Airfix 1/72 Valiant - Completing the trio

[Adam Poultney]

Might be starting this in the near future. Took me a while to get hold of one at a good price, but a few months ago I finally got one.

I also have the extra parts set that includes the parts for tanker and photo reconnaissance Valiants, but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it yet.

I haven't decided which scheme she'll be painted in either yet. I know I don't want to do the photo reconnaissance scheme (silver and red) and I'm not keen on the all silver second prototype. So basically it's between the tanker in anti-flash white, two bomber schemes in anti-flash white, and the camo scheme depicting a bomber shortly before the Valiants were grounded.

I'll also be looking to pick up a micro mir 1/144 one at some point as 1/144 will be round 2 of my v bomber project (the Victor will be micro Mir's new Victor b1, and I'm hoping they will do a vulcan b1 soon).

If anyone's got any Valiants they've built, please post pictures (or a link) here

[Adam Poultney]

Actually decided to start it for real now! Sorry for the disappointment of not actually starting it before, other projects got in the way.

I'll start with the parts:

And the extra parts sprue... I might build her as the tanker variant.

I still don't want to do the photo-reconnaissance or prototype schemes, and have now ruled out the camouflage scheme. Scheme A is also ruled out as I don't want to swap out the tail cone, and the scheme is quite bland.

It's either the tanker or scheme B (anti flash white with some black, silver, and grey on various parts).

I'll take pictures of the progress so far and post them up later

[Lord Riot]

Great stuff, always love to see a V-bomber! It took me ages to find one for a reasonable price too, even then I think it was about £55! I refuse to pay about £70/80 for a model kit.

 

Anyway, looking forward to your build! 

[Adam Poultney]

It took me waaaayy too long to find one...

Then I found two for a good price. One in America (shipping would have cost a kidney!) And then one on eBay along with the two other v bombers. I didn't get the America one, due to the shipping. The eBay one- which I'm waiting for paint to dry on as I type this- was the one I went for.

Edited June 23, 2019 by Adam Poultney

[Adam Poultney]

Update time:

Wow she is huuugeee!! Just a quick test to see how well the main components fit together and the size....

The fit is mediocre of these parts by the look of it, the wing is very tight and there's a small gap just in front between the fuselage halves. I guess I'll find out if that will be an issue later on.

Slight problem. I actually do not have anywhere to put her. Nowhere that she will fit. I could move a Vulcan which is on a stand to make room, but that space is already reserved for another Vulcan. Oh well.... On with the build!

 

Decals look good. Nice quality and plenty of stencil decals. Don't know why there's a huge black border to the image

The first step is the cockpit. The kit is from the early era of Airfix under Hornby, so cockpit detail is somewhat..... lacking. It's fine though, as not much will be visible. I really wish they'd reissue this, I'm sure we can all put up with the mediocre detail out of the box for a 1/72 Valiant. Maybe when they finally replace the ancient Vulcan kit.....

 

[Adam Poultney]

Update part 2:

Decals go on nicely, and look the part. I can't comment on accuracy as I'm no expert, but the detail is lacking and won't be visible, so does it really matter?

I used a dark grey drybrush just to highlight some of the edges

Cockpit rear now. My green may have been slightly off, but again, it will hardly be seen or noticed even if it was in that cockpit and scale.

And here it all is together, plus a little chipping. Think I forgot to take pictures of the seats before I put them in.

Somebody installed a recliner in that seat!

[Adam Poultney]

Seriously where do people keep their V bombers?! I'm looking for a glass cabinet that's big enough and I cannot find anything..... I think 40cm depth should be enough with them diagonal right?

[Adam Poultney]

I'm having some trouble with the fuselage halves not fitting properly around the rear of the cockpit. Anyone got any idea what is fouling the fit and how to fix it?

[general melchett]

I've got an old pinned thread all about the kit. I've built two and have a couple more on the go, an anti-flash, low.viz  B(PR)K1 and a B2 Pathfinder, using the AIM conversion set. Here's a link,

 

 

Post 195 should help.

