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1956 - Britain drops its first atomic bomb ++ FINISHED ++


CliffB

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On 11th October 1956, Vickers Valiant WZ366 of 49 Squadron, became the first RAF aircraft to drop an operational British atomic bomb.

The test drop of a down-rated Blue Danube weapon was made at Maralinga, South Australia.

 

I'll be commemorating this event by building a 1/96 scale FROG Valiant as WZ366 (without bomb though, I'm afraid).

 

P1100669.JPG

 

My particular example is a damaged 'pre-loved' version that I bought via eBay with several parts missing.  I was originally planning to build it in the FROG GB, but unfortunately life got in the way.

 

P1100670.JPG

 

Cheers

Cliff

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Well the Frog GB’s loss is the Year I was Born GB’s gain and as I’m host/co-host in both it’s all good by me. Just one slight typo there Cliff, it was 49 Sqn who were involved in these Atomic tests. 

 

Cheers and nice choice.. Dave 

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12 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Well the Frog GB’s loss is the Year I was Born GB’s gain and as I’m host/co-host in both it’s all good by me. Just one slight typo there Cliff, it was 49 Sqn who were involved in these Atomic tests. 

 

Cheers and nice choice.. Dave 

Thanks Dave (and typo now corrected).

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20 hours ago, Jinxman said:

Love it when an old kit gets a refurb - I'll watch on if you  don't mind?

It will be great to have you along Jinxman.

4 hours ago, Colin W said:

You might find Frog kitted the Valiant in 1956!

 

Colin 

The thought had crossed my mind too Colin, but according to Scalemates it was 1958 - damn!

 

Cheers

Cliff

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  • 1 month later...

I'm pleased to say that the Valiant has now reached the top of my 'to do' pile :).

 

I've been trying to work out the history of my particular secondhand kit and it looks like it was previously completed and displayed.  No filler was used.  The builder painted the few black areas, but left the rest of the air-frame in the original white plastic before applying the decals.

 

Sometime later, the kit was broken up (quite brutally), causing damage to the major parts and all minor parts to be lost.  The original decals were scratched off, which has caused some additional surface damage, and the 'placement markings' were filled with Green Stuff.  Efforts have also been made to reduce the thickness of the wings' trailing edges (which has removed some of the plastic yellowing, but also some of the engraved detail), which indicates to me that a previous restoration was started.

 

I'm going to start by refurbishing the wings.

 

P1100900.jpg

 

The biggest issue is the lack of undercarriage, so make life easier for myself I've decided to go wheels up ;).  

Normally, I would simply fill the bays with epoxy putty, but in this case I'm reluctant to add too much extra weight to what is already a pretty heavy kit.  So instead, I'll be fabricating new plasticard doors.

 

Beyond this, the wings will need a thorough clean up - they're pretty disgusting at present, with plenty of forensic evidence!

 

P1100901.jpg

 

 

The engine intakes will also require some attention. 

 

P1100902.jpg

 

Please don't expect too much progress during October (as I've got some holidays coming up), but at least I can make a start.

 

Cheers

Cliff

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Thanks for the update Cliff. Looks as if it won't be a straight forward build, however we're sure you'll revive it to it's former glory. 

All the best and enjoy the holidays when they come around. 

Cheers.. Dave 

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  • 5 weeks later...
On 10/7/2019 at 6:51 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

Thanks for the update Cliff. Looks as if it won't be a straight forward build, however we're sure you'll revive it to it's former glory. 

All the best and enjoy the holidays when they come around. 

 

 

On 10/7/2019 at 8:53 AM, Jinxman said:

Always love a restoration project - looking forward to seeing what this one turns out like.

 

On 10/7/2019 at 10:15 AM, zebra said:

You've got a job on your hands with this one Cliff!

 

Thanks for your support guys :)

I'm back from holiday now, so it's time to crack on with the Valiant.

 

My time so far has been spent cleaning up the plastic (as best I can), and repairing damage.  Here's how it looks now (the wings are still loose).

