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Handley Page Victor B.Mk.2(BS) (A12008) 1:72 Airfix The Handley Page Victor was probably most famous for its participation as part of the RAF’s V-Force in the strategic bomber role, or more specifically to operate as a nuclear deterrent. Its career as an in-flight refuelling aircraft is where it cemented its place in RAF history however, with around 30 years of faithful service in this role. Like the delta-winged Vulcan, the Victor’s Crescent wing was a risky first, which was first tested to prove the concept by mounting it to a smaller airframe and assessing it the only way it was possible back in the 50s - flight. The full-sized aircraft first flew at the end of 1952, and the initial variant, the B.1 entered operational service with 10 & 15 squadrons in 1958. While the B.1 was designed to operate at high level impervious to Soviet defences of the era, the improved B.2 was primarily designed to deliver stand-off missiles from low level to avoid Soviet radar. This unfortunately was the undoing of the Victor in its original role, as the dense, buffeting “dirty” air at low level led to fatigue cracks within the wing structure, so the B.2s were 'retired' by the end of 1968 with only 6 years in service, in many ways mimicking the comparatively conventional Valiant from Vickers. An increased need for in-flight refuelling led the RAF to modify the languishing B.2s and put them back into service in this role after conversion. Apart from the obvious fitment of refuelling equipment and tankage, the wingspan was shortened to reduce wing bending stresses that would alleviate the fatigue issues. In 1982, the Victor played a pivotal role in a series of the most famous missions in post-WWII RAF history, known collectively as Operation Black Buck. Its part has been largely glossed-over by the media, who instead focused on the AVRO Vulcan that delivered the bombs, despite the fact that the fuel carried by the Victors are what made the whole operation possible. No less than 11 Victors were required to provide the complex refuelling pattern for the long outbound and return trip by a solitary Vulcan to the Falklands from the Ascension Isles, a back-up airframe turning back relatively early in the process. The Victors also had to refuel each other with critical timing that was aggravated by the higher payload and consequent faster fuel use of the Vulcan as a result of the additional equipment required for such a mission. The B.Mk.2 Victor was finally retired from its long and distinguished refuelling service in 1993 as it handed the reigns over to the VC-10s and Tristars. The Kit This is a reboxing of the initial 2016 release of a modern tooling of this incredible-looking Cold War warrior, and should go a long way to satisfy those of us unwilling to pay the premium asked by eBay sellers up until now. It arrives in a large red-themed box with a painting of an anti-flash white painted Victor on take-off, and inside are eight mostly full-size sprues in light grey styrene, a small sprue of clear parts, the instruction booklet, and decal sheet. We missed out on the first issue back in the day, and being the forgetful person I am, I even forgot to add one to the stash. It’s nice to finally lay hands on the kit, and find out for myself that the detail is good, there is some clever engineering evident, and Victors are large. I’ve stood right next to one a few times at Bruntingthorpe and other places, but when you see the size of the parts on the sprues, it hits you in a different way. Construction begins with the ejection seats for the two front seat crew, which are made from two halves on top of which the seat cushions with seatbelts moulded-in, then four more are made up for the rear crew, each one having a carcass with the back cushion and belts moulded-in, and a separate bottom cushion (literally). The cockpit starts with the rear instrument wall, which has the full-width desk slotted into it, and is attached to the main floor part, unsurprisingly at the back, with the four circular bases for the back seats moulded into the floor. A large side console is fixed to the left of the instrument wall (as you look at it), and a pair of rudder pedals with a link between them get slotted into the front of the cockpit. The rear seats mount on their positions, and the lucky two at the front have their ejection seats slotted into the holes in the front, completing the cockpit (almost). Unlike your average modern fighter, the nose gear bay isn’t directly under the cockpit, but is slightly behind it built on a separate roof section. One side is fitted first along with the front bulkhead, to act as supports for the nose gear assembly, the main leg of which is pinned in place by the addition of the other sidewall, then the rear bulkhead, and finally, a bulkhead that is also the front bulkhead of the bomb bay later on. In the meantime, the prominent V-tail that sits high over the tarmac is made up, commencing with a little surgery on the trailing edge, removing later sensors from the upper and lower halves. A 1mm hole is drilled in the top-side before closing them up, and a pair of elevators are built up of top and bottom halves to slot into the centre on a pair of pins where they pivot. There’s more sub-assembly building next, starting with making up eight sets of paired wheels to populate the main gear legs, which are substantial but not all that visible on a landed aircraft. The main leg is moulded in two halves that includes a substantial leading strut with two smaller struts added during closure. The legs have a peculiar trident-shaped topper, and the leg is further strengthened by