Valiant Intakes & Exhausts (for Airfix)

[Mike]

Valiant Intakes & Exhausts (for Airfix)

1:72 AlleyCat Resin

The new Airfix Valiant has a few tricky points to resolve, and perhaps the trickiest is obtaining a smooth finish on the intakes for the four Rolls Royce Avon engines, due to their cramped nature, and the need for moulding in two halves due to the nature of injection moulding. AlleyCat have been busy resolving this issue, and this set includes a new set of intakes, new intake faces, and some more realistic exhaust cans as a bonus.

They have chosen to put the seam on the outside of the wing, with a portion of the intake lip moulded into the intake. This lip terminates at the first panel line, making clean up of the joint easier. It does require the modeller to do some minor cutting of the wing however, but it’s nothing too taxing.

The large intake parts are moulded in white resin, so if you don’t fancy painting them, you don’t have to! The small T-shaped blades that nestle in the outer intake lip are also supplied in white, as well as four spares in case you’ve a tendency to let them ping off into oblivion. The front faces of the engines are provided I grey resin, but they aren’t too different from the kit parts, save for a slightly larger mating surface and the possibility of mounting them on their backing plate for added strength.

Moving aft, we have the exhaust tubes, which are microscopically thin, and a sight to behold. They replace the overly thick kit parts, and have the tiny rear compressor face buried at the end of the tube. A set of u-shaped extra parts are included that clamp the exhausts at the correct depth, to ensure you don’t end up with a bunch of wobbly looking exhausts. These parts are a drop-in replacement of the kit parts, and enhance the look immensely.

Conclusion

To avoid endless sanding and a possibly unsatisfactory job on the intakes, this set ticks all of the boxes. As long as you are careful with your cutting of the wing, and test fit at every stage (as the instructions suggest), you will end up with a much more professional finish to your intake/exhaust area. I’ll be using these on my stalled Valiant build for certain – there’s nothing more tedious than poking sanding sticks down jet intakes.

Review sample courtesy of

[xvtonker]

All I can say is that they are fantastic.

Excellent quality and they really capture the subtle lines of the original intakes.

A must for any Valiant build.

XVtonker

[kspriss]

hmmm...wonder if they will fit the Mach Poo kit?

steve

[Shar2]

I recently bought this set for my Valiant and have to agree that Ali has done a top notch job.

[Seahawk]

hmmm...wonder if they will fit the Mach Poo kit?

steve

Gilding a piece of excrement?

[kspriss]

hehe...yep, turd polishing at its finest!

steve

[Mike]

Gilding a piece of excrement?

I'd have to agree there. You'd probably have a lot of work thinning the nacelles down to meet the new lip. Personally, with the Mach2 kit being what it is, I wouldn't waste your effort

[general melchett]

In addition to what Mikes already said are my thoughts and a few more photos of this much welcomed update,

The set is of course of high quality and are straight replacements for the kit parts, though as mentioned a bit of minor surgery will be needed to fit. The seamless intakes simply fit into place and are a real time saver, as like the Vulcan this is a rather labour intensive area. The mouldings are beautifully crisp, with no air bubbles whatsoever and the fit is perfect. Moulded in the safer white resin the surface detail is light but crisp. Small location marks are present for the splitter vanes, which are the correct size, width and have the cross member missing from the kit.

The parts laid out. You can see here how the set incorporates a small section of the leading edge of the wing and root area. Providing you have a steel ruler and a sharp scalpel or rescriber you'll be just fine.

Instructions , simple but does the job,

New engine faces are included as twin packs that simply plug in,

The exhausts are a big improvement, they are have thinner walls, and unlike the kit parts can be fitted in after the model has been painted due to the special clips provided,

There are spare splitter vanes in case the 'carpet monster' feels hungry!!, you can see the horizontal cross pieces here that are missing on the kit and quite evident on the real thing.

And of course the intakes themselves...not a seam in sight!,

I'm also working on more Valiant bits and bobs too which will be released in due course,

Many thanks to Ali for the set,

Link to the A2ZEE site, large range of top quality sets and complete kits..

A2ZEE Models.....(Alleycat).

Cheers,

Andy...

Edited December 14, 2011 by general melchett

[Victorlas]

Very good!

[viscount806x]

hmmm...wonder if they will fit the Mach Poo kit?

steve

Or you can put a pig in a ball gown....

[davepb]

Wonder if I can use them on the AIM Valiant B2 vacform?

Dave

[Mike]

Wonder if I can use them on the AIM Valiant B2 vacform?

Dave

Pig in a ballgown with strange puffy shoulders?