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1/72 vickers Wellesley


gruffy

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I like the Wellesley (it's the forgotten ancestor of the Wellington and, for those who know their history, a clever name) so I'm happy to see some-one release one and even happier to see one in 1/72, although I would've thought Revell would have the moulds and released one but perhaps they think it wouldn't sell.

I've been bidding on e***y on Matchbox ones, to no avail, so it looks like I'll either have to try my hand at a Valom kit or hope that it's release will flush out some Matchbox ones at reasonable prices (I'm extremely tight and don't like paying more than a model cost when it was first released).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi everyone, just to let you know, I have been helping out my good friends Mark and Julie at www.oxoniansplasticfantastic.co.uk and can now confirm the first two releases of this kit are in stock. You can also get it from their e-bay site http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Oxonians-Plastic-Fantastic/_i.html?_dmd=2&_sid=138405976&_sop=10 .

Cheers

Kirk.

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Agreed. It doesn't look to be much of an improvement over the Matchbox kit. It does have the wheel wells cut out but no internal details.

Chris

I suspect we'll see wheel wells and a few other details provided in resin if this kit follows the usual Valom pattern of mixed media.

I also suspect we'll see a Mk.II out of them at some point considering how they usually do multiple boxings of different versions of the same subject.

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Hmmm, by the looks of those sprue shots I may just wait for Matchbox kits to start coming out of the woodwork.

That engine has a ton of flash on it that won't be fun to clean up.

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The fabric effect on the Matchbox kit is near perfect. Raised lines is just plane lazy.

I agree. I just had a look at my Matchbox kit (just bought it off eBay two weeks ago for $12!) and the geodesic fabric detail is really nice.

Judging by the wing root alone I strongly suspect the wing will be quite too thick ...

Does look that way, doesn't it? At least it looks thicker than the Matchbox kit, I haven't a clue which may be better.

The cockpit and interior details look improved on the Valom kit, and that's good. There is not much aftermarket for the Matchbox kit, just the canopies from Pavla I think. It needs a lot of help in the interior and of course the wheel wells, which are non-existent. Maybe if some aftermarket comes along for Valom it might fit the old Matchbox - stranger things have happened!

Cheers,

Bill

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I got a look at the LRDU version, in the flesh so to speak, at one of my local shops yesterday and for the price of 515 Czech Koruny I was generally underwhelmed by what came in the box. For that price, some extra meat on the bone such as open bomb panier options and a resin engine wouldn't have been out of line to expect.

515 Koruny comes to approximately 19 Euros, 15 British Pounds or 25 US Dollars by present exchange rates. that of course does not factor in importer markups and various import/export taxes.

Put in perspective, between 500 and 600 Koruny is about an average price for a Valom 1/72 kit in my experience. However, my experience also has shown me that for that price Valom has stuck much more in the boxes of some of their other kits than this one.

It will look the part a Wellesly, no doubt about that, but for the ratio of price to product I'm more inclined to try to find a Matchbox kit cheaply and put the rest of the money to research materials and scratchbuild some details.

As for the aftermarket making stuff for this kit, I would be surprised to see it happen. My experience is that not many aftermarket outfits gear their products toward Valom kits. Unless Revell takes this as incentive to dust off the Matchbox molds, I doub't we'll see any new Wellesly related aftermarket any time soon.

That's not to disuade any of you from buying one, I've no doubt it will build into a nice kit with some patience. I simply factor price to product ratio into my model purchases when I know a kit is not the only game in town for a subject.

Valom's new Fouga Magister kits left me with a similar impression as the Wellesly. They look good, but for price versus content, they don't really put us that far ahead of the old Heller kit. I'm holding out for the Special Hobby Magister as a result of what I saw in the Valom box when they hit the market.

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Having bought the kit, I'm now worried about how sturdy the wing-to-fuselage join will be without some kind of spar added.

Judging by the wing root alone I strongly suspect the wing will be quite too thick ...

With the kit in hand, it looks like the wing is meant to be slotted into the wing root. Would it still be too thick even when you account for that?

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Having bought the kit, I'm now worried about how sturdy the wing-to-fuselage join will be without some kind of spar added.

With the kit in hand, it looks like the wing is meant to be slotted into the wing root. Would it still be too thick even when you account for that?

It still looks too thick at the wing root when I compare it to shots from this video:

At 3:34 for example it is pretty clear that the highest point of the wing root goes a bit further up on the Valom fuselage

But it maybe only to my eyes, I am no expert on the Wellesley.

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