a pair of cranked side supports before four sets of paired wheels are inserted on the axles of each leg. Like the cockpit and the nose gear bay, these also get put to one side while you make the wings, although you’d be forgiven for expecting the fuselage to be next, unless you’ve built one already of course. The centre section of the upper wing is the starting-point for the process, and the first thing you do is fix a pair of internal extensions that end outside the inner panel and will strengthen the joint with the outer wing. They fit on a trio of raised lozenges, and one of the strakes that project from the trailing edge of the wing is cut and filed away on each side before the linked intake halves are laid inside the centre section, providing both strength and four intake trunks, which are completed by adding the upper halves, and the engine faces to the rear, which are also linked to ensure the fit is snug. At this stage there’s a hole in the side of the inner intake, which is closed up by an insert, while the guide-vanes inside the trunks are cleverly slotted in through the slightly larger holes in the underside of the trunks, and there are five on each side, so it’s as well that they’re easily inserted. The main bays have their roof detail moulded into the inside of the upper surface, and it is boxed-in by the walls and a cut-away longeron that crosses the bay roof and latches into slots in the sides. The exhausts are made in pairs like the intakes, and have end-caps with engine detail to the front, situated in the upper wing on more lozenge shapes that reduce the likelihood of getting them in the wrong place. Finally, the outer wing panels are joined using those holy (hole-y?) spars, with a peculiar-shaped nick cut from the trailing edge, and the lower wing closing over it on each side. At long-last we get to the fuselage, or the starboard half at least, which has a few small windows installed, a small hole made in the underside, then placing the nose gear bay into position so that the bomb bay can be created by slotting the roof into the back of the bulkhead, and slotting the other end into a smaller bulkhead that has two slots to prevent the bay roof being put in backwards. There’s another hole to be drilled in the fuselage if you are posing the intakes in front of the tail open. Before you can close up the fuselage, the prominent air-brake system in the tail is created, or if you intend to pose them closed, the bulkhead and brake surfaces are used to close the area over. To open up the brakes, you start with a large tapering central structural member that the perforated opener slots through, with a Y-shaped strut and the other half of the structural part closing it in. The same bulkhead used in the closed brakes clips to the back on two pegs, and the two pairs of additional opener arms slide into the tip of the assembly, locked in place by a circular cover and inserted into the rear of the fuselage. If you can still remember where you put the cockpit, that is added to the front of the fuselage, and the port fuselage half is prepared with the same windows, holes and so forth to enable you to close it up after adding 25g of nose-weight under the cockpit, and the rudder panel in the tail fin. After a suitable pause to allow the glue to dry and the seams to be dealt with, the wing assembly is mated with the fuselage, the twin internal yokes linking the intakes entering the slots in the top of the fuselage, and painting a small section of the fuselage’s wing root the same aluminium as the rest of the main gear bays. The designers at Airfix are definitely modellers, as the majority of the seam in the top of the fuselage is later covered over by an insert that both covers the seam and allows Airfix to portray different sensor-fits for different boxings. A few holes are made in one edge of the insert before fitting it however, so don’t forget, or you’ll probably end up regretting it. The big V-tail is finally fixed atop the tail fin, and the intakes are finished off by adding a pair of small inserts into the wing-root, then in order to create the proper wingtip profile and length, a combined aileron and tip are glued in place with a clear lower side to the tip to portray the lights, fitting by the usual slot and tab system, and a peg on the inner end of the aileron. At the tail, the open or closed air-brake panels and inner section are slotted into the assembly and completed by a choice of a smooth tail-cone, or one with sensor bumps all over it. Under the brake housing, a bump-strip helps protect the tail from over-aggressive take-off rotations that could scuff up the paint job. The lower wing inner panels cover up the engine nacelles and their innards after removing the same trailing edge strakes, and drilling some holes in the skin to mount the semi-permanent underwing tanks. There is also a small rectangular insert fixed to the inner edge of the starboard skin if you aren’t dropping the ancillary intake. The main gear legs and bay doors are fitted to the now completed and framed gear bays, and a pair of new wheels are glued to the nose gear leg along with a twin mudguard and a pair of bay doors. Things jump around a bit from this point on, starting with the exhausts, which each have a pair of internal tubes and a single-part external fairing. You may have noticed that there was no instrument panel mentioned earlier, but there is one, which is glued to the deep coaming with a decal to replicate the instruments, with two steering yokes pushed through it into two holes, and a sloping centre console between them, which also has its own decal. It is glued into the front of the cockpit, but the