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Airfix Victor K.2


Adam Poultney

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I'm considering buying yet another Airfix Victor (third one), I have built one and have a second to be built sooner or later. I have not built the K.2/SR.2 version of the kit. Is there anything I should know about that boxing specifically, any inaccuracies in the extra parts I should know about?

Also, if anyone has built it in a hemp scheme, I'd love to see before I go ahead and buy one.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On ‎05‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 16:32, Adam Poultney said:

Also, if anyone has built it in a hemp scheme, I'd love to see before I go ahead and buy one.

 

 Adam sorry a bit late, here are a few photos of the Victor K2 that I have built. If you would like any different angle please let me know.

 

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I have two of them, and I haven't heard anyone mention any gross errors anywhere in the kit.  Airfix seem to have done their homework.  My biggest niggles (the first of which appears to be rectified in the upcoming Vulcan) is the lack of those really useful and prominent intake plugs that would add a big of color and hide a problematic bit of filling and sanding, and the scale plywood thickness vortex generators.  The latter really need to be done in PE.

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Off the top of my head I can think of only one error. There's an intake on the wing root missing next to the main intake for the engines that should be on everything but the K.2 (left side only I think)

 3e7758a903bc51668165d74ab2aef93b.jpg

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6 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

Off the top of my head I can think of only one error. There's an intake on the wing root missing next to the main intake for the engines that should be on everything but the K.2 (left side only I think)

 3e7758a903bc51668165d74ab2aef93b.jpg

Thanks Adam, forgot that one.  You're right, it's port side only.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I understand the Victor B.2s had their wings shortened during the conversion to K.2 standard. The outer 3'6" of each wing tip was removed as these enhanced high altitude performance of the B.2 and and were not considered necessary for the tanker.  See International Airpower Review #25 for a great feature on the Victor and more details regarding the tanker conversions and tanker use. My question centers on whether Airfix modified the wing tips to reflect this changed from bomber to tanker.

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Correct on all counts, the kit has alternative wing tip sections to cater for B.2 and K.2 wing spans.

 

Edit, I think 3 foot was the total removed in span, 18" off each wing tip.

Edited by 71chally
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37 minutes ago, 71chally said:

Correct on all counts, the kit has alternative wing tip sections to cater for B.2 and K.2 wing spans.

 

Edit, I think 3 foot was the total removed in span, 18" off each wing tip.

Correct James: B. Mk. 2 span 120 feet, K. Mk. 2 span 117 feet, so 18 inches off each tip.  

 

Like many aspects of the Victor 2 tanker conversion one driver was to screw as much fatigue life out of the jets as possible so, to that end, the wing tips were cropped to reduce the bending moment on them (many of the “club foot” fittings at the wing roots of B. Mk. 2s had suffered badly, particularly in low-level ops and those that had been subjected to the simulated Blue Steel motor failure “toss bombing” simulation).  

 

The alternative, as proposed by Handley Page, of additional wingtip tanks disappeared into history with the company on the grounds of cost and development time as the K. Mk. 1s were rapidly approaching the end of their flying lives.

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