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1/72 DH Venom FB Mk.4 - AccsGB


Pete57

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The sprue do indeed look very "A-modelish", although I've seen less flash on some Amodel kits (but more on others). Now personally I have enjoied the Amodel kits I've built til now, but I was hoping for something a bit better moulded. Hopefully it's just one bad example and other boxes have better moulded plastic.

Wonder if keeping that Aeroclub kit is not a bad choice afterall....

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The flash is the most obvious issue. Associated with this, the edges on some of the kit parts may not be square with the faces, when they should be.

More plastic is present than intended, and for areas that require precise assembly, such as the nose and cockpit, this can be a problem if not remedied by dry fitting and fettling to remove the excess material.

Be aware that when it comes to location features, they do not always match up - pins do not always have holes, slots do not always have tabs.

Also be aware that the instructions do not always match the plastic - the artwork of the engine front face (as photographed earlier in the thread) shows a different arrangements of tabs and slots than the parts. I believe the slot and tab should be at the bottom of the engine - otherwise the intake trunking will be upside down.

The numbering of the tail booms can be confusing, until you recognised that the port side fin is the one with the pitot tube on the top.

 

> Wonder if keeping that Aeroclub kit is not a bad choice afterall....

 

These two kits occupy the opposite ends of the modelling spectrum - very simple v.s very complex; very basic vs. very detailed. Neither is a particularly rapid build, but it could be argued that this gives you value for your money.

 

I am curious as to whether an Aeroclub FB.1 or a late mark Vampire would be a better source for tail fins to convert the AGB FB.4 kit into an FB.1...

 

    Jonathan.

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So we’ve been waiting eons for a 1/72 IM Venom and we end up this this expensive, flashed over imprecise lot of plastic. I’m afraid to say that this is hardly unexpected, so I’m glad I didn’t pre order it to any degree. The real disappointing issue for me is that we are now even more unlikely to get a decent Venom from a mainstream manufacturer anytime soon. Sure it leaves room for improvement, but I’m sure others will just walk away and kit something else instead. 
Cheers.. Dave 

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Airfix were and are by far the most likely manufacturer to do a Venom, and I cannot imagine them being dissuaded by the limited sale prospects of any product from any Eastern European limited run manufacturer.  As has been pointed out recently, British modellers will bombard Airfix with demands for their favourite subjects in complete disregard of extant kits from any other source.

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A great missed opportunity, but as Graham says it probably would not stop Airfix doing one. A lot of modellers are unaware of kit brands outside of those 'easily' available. Another member of our walking group  who has started modelling again was absolutely amazed when I showed him the Hannants website and was completely unaware of any brands other than Airfix, Revell, Italeri and Tamiya. 

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I got mine today and agree with the comments above. My main issue is how overly complicated it is especially the nose and cockpit. The fuselage splits the guns troughs horizontally and there are at least four parts that form

the tubes inside. I know some modellers want “all” the detail but I think a larger majority just want to enjoy putting a kit together. The CMR kit looks an easier build compared to this. 

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Looks like a sort of ‘Frog meets Special Hobby’ type of thing. I’m happy with that and can overlook the price by telling myself that this is a limited run jobbie for the enthusiast market.

 

Another consideration perhaps, I think these may be made in Ukraine (at least the decal sheet is), so supply of the kit may well be short or even non existent soon.

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Interesting discussion.  Mine doesn't have anything like the extensive flash in those photographs. Good surface detail and a fairly hard plastic, not waxy. Mine may be from an early run.  I agree that some of the edges need trueing up and those heavy sprue gates are annoyingly awkward to deal with.  Why the cockpit assembly ahs been made so complex puzzles me; it certainly makes the cannon troughs a challenging area !  

 

I also found  a few errors in the assembly drawings, a not uncommon fault.  The end result though is a rather nice Venom.  

 

Sadly, I believe the moulding and decal production is done in Ukraine, so this may rapidly become a rarity.

Venoms don't seem to have much luck as kits...

 

John B

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I got mine yesterday and in general it looks a lot better than some shown on here, which set me wondering what has gone wrong. Mine has one small area of flash and the plastic is very similar to that used by AModel, possibly a bit harder. It also has no misalignment issues. The roundels on the decal sheet are pants, being of the wrong proportions. It looks over-engineered as others have commented and more like a 1/48th kit that has been shrunk to 1/72nd. Think of the 1/72nd Eduard Spitfire IX, but less well executed. 

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35 minutes ago, Mr T said:

(...) It looks over-engineered as others have commented and more like a 1/48th kit that has been shrunk to 1/72nd. (...)

 

Probably for one good reason: this kit was designed and produced in Ukraine on a subcontractual basis for AccsGB. The same designers being most probably those working also on the MikroMir/AMP 1/48th Venom kit project (link). But now with the war going on in Ukraine...  

 

V.P.

Edited by Homebee
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  • 8 months later...

I bought one yesterday (together with the new Airfix Meatbox) and will start it today. Looks complicated but nice. Probably won't do a WIP as that is often the kiss of death for my builds, but will aim to do an RFI relatively soon where I'll flag any major issues.

 

Justin

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