glazing isn’t installed until much later. The bomb-aimer’s triple-paned window is inserted under the nose however, along with some more sensors at the tip. We then leap to the underside of the engine nacelles, adding paired auxiliary intakes that are fitted into recesses in the surface, starting with the paired rear portions, and completing the intake by adding the separate lips to give it a more accurate appearance. Staying with the wings, the Victor has sizeable flaps, which are in two parts and pass over the rear of the engine nacelles. They can be fitted flush with the surrounding skin by cutting off the pips on the inside of the parts, or in the deployed position by adding a small part onto one of the tracks, then gluing the panels in their deployed position. The fuel tanks are next, made from halves, plus a front insert, and the tapered rear to get the shape right, and cutting back the rear parts if you are opening the flaps. This variant of the Victor was tasked with carrying the Blue Steel stand-off nuclear missile, so instead of a standard pair of bomb bay doors, a single fairing is placed over the opening, ready for the missile that comes later. On the upper wings are the Küchemann carrots that are each made from three parts, and fix flat to the wing using that notch you cut in the wing earlier. There is another intake made up and inserted into another depression under the fuselage, next to a retractable intake where the flush insert would otherwise be. More intakes fit on the top of the fuselage in front of the tail along with a number of aerials, the bullet-fairing on the tail, a couple more blade antennae, then finally we get round to the canopy, which is fixed with the addition of a pair of styrene parts and the refuelling probe that is glued into the centreline of the canopy and has a clear fairing that projects further down the middle. A pair of pitot probes slot into each wingtip, and the slide-open crew door is made up from two styrene parts and a clear porthole to slip into the opening and is joined by a long access ladder. The Blue Steel missile is a large, scary creation that is included in the box, and is built from two main halves plus a pair of forward vanes moulded on a pivot, and you can still mount the model on an Airfix stand (available separately) by drilling two holes in the underside of the missile. The upper fin is fitted perpendicular to the body of the missile, while the lower fin has to be folded flat for carriage, as it would otherwise interact with the ground, creating sparks and debris, a possible explosion and ensuing catastrophe. With a pair of tubular fairings glued to the top of the rear fins and the exhaust cone in the rear, the finished missile can be attached into the recess in the bomb bay, completing the model. Markings There are two decal options included in the box for this Cold War warrior, covered by two folded A3 sheets of glossy colour printing. From the box you can build one of the following: No.139 Sqn., RAF Wittering, England 1963-4 Victor Training Flight, RAF Wittering, England 1968 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin satin carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The stencils are comprehensive, and differ between the two decal options, so each option is covered on a separate side of the page, so make sure you use the right one. Conclusion Judging by the prices on a famous auction site, the demand for a re-release of this kit is there, and we’re getting a new boxing of the Victor doing the job that it was originally intended for. It’s a well-detailed model, well-liked in its previous boxing, and it’s the best of a very small number of Victor models in this scale. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
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So this happened... I got offered an Airfix Valiant for a very good price, how could I resist? My second Airfix Victor is close to finishing now and my first Valiant has been completed. I'll begin this probably in the next few days, I haven't decided yet if I want to get resin corrections for this and make it as accurate as I can or just go with it as is. Definitely not an out the box scheme though if all goes as planned. I started my first build not really liking the silver scheme the early Valaints wore, but by the end of it I kind of wished I'd gone with one. So that's what I'm doing now. The other option is camouflage but that looks like a nightmare of a masking job that I'd rather not deal with. https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/valiant/gallery.php This is the scheme I will be replicating, and as far as I can see all the decals and parts I need are included in the box and PR/tanker upgrade kit if I swap a few serials around- I might need to borrow one or two numbers from elsewhere but that's whatever. Can't wait to get this started! Here is my previous build vv And a useful thread for this build
