White Ensign Models Handley Page Victor K.2 Updates (Matchbox/Revell) 1:72

[Mike]

Handley Page Victor K.2 Updates (Matchbox/Revell)
1:72 White Ensign Models

It seems like forever since the original Matchbox Victor was released, and since then the moulds have been taken over by Revell, who occasionally re-release them in a more eye-friendly grey styrene. The Victor has been quite neglected over the years when it comes to aftermarket, but Peter at WEM has decided that following on from his sets for the Airfix Vulcan reviewed here, the Victor should also receive some attention. Two Photo-Etch (PE) brass sets have been crafted to cater for the interior and exterior, so you can choose one or both to drag your kit kicking and screaming into the 21st century.


Interior Set
This handsome set decks out the front and rear cockpits of the Victor, without taking the drastic steps of throwing away the whole interior, as was needed with the Vulcan. The basic cockpit tub is used as a base, into which the instrument panels and centre consoles are added, consisting of PE laminated with acetate sheet with printed instrument details included. New control yokes and throttle quadrants are made up, and the missing side consoles are added from folded brass, although you'll probably want to add some styrene tabs inside to improve the attachment to the cockpit floor. The two pilot seats aren't provided, as Mk.3 Martin Baker seats are readily available elsewhere, and should be sourced in advance to complete the cockpit area.

The rear cockpit is on a slightly raised level, so a new deck is added behind the pilots' seats, and seat rails are added for the four rear seats, which comprise three seats for the regular crew, plus one extra behind the centre console for the crew chief when operating away from home base. The instruments in the rear cockpit are laminated to a new rear bulkhead that is attached to the kit part, and then laminated with equipment and instrument boxes, some of which have acetate sheet behind their bezels. A desk is folded up with front supports and added to the back wall, but would benefit from attachment tabs to hold it firmly in place. The roof skin over the rear deck is curved to fit the contours of the kit and detailed with grab handles and other parts, plus a side panel to the left of the crew. Additional equipment is installed in the centre of the table, a morse key on the right, and a large stack of equipment is folded up and glued to the raised floor beside the crew chief's seat. An avionics box and fire extinguisher are added to the right, and some instruments are glued to the interior of the front cockpit sidewalls on both sides. The last act is to build up the four crew seats from the parts, which are almost identical to those found in the rear of the Vulcan. Having built a trio already, I found them reasonably easy to make, although the bottom "sled" does come away quite easily due to the small attachment points.

Exterior Set
Once you have decided whether to rescribe the skin of the Victor, and what to do with the tramlines on the wings, this set should provide some external detail that is lacking on the original ageing tooling. A lot of small aerials and vents are dotted around the exterior first on the instructions, although these are probably best saved for last. A small canopy side window panel is added, and the crew door is improved ready to show off the interior if you've succumbed, by the addition of the two shrouds on the top hinged edge, and a crew access ladder that is folded up from a single piece of PE. The airbrakes at the very rear of the fuselage are very clumsily moulded in the kit, and here the detail is improved beyond measure by first removing the moulded in detail, and then adding new skins to the insides of the brakes, as well as adding the two perforated panels that stand clear of the main brake panels when open. The kit actuators are retained, although if you're minded, these could probably be replaced too.

Moving to the landing gear, the chunky lock-up mechanism is removed from the main legs and replaced by a nicely detailed replica of the real thing that has "twin robot arms" look about it, and adds small linkages that were omitted from the kit parts for simplicity. The main bays are totally re-skinned inside with detailed PE walls, and this is repeated in the nose gear well, with a more detailed mud-guard assembly constructed for the nose wheels. Two wing fences are added to each wing, one inboard of the engine intakes, the other just inboard of the wing tip, and both are installed in razor saw cuts made in the wing beforehand. The wing-mounted refuelling pods are given a choice of four or eight bladed props to drive their generators, with either a single piece added for a retracted drogue, or a delicate PE "flower" that is folded up to make the basket, with a circular part forming the lip. The tip of the kit drogue is then used to make the base, and then you're on your own for the hose. These have been added as a means to create a diorama of either an in-flight refuelling, or a test of the drogue system on the ground.

Conclusion
Two nice sets that make up for a lot of the issues with the Victor's rather dated moulding. FOD guards for the horrible kit intakes would have been useful for the exterior set, but perhaps I'm just being greedy. The interior set lends itself toward a replacement canopy, as it would be a shame to hide all that detail under the thick plastic of the original. A PE frame and some acetate sheet might have been useful in this respect, although it would have upped the skill level required beyond what Peter was trying to achieve perhaps?

Highly recommended.

You can also buy both to save a few shekels

Review sample courtesy of John at