 

 

Here are the two I built for a couple of magazines.

 

Valiant B1 (RCM) WP215  of 199 squadron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camouflaged B1 WZ403 of 207 squadron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[stever219]

1 hour ago, Adam Poultney said:

I'm having some trouble with the fuselage halves not fitting properly around the rear of the cockpit. Anyone got any idea what is fouling the fit and how to fix it?

I think I sanded a little off the circumference of the rear bulkhead on mine.  It was a little bit of an effort to get the bulkhead to sit forward of the locating ribs as well I think.

[Adam Poultney]

1 hour ago, general melchett said:

I've got an old pinned thread all about the kit. I've built two and have a couple more on the go, an anti-flash, low.viz  B(PR)K1 and a B2 Pathfinder, using the AIM conversion set. Here's a link,

 

 

Post 195 should help.

 

 

Here are the two I built for a couple of magazines.

 

Valiant B1 (RCM) WP215  of 199 squadron

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camouflaged B1 WZ403 of 207 squadron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So really a far from perfect kit.....

Maybe I see now why Airfix hasn't reissued it yet.... Doubt they would retool it though, but I think I really good tooling like the Victor would sell well.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Adam Poultney

[general melchett]

Well, it's a 1/72nd Valiant that with work, can be made into a good representation of the real thing. Being a V-Bomber nut I spent a lot of time correcting mine and that was half the fun of it. I'm not sure if it's on Airfix's reissue radar but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. The Valiant was one of Airfix's last gen efforts and it shows, if LIDAR had been available back then it would have been a very different product. Having said that it's still a good kit and looks the part straight out of the box, (except for that awful fin tip shape).

[Adam Poultney]

Update time:

Here's when I first put the cockpit in. It was ripped out to be sanded down after this to make it fit.

I painted the edge of the cockpit in silver and looked for where the paint transferred to see where the parts weren't fitting properly. And it showed up well here. Lots of sanding followed.

I put a little reminder in the fuselage.... Anyone else do things like this? I also did the same in the wings to remind me to drill holes for the fuel pods. Yes, my handwriting is that bad all the time.

Ready to put the fuselage halves together. The wheel wells are painted, but I'll get better pictures for the next update if I remember.

And I did remember the nose weight!

Fuselage halves are together, I'm glueing it a bit at a time. The front obviously gets done first with the cockpit and front wheel well being there. The nose weight fit in nicely, it's lead solder and it about twice as much as the instructions say, just to be safe. Should also take some pressure off the main landing gear, shifting the centre of gravity forwards. The main gear legs look kinda flimsy.

Still think I'll need a little filler along the top though around that rear cockpit section.

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Adam Poultney

[general melchett]

Quote

The main gear legs look kinda flimsy.

They're perfectly OK, once the retraction/extension 'X' braces are added. I don't glue the gear legs into place until I have the completed model sitting on a flat surface, that way you can reposition them so that all wheels touch the surface evenly.

 

 

 

 

 

[Antti_K]

On 6/24/2019 at 1:49 AM, Adam Poultney said:

Seriously where do people keep their V bombers?! I'm looking for a glass cabinet that's big enough and I cannot find anything..... I think 40cm depth should be enough with them diagonal right?

Hello Adam,

 

my Valiant (WZ397 of No. 543 Squadron) sits on TOP of the glass cabinet🙂 My Vulcan "lives" in the sauna and Victor is still in the box!

 

This is the first time I see the parts for a tanker version. But were there any other parts for the reconnaissance version other than new bomb bay doors and camera windows?

 

Kind Regards,

Antti

[Adam Poultney]

7 hours ago, Antti_K said:

Hello Adam,

 

my Valiant (WZ397 of No. 543 Squadron) sits on TOP of the glass cabinet🙂 My Vulcan "lives" in the sauna and Victor is still in the box!

 

This is the first time I see the parts for a tanker version. But were there any other parts for the reconnaissance version other than new bomb bay doors and camera windows?