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Avro Vulcan B.2 (A12011) 1:72 Airfix It’s hard to think of a more iconic aircraft to represent the RAF Strike Force at the height of the Cold War than the Avro Vulcan. It’s also difficult to believe that design work was begun by Roy Chadwick and his team, who designed the Lancaster, while WWII was still ongoing. Even though both aircraft fulfil the same basic role, the two are extremely different both in looks and the level of technology used. The Vulcan was the third of the V Bombers operated by the RAF, her sisters being the more traditional Valiant and the crescent-winged Victor. The Vulcan was the more technically advanced aircraft and was considered a greater risk, one of the reasons that all three types were commissioned. The first prototype Vulcan flew in 1952 with a straight delta wing, reaching production as the B.1 from 1955. The design was improved by cranking and “drooping” the delta wing that improved flight characteristics, with more powerful Olympus engines making the aircraft capable of carrying the Blue Steel stand-off nuclear missile. The Vulcans would later lose their nuclear role in the 1970s, and switch to conventional weapons in support of NATO, until right at the end of their service life they were called on to fly their longest, most difficult and most famous sorties. In a major feat of aerial logistics, they along with their siblings the Victor tanker, would fly from Ascension Island to Bomb the Falkland Islands’ airfield at Port Stanley, after the invasion by the Junta led Argentinian military. After successfully shortening the runway by dropping a full stick of bombs diagonally across the tarmac, the missions rendered the runway useless for any fast jets, forcing them to use up all their fuel flying to and from the mainland. Later missions provided Radar Suppression on the Falkland Islands, stooging about and trying to tempt the Argentinian radars to light up so they could launch Shrike missiles and destroy them, leaving the Sea Harriers free to defend the otherwise vulnerable fleet and take on the fighters. Each mission was a round trip of nearly 8,000 miles that had every opportunity to go wrong, leaving the possibility of a Vulcan having to ditch in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This almost happened when a refuelling probe sheared off on a later mission, leaving the aircraft incapable of taking on any more fuel from the waiting Victors, and forcing it to land in Chile, where it remained. A solitary Vulcan was kept in the airshow circuit for a while after they left service after being replaced by the Tornado, but by the early 90s they were only to be found in museums, often rotting away outside. Vulcan XH558 however was kept in running condition along with a few others by dedicated volunteers, and was eventually brought back to flight status by a huge amount of support and generous donations from the public, flying for a number of years before it was grounded again for good when it clocked up more hours in the sky than any other Vulcan, when support was withdrawn. The Kit Airfix was the only company to create a kit in 1:72 in 1983, which has been re-released many times over the years, and its popularity had seen the quality of the moulds begin to deteriorate in more recent runs. An excellent model could be built from that kit, but as our standards increased, much more effort, money or both was required to make it happen. Meantime, the existence of an essentially accurate kit was clearly off-putting to other manufacturers, so it has been left to Airfix to replace their own kit with a thoroughly new tooling that will make us all happy again. This has been a long time coming, especially after they inadvertently dropped the announcement before they were ready, so everyone’s breath is well and truly baited by now. The kit arrives in a large box that is about the same size as the old one, and inside are seven grey styrene sprues, most of which are almost as large as the box, a sprue of clear parts, a large decal sheet, thick A4 instruction booklet with separate glossy A3 painting guide, and another sheet for the stencils. The sprues are large and wobbly, and some can be nipped into smaller, more manageable sizes by cutting out the runners from between the sprue sections, which I did in order to make photography easier for the detail pictures. Detail is really nice, with engraved panel lines, raised and engraved surface details on the skin of the aircraft, plus a much-improved range of detail in the cockpit and gearbays that will be sufficient for the majority of modellers. There is also a complete bomb bay in this tooling that even has a complement of iron bombs to fill it, separate open doors, and an insert to allow the Vulcan to carry the Blue Steel nuke in a recess under the fuselage. Unsurprisingly, you get a Blue Steel missile too, which is more detailed than the original, and has the fold-over fin that was necessary to prevent it from scraping on the ground on take-off. From examining the instructions, it is clear that a lot of effort has been expended to make the model well-detailed and easy to make, with some clever design visible in various places. Construction begins with a deep breath and a broad smile, as we’ve been waiting for a new Vulcan for quite a number of years now. Unsurprisingly, the first steps involve the cockpit, which if you’ve been inside one, you’ll know is on a split level and very cramped. Under the floor is a pair of L-shaped supports that portray the basics of the crew access corridor, with some ribbing moulded in at the door end. A centre console and rudder pedals are inserted into the floor first, with the front bulkhead blocking off the front and the main instrument panel with clear decals for the dials applied to detail it, and a pair of fighter-style joysticks projecting from the panel on short stalks. The front crew have Martin-Baker MB.3 ejection seats that get them out of the way in the event of an emergency, and these are made from two half shells with the seat cushions installed inside, which include moulded-in seatbelts and a fire extinguisher behind each one on the top level, plus a ladder between them. To their sides are a pair of side consoles with their own decals to provide some visual interest. The three rear crew were less lucky, and had simple seats that meant that they