Vickers Valiant - 1:144 Mikro Mir

[Viking]

Vickers Valiant. 7 Sqn. RAF Honington 1961.

1:144 Mikro Mir

Second in my planned group of the 3 'V' bombers is the Valiant. Well known as the first of the trio to both enter and leave service, it was the simplest of the three, but no less attractive. Doing them in 1:144 is more practical than 1:72 for space reasons, and they also make an interesting comparison with my airliners.

The kit is from Mikro Mir, and has more of a 'limited run' look to it than the Victor and Vulcan from Great Wall Hobby. It requires a little more care and preparation than the other 2, but is a perfectly buildable model. A brass etch fret provides several detail parts. I used the wing fences as patterns to make copies from plasticard, and also the vortex generators on the outer wings. The only reason for this is that I believe that a stronger bond is possible with plastic-to-plastic than brass-to-plastic, but the kit parts are perfectly good.

Lovely box art too!

Could go without a shot of the 2 completed so far;

along with next one to head for the workbench. Although it is the tanker boxing, it also contains all parts & decals for a Black Buck version.

Thanks for looking,

John

[Alpha Delta 210]

Wow! What a beauty! I look forward to seeing the Vulcan join her sisters!

[russ c]

Can`t believe that`s 144th, awesome job and looks great with the Victor too

[mcdonnell]

Hello,John - Your hallmark skills we see so often with your exquisite airliner models have been used to equal effect with these fabulous 'V-Bombers'.I love the real ones and I love these.Your 'Vulcan' will complete a fine collection and tribute to these iconic aircraft.A pleasure indeed to view them.May I ask which white paint you used on the 'Valiant'? All the very best,Paul.

[Vlamgat9]

Marvelous! Really stunning.

[max39]

Wow lovely valiant.Do like this model very much.Be good if they ever did a Nimrod in this scale.

Excellent work.

Richard.

[polo1112]

It is really fantastic to see a Valiant!!!

Effectively you always see either a Victor or a Vulcan, but never any Valiant.

Now the mistake has been repaired and I love your Valiant very much.

You really did a great work !!! :goodjob:

[MartinSK]

Very nice, it looks like in scale 1/72 not 1/144. Great and clean build!

[F-32]

Cracking build

[Epeeman]

John,

Another one of your gems -

Lovely, smooth, clean build.

Regards

Dave

[stevehnz]

Now that looks really nice. I'm strongly tempted to go this way & sell off my Airfix 1/72 one & seeing yours might just be the spur I need.

Steve.

[keefr22]

Lovely job John, absolutely gorgeous finish again!

But, is it just me, or is there something off with the shape of the canopy - maybe too tall? Obviously that's a problem with the kit if it is & no reflection whatsoever on your cracking build!

Still looks great with the Victor!

Keith

[batcode]

very nice work.....looks great..

[Viking]

Thanks all!

.May I ask which white paint you used on the 'Valiant'? All the very best,Paul.

Paul,

i was Tamiya white airbrushed over Halfords white primer.

But, is it just me, or is there something off with the shape of the canopy - maybe too tall? Obviously that's a problem with the kit if it is & no reflection whatsoever on your cracking build!

Keith

Keith, I'd agree, there is a hint of it being a bit tall, but I'm not sure. If I were to do it again I'd reduce it a bit with sanding. It' one of those things that becomes apparent with photographing. i hadn't noticed before and in real life it is not so apparent. I'll leave well alone now though, but it might help anyone building one of these. It's the fun of modeeling - the next one will be better!

Cheers

John

[keefr22]

Keith, I'd agree, there is a hint of it being a bit tall, but I'm not sure. If I were to do it again I'd reduce it a bit with sanding. It' one of those things that becomes apparent with photographing. i hadn't noticed before and in real life it is not so apparent. I'll leave well alone now though, but it might help anyone building one of these. It's the fun of modeeling - the next one will be better!

Cheers

John

Thanks John, I have one of these to get round to, & I came to the same conclusion of trying to sand it down a bit. I think yours is the first of these I've seen built & it is indeed a big help to see one done so well - I would never have noticed any potential problem myself before building it!

ATB

Keith

[The wooksta V2.0]

Outstanding! Can't believe it's 144th.

[The Good Sergeant]

Very nice build! So many enticing kits being produced in 1/144 these days!

Steven Brown

Scale Model Soup

[Andre Cardoso]

Very nice. Great work!

[stringbag]

Sorry I'm late again to this one

Looks super John and as many have said previously, it's difficult to believe that it is only 1/144 scale.

I'm sure I,m not the only one eagerly awaiting the day when all three are presented here for out delectation.

All the best

Chris

[exdraken]

Superb! A very nice example to follow through!!!

[Meatbox8]

A beautiful rendition of George Edwards' 'Unfunny' bomber. It's great that we have injection moulded kits of all three V-Bombers now in this scale, not to mention 1/72. Although I normally build in 1/72 I'm really tempted by 144th as one can build a fleet of V-Bombers without having to put in a planning application for an extension to the house.

[ajmm]

Beautiful and especially that you've made it so cleanly. I'm currently putting this same kit together (gradually!) and well know how much filler and sanding is required. Really nice work.

P.s. I've had a crack at sanding back the canopy a bit to make it less - er - foreheadish? Seems to have worked but, as you say, only really noticeable from certain angles anyway.

[DenPhill]

Mint!

[Martian]

Beautiful effort!

Martin