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Valom 1/72 Vickers Valetta


WV908

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Release was due in March but as stated above no recent updates

on this. Price quoted at 32.95 euros including tax on Aviation Megastore site so hopefully

UK price will be a fair bit cheaper than the Bristol 170.

Cheers, Paul

Edited by ptmvarsityfan
Price amended to include tax
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It's good that Aviation Megastore already has a price, which means that Valom has already communicated with them about retail logistics.  I think E32.95 is not bad for a kit of this size, production run, and likely complexity.  I'm really looking forward to seeing an in-the-box review at some point.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293596101828

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293596102266

 

The seller is quoting a delivery time of over a month to the UK, so they could be pre-orders.

But then, the shipping time for other kits which are not new releases is the same, so the seller may just be being generous with the shipping commitment.

(Probably justified given the current situation.)

 

  Jonathan.

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How exciting!  Always a thrill to fly on a big piston prop job for all the uncertainty of whether you'll actually leave the ground!  Hot and humid conditions make this even more dicey.  This photo shows an all-silver Valetta, which suggests it was taken well before 1960, but if it's from your father's collection, he should know when the accident happened!

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It has gone awfully quiet, I check their Facebook page and nothing pops up on there.

 

Also, Valom replied to a question on a Varsity to follow the Valetta, and the answer was 'unfortunately', which doesn't sound positive! There is mention of a Viking to follow in the future.

 

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The Valetta will appear in due course, so I'm not worried, and I expect it will sell fairly well if it's a good representation of the real thing.  A Viking would be an easy conversion, even without a dedicated kit.  A Varsity, on the other hand, is a complete re-work, as others on this board have mentioned.  As a model, I think the Valetta/Viking will be the perfect size, dimensionally similar to a C-47, but with a thicker fuselage.  I've always wondered why Vickers didn't place the wing spar below the cargo floor.  Too much effort?  Too high a pitch on the nose?

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Who knew?  Valom actually DOES test-fit its products.  Oh, that looks really good, though I am a little concerned about the asymmetry of the nose (left versus right) and its overall shape when viewed in profile.  It could be a function of the camera lens creating some distortion at the margins of the viewing frame.  Plan view looks good, though.  Even has slots for the horizontal stabs and a wing spar.  No cargo floor, though.  Looks like I'll need to scratch-build.  Or they'll sell it as an extra for $$$.  Thanks so much for sharing, Homebee!

Edited by TheyJammedKenny!
added observations from the test shots
  • Haha 3
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Well, it seems folks are buying 'em.  Just a matter of time before someone shows some sprue shots.  I'm especially interested in the fuselage profile, particularly the nose contours.  The windscreen may be a bit simplified in comparison to the real thing, but that can be adjusted with clever masking/painting.

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The engines do look a bit simplified, but the rest of the moulding looks good enough. I'm tempted to buy this kit as I like post-war piston-engined military aircraft. I give Mr. Lomitzki a great deal of credit for even attempting these kits. I'm actually attracted to the extra effort that sometimes goes into modelling a limited-run kit, which may explain why about half my kits are of the limited-run variety. At any rate a model of this or the Valetta C.1 would look good next to my Shackleton MR.2. Now how about a Hastings?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Edited by Learstang
Additional comments added.
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Thanks for sharing the sprue shots Homebee! Looks very nice - by the looks of it the windows attach from the outside a la Airfix C-47. Not worried about the engine with the massive spinners you won’t see much anyway!

 

TT

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10 minutes ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

Not worried about the engine with the massive spinners you won’t see much anyway!

True, but should still see the tops of the cylinders. The rest of the kit looks reasonable though, looking forward to getting my mitts on one.

Even the briefest of Google Images searches brings up so many great schemes.

 

It's a shame that it looks like a Varsity isn't following, apart from the undercarriage, engine nacelles and the under fuselage gondola, are there any other differences between the two?

Edited by 71chally
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