had to hope that the pilots had time to let them bail-out before they ejected, after which the task would have been almost impossible. The centre seat is a different style to allow access to the entrance corridor, and this is depicted here, the outer two having the same more substantial rotating fitting, and each seat is installed facing the aft bulkhead, which has a narrow table but no detail or decal, which is a shame. That said, there’s very little that will be seen with the canopy on, even if you open up the access door. By this stage the cockpit is clearly forming the tubular shape of the fuselage, and here Airfix have created an internal nose cone that can be used to contain the 40 grammes of nose weight that they suggest you use. The weight compartment is made from two halves, and has pegs that insert into the cockpit’s front bulkhead, so fill it with lead or whatever you have to hand, and weigh it so that you don’t end up with a tail-sitter. Nice work Airfix! The fuselage front then closes around this assembly, with the nose weight sleeving inside, and the very tip of the nose has a cone with either a slot for a refuelling probe, or one without. The canopy is a single part, which is about right, as the only time you’d see a Vulcan without a canopy is after an ejection, or during maintenance where just the windscreen would be left in place. A decal is applied to the inside of the canopy to represent an instrument panel, and in the coaming around the front of the cockpit area, a small clear observation window is inserted before the cockpit is closed up. Under the nose is an insert with the bomb-aimer’s window plus separate glazing, and the crew door aperture moulded-in. To fit the door in the closed position, a small portion of the hinge should be filed away, as shown in a scrap diagram. There’s a lot of internal structure to this model, as it is a large kit. There are two spars that form the front and rear of the bomb bay, which have small sections cut out first if you are depicting a Blue Steel aircraft, then the interior of the bomb bay, which has a series of arches along its length, some of which are numbered for your ease. The three larger arches are made first from three parts each, then the bay walls are attached to the two spars to be joined by the rest of the arches from above. The whole bay is painted white, and you have the basis of the structure provided for you in this kit, but there is always more you can add if you have the references and the inclination to detail it further. A pair of intermediate spars are attached to the sides of the bomb bay, and all three are joined by an L-shaped stringer that gives the structure some strength. This large assembly is set to the side now, while the upper and lower wing skins are built up. The wings of the Vulcan are large and blend along the majority of the length of the fuselage, and in order to create a full-width skin, the two halves have to be joined together. If you are portraying a Blue Steel aircraft, there are two sections around the Bomb Bay doors that will need removing first, but Airfix have already weakened this area with a simulation of chain-drilling that should make their removal quite easy. For gear up, there is a single bay door for each of the main gear bay apertures, and to the rear there are some holes that need drilling between the two engine nacelles, which differs between decal options. The two lower wings are joined together with either a standard closed bomb bay, a Blue Steel insert, or the space for open bay doors, whichever you decide. For the first two options the wings are made up and the internals are glued over the top, but for the open bay, the insert is added to one wing, then the other is joined to the assembly to ensure the two wing halves sit at the correct angle once glued. For a gear-up Vulcan, the nose bay door is inserted from outside, or for gear down, a bay is made from five sides, then glued into the lower wing from inside. The two main gear bays are also made up from five parts each, and they too are inserted into the lower wing. It’s not the last part to be installed either. There are four Olympus engines to go. Before the two pairs of intakes are made up, there are some paper templates included in the instructions that can be used to mark off where the camouflage ends inside the intake lips, and that’s yet another considerate inclusion from Airfix. Each paired intake is made up from a top and a bottom half, with a separate part depicting the curve of the internal split between the two tubes. At the rear a pair of engine faces are included to block off the trunking, and if you wish, there are also a pair of FOD guards to blank off the intakes for a parked-up Vulcan. The two pairs are handed, and these are installed into the lower fuselage according to the numbers embossed on the rear of the engine fans. Lastly, a pair of landing lights are inserted into the lower wing from within, then the upper wing is made from two halves, and here it’s noteworthy that the ribbing inside the bomb bay is moulded into the interior of the two halves, and there are a number of overlapping sections that will ensure a strong join between the two halves. The two wing surfaces are joined finally, and the nose clips into place, with a much more refined splitter plate sliding into the gap between the fuselage and intakes than on the old kit. The tail cone has two 1mm holes drilled in it for one decal option, then the two halves are joined and have an additional intake added into a depression on the right side, then it too is joined to the fuselage/wings. The exhausts of the Vulcan were always a bone of contention with the