 

P1110012.jpg

 

I know people love Vulcans, but I'm coming to appreciate just how beautiful the Valiant is/was.

Next up, I'll be starting to re-create the missing parts.

Cheers

Cliff

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, TonyW said:

It's good to see a FROG Classic being brought back to life. I'll be following this one with interest.

 

Tony.

Thanks Tony.  I'm already planning a number of shortcuts, so unfortunately the finished item will fall far short of your restoration standards ;)

Cheers

Cliff

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Shortcuts lead to finished models. Not only that, less is more in so many cases. I don't doubt for a minute you will make a good job of the plane.

 

Michael Smith, a modeller I much admired, said he suggested things with his builds. The viewer then filled in the details themselves. His models never had figures in them but many people who saw them swore they remembered seeing people!

His book, Elgin Park is one of my favourite modelling volumes.

 

http://www.visitelginpark.com/

 

 

Edited by TonyW
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Good to see this V Bomber again Cliff and I must admit I've always favoured the Valiant over the other two classic V Bombers. In a few hours time I suspect the 'Vulcan' will be all the rage so let's also hope that Airfix re-release their Valiant kit in 2020 as I missed it first time around. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Good to see this V Bomber again Cliff and I must admit I've always favoured the Valiant over the other two classic V Bombers. In a few hours time I suspect the 'Vulcan' will be all the rage so let's also hope that Airfix re-release their Valiant kit in 2020 as I missed it first time around. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

Thanks Dave.  Just having some breakfast and then MrsB and I will be heading off to Telford - by happy coincidence it's only 20 minutes from where we live :).

 

Cheers

Cliff

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Just now, CliffB said:

Thanks Dave.  Just having some breakfast and then MrsB and I will be heading off to Telford - by happy coincidence it's only 20 minutes from where we live :).

Cheers

Cliff

Wow.. 20 minutes away from modelling nirvana, how handy! 

Please pass on my regards to Mrs. B and I can vouch that young "Cliffy" has been a good boy this year, so should be entitled to spend big at Telford! 

Cheers and have fun.. Dave 

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I've had a good day today.  Not only did I finish all the masking tasks on my P-40 (another Nov 24th deadline), but I was also able to make some worthwhile progress with the Valiant's wings.

 

The control surfaces were re-scribed (these had been inadvertently removed by a previous owner while thinning the trailing edges).

 

P1110021.jpg

 

The broken wing fences were repaired:

 

P1110022.jpg

 

and the missing u/c doors were replaced by new ones cut from plasticard:

 

P1110023.jpg

 

On to the fuselage next.  Tick tock!

 

Cheers

Cliff

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

The improvements, corrections and repairs are all super impressive Cliff, well done. So how’d go at Telford, did you pick up any gems or bargains? 
Cheers.. Dave 

Thanks Dave.  Telford was great, as always - plenty to see and lots of inspiration.  I don't buy many kits nowadays and these are almost always secondhand off eBay.  For me, shopping at Telford is mainly about consumables. This year, my 'highlight' was a box of 1,000 scapel blades - I bought my last one about 10 years ago and it's just running out.  So as you can see, pretty boring stuff really :winkgrin:!

 

1 hour ago, Wez said:

Here, have some inspiration...

 

 

Thanks Wez.  I'll watch that tomorrow.  Should be good!

 

Cheers

Cliff

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++ Sorted now and the answer is High Speed Silver ++

 

A quick question please.  Does anyone know what colour WZ366 was on 11th October 1956 please?

 

Cheers

Cliff

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Some progress with the fuselage.

 

I boxed out the u/c bay, packed it with scrap and then finished off with epoxy putty:

 

P1110025.jpg

 

P1110039.jpg

 

It was a similar story with the cockpit.  I was tempted to add frames from plastic strip and then glaze with PVA.  However, my previous attempts at this have never that looked good (mainly because the PVA dries concave), so I decided instead to embrace the 'desk model' concept and just paint the glazing on.

 

P1110024.jpg

 

P1110040.jpg

 

Cheers

Cliff

 

 

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