Search the Community

I first came across the Brigand in Fly Past from March 2019 when Arnold Greethurst recounted his experiences on them as a navigator. Such was his dislike that he actually refused to fly the aircraft, and was sent back to Blighty. So when the Was being debated it was such an obvious candidate that I went out and got one. Alas the proposal never went into the war that is the bunfight and my stash was swelled again. Here then is it's chance to come out to play. I give you the Valom Bristol Brigand, actually now I've read some reviews I might well give it to you!!! Not least thanks to @Mr T highlighting problems. Let's start off upbeat though- I like the box! Unlike some firms who seem to sell you a lot of air in the box, this one is packed full goodies... OK, the copy of the Warpaint on the Brigand etc. wasn't included but there's plastic, resin, etch, transparencies and decals I'm relieved to say that my decals are in better register than some of the other Valom offerings in this GB. Who knows what I'll make of it as things progress- I've a few other GBs underway at the moment so it'll be a late engine start from me. I'll bring out some of Greethurst's reasons for refusing to fly as things progress; it certainly was a plane I wouldn't want to go to war in!

May I present to you my latest build, the Valom Handley Page Harrow, which has just featured as a Work In Progress topic. The kit is beautifully moulded with a lovely rendition of the fabric covering of the real aircraft. The injection transparencies are beautifully clear. The kit also has resin engines and seats, a small sheet of etched brass parts of which most seem impossibly small to use such as the throttle levers, but which contains a very nice instrument panel, a clear sheet with dials to go behind the instrument panel and a superb decal sheet. We also have a well drawn, easy to understand instruction sheet and a painting guide for the two aircraft options printed in colour. Here we have some of the kit's contents. I added some scratchbuilt interior to the cockpit cabin and around the upper turret area. Mostly I had no issues with the construction. The only parts that needed attention were the vertical stabilisers where they meet the tailplanes. The nose and tail turrets are very fiddly to construct, I added gun breaches to the rear turret as only the gun barrels are included, rather like a pair of broom handles sticking out of a dummy turret like on the transport version of the Wellington. Unfortunately, Valom's interpretation of the Armstrong Whitworth upper turret is horrible, it is too big, a strange shape and the gun slot is not straight. I actually used the turret from an Airfix Anson which I found in my spares. I also replaced the kit's weak and thin looking undercarriage struts with stronger thicker struts from my spares. Oh yes, I widened the tailwheel fairing too. My scratchbuilt cockpit module showing the wireless operator and navigator's positions. The interior just before closing up the fuselage. I brush painted the model with Humbrol enamels. I used Matt 119 Light Earth with Matt 30 Dark Green camouflage painted over. Matt 33 Black undersurfaces. Then a coat of Klear floor polish was brushed over the whole model. Beautiful though the kit's decals are, I really like the low viz Munich Crisis scheme of 1938 so that is what I have tried to represent on mine. A few shots of it parked out in the ' snow ' in some natural light. That has been my Valom Handley Page Harrow. Thank you for looking. Now I need to think about what to build next ................. the stash is calling regards, adey