old kit, as there were different styles, and the old kit didn’t portray then well. This new kit seems to have a lot more detail, and even includes a jig to assist in construction, so follow their instructions and don’t glue the figure-of-eight parts into position, or you’ll be sad. Each exhaust has a number of notches in the inside end that tells you its number, which corresponds with a number on the upper fairing into which you drop them two at a time. The jig is slid over the outer end of the pair, then the remaining two parts of the cylindrical cowling are glued in place around each pipe, with the jig removed once the glue is dry. Another section of the exhausts is included to give a more accurate length to the interior of the trunking, and this part has a representation of the back of the engine blocking your view, and you guessed correctly that these too are numbered. The same task is carried out on both sides of the aircraft, then various exhausts are fitted to the undersides of the engine nacelles, followed by some strakes in the gap between them, and a pair of asymmetric Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) plates that fit between them with a vertical support giving them a T-profile. One of the stand-out parts of a Vulcan is the fin, which makes them easy to find on the ground. The tip of the fin is first to be made, then joined to the two-part fin, which has a posable rudder that can deflect 30o to either side. The two flap sections per side are also made up and installed either side of the engines, and the two-section ailerons are also installed, with 10o/22o deflection and 12.5o/27o deflection respectively. The latter have separate actuator fairings fitted to the mobile section afterwards. The landing gear and their bays are a big improvement on the old kit, with more detailed bay doors, and the legs themselves are made up of a number of parts that have eight wheels per main leg fitted on each one, a long retraction jack, forward bay door and big inner doors with their actuator jacks on each one. The nose gear leg has multiple parts too, and has two wheels, one either side of the axle. This inserts into the bay and has doors with retraction jacks on each side, one of which has a towel-rail antenna on the outer face. It’s still quite a way before the model is finished, but the open bomb bay, if you chose it, is next to be finished off. There are three sets of seven bombs supplied to fill the bomb bay, then the bi-fold bomb bay doors are made up from two parts each that are latched into the bay walls in a partially retracted fashion on each side. You also have a choice of closed or deployed spoilers in the forward inner wing section, using either flat panels or alternative parts on two legs for each of the four spoiler positions. The upper spoilers are doubled-up, so look quite impressive when deployed. If you are using the Blue Steel bomb, it is built from two halves, with the forward steering vanes a single part on a rod that passes through the nose. At the rear, the top fin is installed upright, two small parts are fitted to the horizontal fins, and the bottom fin is glued in the folded position parallel to the ground, then the exhaust cone is popped into the hollow rear of the missile. It inserts into the semi-recessed section of the fuselage where the bomb bay would normally be, with the top fin sliding into a slot like the real thing. Now it’s time to mop up the small and delicate sections that are best left until the end. A clear light is fitted into a recess in the underside of the aft fuselage with an exhaust port just behind it; the crew access hatch and ladder is made up with handrails, then glued into the hatch behind the bomb-aimer’s window bulge beneath the nose with a trio of probes around the aforementioned window; a pair of antennae fit into recesses in the upper spine between the engines, and if you have selected the nose with the fuelling probe recess, that is the last job on a long list. Markings There are two markings options on the decal sheet, one camouflaged with white undersides, the other completely anti-flash white. Both schemes are laid out using a full side of the A3 each, with smaller drawings showing the colours of the bombs and the Blue Steel missile, with colour call-outs in Humbrol shades. From the box you can build one of the following: The Scampton Wing (Nos.27, 83 & 617 Sqn.) RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, England, 1966 No.12 Sqn. RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England, 1963 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A new tool Vulcan. Just sit there and let that sink in for a second. The only thing that would top that is a 1:48 injection moulded Vulcan, but that’s just pipe-dreams. It’s a great kit, includes plenty of detail for the majority of modellers, and has some neat, inventive engineering touches that should make it a good build at a fair price. Then it’s just a case of affording another one for the other scheme, and another one for the inevitable B.1 with the straight leading edges. So highly recommended that it stings a little. Review sample courtesy of
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So I gather that this GB is all about finishing shelf queens... I also see the 25% rule doesn't apply, so I have a number of models that fit the bill, ranging from still in assembly to finishing off the decals. This is one that just needs decals, weathering and all the little bits and adding. Hope no one minds me putting up a few entries, I have a number of projects I'd love to get on with. There's the original WIP thread ^^ And this is what the model looks like now.