 

Kind Regards,

Antti

The PR version is just a new bomb bay. The clear parts are in the basic kit. Tbh the tanker parts are lacking, so I'm doing bomb bay closed. Also means I can change my mind between pure bomber or tanker right up until decals

[Learstang]

Nice work on your Valiant - I like the work on the cockpit! I have one where I've finished the wings (they went together without much fuss, which is fairly impressive moulding by Airfix considering how big the one-piece upper wing is). I admit I didn't have any problems test-fitting my fuselage halves with the cockpit glued in place, but then I haven't added everything to the cockpit yet, so we'll see. Overall, I've been pleased with my kit - nicely detailed where it needs to be, but a reasonably simple kit for such a big aeroplane. I don't like complicated... Speaking of which, It will be a while before I get to my Victor (I have all three bombers, including an original issue kit of the Vulcan). Like the Good General, I'm a fan of the V bombers.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Graham T]

"Remember the nose weight"  Where were you just before I joined the fuselage halves of my Airfix Hunter?!!!! 🤣

[Adam Poultney]

2 hours ago, Learstang said:

Nice work on your Valiant - I like the work on the cockpit! I have one where I've finished the wings (they went together without much fuss, which is fairly impressive moulding by Airfix considering how big the one-piece upper wing is). I admit I didn't have any problems test-fitting my fuselage halves with the cockpit glued in place, but then I haven't added everything to the cockpit yet, so we'll see. Overall, I've been pleased with my kit - nicely detailed where it needs to be, but a reasonably simple kit for such a big aeroplane. I don't like complicated... Speaking of which, It will be a while before I get to my Victor (I have all three bombers, including an original issue kit of the Vulcan). Like the Good General, I'm a fan of the V bombers.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

I have four V bombers, including a Vulcan that I got second hand an am currently unbuilding...

The Victor is amazing if it's an Airfix kit (if it's the Matchbox/Revell one, don't even bother- buy an Airfix one)! I built one a while ago although I still haven't put the final few stencils and antennae on her yet.

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

"Remember the nose weight"  Where were you just before I joined the fuselage halves of my Airfix Hunter?!!!! 🤣

Probably building my Vulcan where I forgot to add it

Edited June 26, 2019 by Adam Poultney

[Learstang]

It's the Airfix Victor; I had the Matchbox kit many, many years ago, but it has vanished with the passage of time. The Airfix Victor does look to be a lovely kit, but a bit intricate. That's what I like about the Valiant kit; it's comparatively simple. I've always loved the look of the camouflaged examples (brilliant job on yours, your Generalship, Sir!), but I'll probably play it safe and paint my Valiant all-white, staying with my 'keep it simple' approach.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Adam Poultney]

If I did another I'd probably do her camouflaged. Unfortunately I don't think I will get another unless Airfix reissue the kit.

Honestly the Victor isn't that intricate, it's a fairly easy build

[Steve Coombs]

I still have my Valiant in the stash, and will get round to it sometime in the 2020s by the way my builds are going at the mo! In the interim, I will watch this build with interest.

When my turn comes, I shall refer to the General's build as a guide and for inspiration.

[Learstang]

Nice to know about the Victor, Adam! But first I need to get my Valiant out of the way. I was going 'great guns' on her when, inevitably, another shiny object came along and drew my attention away. I suppose I need to get back to building her.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Adam Poultney]

 

8 minutes ago, Learstang said:

Nice to know about the Victor, Adam! But first I need to get my Valiant out of the way. I was going 'great guns' on her when, inevitably, another shiny object came along and drew my attention away. I suppose I need to get back to building her.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

I have about 8 models in the progress of being built.... New kits are always so distracting!

[Adam Poultney]

27 minutes ago, Steve Coombs said:

I still have my Valiant in the stash, and will get round to it sometime in the 2020s by the way my builds are going at the mo! In the interim, I will watch this build with interest.

When my turn comes, I shall refer to the General's build as a guide and for inspiration.

Well if you ever decide that you won't be building it..... I'll happily take the Valiant off your hands