie, I hope Airfix have some left by SMW2011!

Oh how times have changed though, here's my attempt at the FROG Valiant when I was 16, ahh the summer of 76. Thirty years in the attic didn't hurt her too much.

196FrogValiant1976.jpg

Can't wait to see yours finished.

Cheers

Ian S

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That's nice Ian!!...got two of these in my FROG collection, still boxed complete with lead weights and packers numbers!!. Up until now still the most accurate Valiant (and that was made in 1957!!!). Mind you I'm finding a few more faults with this one. I realize that most folks wont give a fig about these details but they bug me a bit and yet again smack of a lack of research!...latest find pointed out to me is that the lower rudder line is wrong and should be set at a different angle. Bit of a pain at this stage as it's now primed but I'm going to have to sand back and fill the rudder line , then rescribe the correct angle...(It's quite a bit out and wrong to my eyes so I'll fix it). It's not my intention to go over every panel on the kit coz I'm sure there will be many other small inaccuracies, just the main ones that make a difference to the look of the final mode in my jaded eyesl.

Yet again it seems that Airfix have used the Caruana drawings coz this error is there on his plans and matches the kits exactly.

Here's the real rudder line,

PS02.jpg

And here's Airfix's with the dotted line showing the correct angle, as you can see the line should match up to the other pre scribed panel line...odd mistake!! not a massive problem but niggling all the same, (sorry about the naff lines but I did them free hand on the fly :blush: .... you get the idea)...

P1110247-2.jpg

Melchie...

Edited by general melchett
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I`m loving this build General, it will result in a much better model than mine which had to be build straight from the box within a few weeks for a magazine!!

I`ll be doing another and using your thread as my main reference, the rabbit may be quicker but the tortoise will always win in the end!

Keep up the good work

Tony O

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