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Victor B.Mk.2(BS) Air Brakes (72644 for Airfix) 1:72 Eduard Airfix pleased a lot of modellers when they released their new tooling of this awesome Cold War warrior, and we reviewed the majority of the sets from Eduard here. We missed the Air Brakes when a few items got mislaid, so here they are now. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Supplied on a single brass sheet, this set provides skins for the majority of the air brake surfaces, adding rivet and panel detail, as well as lightening holes in abundance. A little detail needs removing before construction, and the Y-shaped part of the actuator ram is removed and replaced by a folded-up hollow piece with a substantial improvement in detail. The air brakes themselves are also skinned, again increasing the level of detail immensely. If you're planning on displaying your model with the air brakes open, then this is the ideal set for you. Back in stock at Eduard within the next week Review sample courtesy of
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Good evening everyone, I have two rather troublesome questions which have been plaguing me for a few weeks now, the first is regarding the Airfix Vulcan. I have finally plucked up the courage (and money!) to have a crack at an Airfix vulcan with the White Ensign Models (WEM) photo-etch kits, consisting of a bomb-bay, cockpit and airbrakes/exterior details. The question is, how should I present it so the cockpit detail can be viewed-should I have only the canopy as a removable item? Should I have a removable panel on the side? Should I just cut a cut-away hole in the side and leave it open? (Lighting is a possibility for all options). The second issue is that as some of you may know, I'm working on a 1:48 Vulcan made from card (card, not corrugated cardboard) which I intend to include almost every single piece of ribbing and interior details (fuel tanks, major linkages through the wings, fully detailled cockpit, etc). I am sure you can understand that I would rather open the details up so they can be viewed and like the previous issue, the question is how? The choices I've got consist of having half of the Vulcan (the left side for example) being "stripped" of the skin-exposing the detailling. The other choice is to have some panels removable or have them on hinges (could be useful for the engine servicing bay where the fairings hinge open, or the ECM fairing at the back which also hinges open). The third option would be to cover the entire aircraft in a skin but have these pieces of skin removable for viewing. If you have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your feedback! *While I don't think it is particularly ethical to advertise an external site on the forums I do feel that for the time being the progress photos are much easier to post on the blog. Don't feel obliged to click on it though! (see signature) Thanks, Sam
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Good morning all! I am just wondering whether anyone knows how the Blue Steel missile was attached to the V-bombers, specifically the Avro Vulcan. I have seen a Pathe film of Blue Steel showing the ground crew "winding" the missile up into the bomb bay of the Valiant, I am not sure whether this would be the same with the Vulcan? On a related note, having been to Cosford and seen their Blue Steel far too many times for it to be deemed normal behaviour (only kidding, Cosford is a wonderful place) I noticed that on the horizontal "wing/winglets" at the rear of the missile, there are two cylinder shaped attachments which are attached just above these wings. I don't think that the Cosford Blue Steel was a test vehicle so I don't think it could be carrying any sort of flare to mark its location (if the test vehicles ever used such a setup), however I suspect that it has something to do with its suspension from the V-bombers??? I also tried obtaining an estimate for how much it would cost to copy some Blue Steel technical drawings from the national archives and the answer came back- £350!!! So a dead end there... Anyway, thanks for reading my verbal ramblings, Sam
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Afternoon all Some more classic pics from a friend across the ocean. Taken at RCAF Station Rockcliffe Ottawa on 6th June 1664 the pics show Vulcan B2 XM646 with IFR Probe and probably XM647. 6th June is the date of the third National Air Force Day at Rockcliffe. The 40th Anniversary of the RCAF" was the theme and an RAF Vulcan was scheduled to display. The nose shot shows the markings of the Coningsby Wing with 9, 12 and 35 Sqn markings along with the Coningsby Crest although the castle on the crest looks a bit thick. The pilot’s name on the crew access door is AVM AHC boxer who was SASO at Bomber Command The Victor B2 pic was taken non 11 June 1964 but the date on the pic file gives no location. XL233 carries the tail marking of the Wittering Wing which comprised 100 and 139 Sqns. Any further info, corrections and the like would be very welcome - Hope they are of interest All photographs are courtesy Canadian Forces Joint Imagery Centre, Ottawa via Steve S Regards Frank
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Now Mish has put up a poll for us all to vote for the 2014 GBs the time has come to think of out options for 2015 Following on from a joke comment on the What-if III GB thread (I'm blaming you Rob ) a few of us started thinking about a GB for all those nuclear capable systems there has been over the years. Enzo and I had a quick chat and are proposing that any weapons system in 'nuclear trim' be eligable so all those ships, subs, ICBMs, aircraft, AFVs, etc. dressed for the ultimate battle are included. What do you think gang?
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Vickers Valiant Bk.Mk.1 Update Sets (for Airfix) 1:72 Eduard The highly anticipated Valiant kit has been knocking about the shelves now for some time, and so have a couple of these Photo-Etch (PE) sets. The rest are brand new, fresh from the Eduard stables, and will give your Airfix kit a boost, correcting some of the inaccuracies and less detailed parts that are found within the kit. Cockpit Set (73428) You can't see a massive amount of the interior of the Valiant when the canopy is applied and painted, but if you're planning on lighting it, or leaving the canopy loose to show off your work, or you have a "well I know it's there" moment, like we're all prone to, then this is a good set for you. The self-adhesive pre-painted sheet measures 7cm x 5.3cm, while the unpainted brass set is 8.3cm x 7cm. The painted sheet contains a full set of laminated PE instrument panels for the pilots, a set of side consoles and even a small console that resides in the roof area. You'll need to remove the existing detail before proceeding, as well as all of the seat location tabs that are present on the cockpit floor. The pilots get a set of rudder pedals each, and the steering yokes receive slim PE replacement wheels There is also a detailed set of instrument "boxes" for the rear-seat crew, which will be visible if you plan on leaving the crew access door open. Some additional panels are also placed within the fuselage sides to busy up the area, also the massive cable-run and busy boxes on the starboard wall aren't fully represented. A pair of painted Emergency Exit signs are placed above the porthole, just to finish off the area. The crew seats are all a little bit simplified as supplied with the kit, and although the front seats could do with a major overhaul, they receive a set of details for their rears, presumably because that is what will most likely be seen. The rear-seater get a completely new trio of seats, made entirely of PE parts, including the missing tube-work legs and thin back supports. I'm not 100% convinced of the back of the chairs being totally accurate, but they are certainly a much better option than the kit parts. Some nicely done steps up to the forward cabin are included, as well as a small table with "something" cylindrical sat on it. That has a few further lumps and bumps on it, so if you're feeling adventurous you could add them using your references. The final section that is decked out is the rear periscope that resides in the tapering part of the cockpit roof. It replaces all the moulded in solid protection bars with PE parts, although it doesn't provide you with the periscope itself. Interestingly, the instructions tell you to cut the rear floor from the front, using the large skin with an L-shaped spur on the bottom to set the rear cockpit area back 1mm. I seem to recall somewhere that the rear cockpit was a little too close to the door, and this is perhaps Eduard's attempt to fix that issue. Some strengthening styrene sheet might be a good idea to stop the two halves flapping about once installed however. As you might have guessed from this review, I have been scouting the Valiant's cockpit for quite a while, which was in preparation for my (now stalled) build that you can find here, which was done before Eduard came along and helped save us all some time. Cockpit Zoom Set (SS428) This "cut down" set includes the self-adhesive pre-painted set detailed in the review above, and is perfect for either the budget conscious modeller or someone making their first forays into working with PE. Seatbelt Set (73450) If you're going to spend some time on the cockpit, you might as well add all of the seatbelts to go with it. The instructions show the parts being applied to the vanilla kit parts, but if you're adding the cockpit set, they can just as easily be used with the replacements mentioned above. The 5cm x 3.5cm fret is pre-painted, and is very detailed, although necessarily tiny. Undercarriage Set (72541) The kit landing gear bays are somewhat fictional in places, and to address this, you can use this set which goes a long way toward correcting the major issues on a fret that is 14cm x 9cm. The Main gear wells receive a roof skin that has the correct rivets rather than those ribs seen on the kit, and adds some wall skins to do the same for those. A complex tangle of parts sits at one end of the bay's large rib, which is the only detail within the bay that is retained. Scraping of the kit detail away will be tricky because of the sidewalls, but a small curved knife blade should do the job well enough. The gear bay doors also have fictional detail included, which is to be removed before installing the new skins to the insides, improving detail no end. The nose bay suffers from being too wide, and a little shallow (IMHO), and although Eduard haven't addressed that aspect of the kit, they have provided some nice detail to improve the look. A tricky part needs removing in the roof of the bay, which will again require some careful scraping unless you have a Dremel. The sidewalls also receive new skins, and detail parts that aren't present on the kit offering, and the gear bay covers are skinned with more realistic riveted doors. The towel-rail antennas on the starboard door is replaced by three stand-off parts, and you will need a fine piece of 0.15mm wire to finish off the job. The final parts improve the look of the mounting for the nose gear leg, and add an etched oleo-leg scissor to make it look a little more accurate. Surface Panel Set (72539) This self-adhesive set measures 14cm x 9.3cm, and is an improvement set to give the outer skin of this Cold-War V-bomber a more realistic look. It includes a set of PE vortex generators for the tail and upper wing, which come with their own templates to ensure they are placed correctly. There are a myriad of other panels dotted around the airframe, and some rather large sections attach to the underside of the ailerons, which have tiny dots etched into them. Some new airbrakes on the underside of the wing are also included, which begs the question "should I show them deployed?", although I'm unsure whether they were used at this time. A myriad of smaller parts are applied around the blended engine nacelles, depicting the maintenance access-ports used for dropping out the Avon engines out of the wings. Similarly, on the fuselage spine there are a number of parts applied there that are involved in the loading and unloading of munitions in the bomb bay. Mask Set (CX299) The Valiant had little glazing due to their initial nuclear weapons delivery role, but it does have some interesting shaped windows that are tricky to mask, especially the triple paned section on the quarter panel with its curved top and bottom sections. To fill the sheet, a set of masks for the nose-wheel pair are included, as these have moulded in mudguard detail that will make them tricky to paint. Well worth a look if masking drives you potty! Conclusion The additional detail provided by these sets will make your Valiant stand out from the crowd, and will doubtless set some of us thinking about how best to display all that lovely cockpit detail. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of