Mikromir Handley Page Victor B1

[Adam Poultney]

For the currently ongoing Bomber/Strike/Ground Attack Group Build my entry was a Mikromir Handley Page Victor. 

Mikromir is a Ukrainian short run kit manufacturer, their kits don't fall together like more mainstream brands' kits might. They need some care to get right, but you can get some fantastic results from them, especially the more recent releases. This kit was released in 2019, and I previously bought and built one shortly after the initial release. Since then my modelling skills have moved on and developed a lot so I wanted to give the kit another go, and also of course just wanted to add another Victor to my collection of V Bombers. 

I decided that this would be built as an early Victor B1 in the original white scheme featuring full shade markings, before the pale versions were introduced. I chose XA935 because there are a good number of available reference images and it lacked squadron markings at one point in 1959, which is what I was after.

I think it is rather fitting that my first completion of 2022 is a Ukrainian kit. The build thread is quite disjointed due to long gaps when I was at uni, so I have summarised the build here instead. The original thread is here if you want to read it:

 

The Build

 

The box art of this kit is a painting of Victor B.1a(K.2P) in its 1970s scheme, the real XH648 is currently in its final phase of restoration at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford; it is the only surviving Mk1 Victor.

 

Included are decals for three aircraft: XA940, XH592 and XH648. There are a few mistakes here; XA940 was just a B1, in fact it was the only camouflaged B1, it never had any tanking mods; XH592 was a B1a, it too had no tanking mods; XH648 is a B.1a(K.2p) referred to here as a K.2P (not incorrectly, this designation was sometimes used before the K2 was introduced), however the instructions would have you build her as a K1a. XH592 and XH648 can be built fully correctly with only kit parts by just choosing the right ones, XA940 needs a small modification which I will get to later.

 

Construction of the model went fairly smoothly, interrupted by university though. Due to its short run nature, careful assembly was required throughout the build. Every part needed adjustment to fit correctly, but once these adjustments were made most of it fits well. There are no alignment pins in the kit, so plastic card tabs are essential to get parts lined up properly.

Small amounts of filler are needed with most joints, but few joints required a significant amount. The intake inserts are some of the most filler hungry components, the internal seams aren't too bad but they don't quite sit right in the wing. Speaking of the wings, this is where this build becomes a bit more me. If you know anything about what I like to build, you will know that I like to modify kits with all sorts of conversions and corrections. The wings in the kit represent the later version with an extended, drooped leading edge. Originally Victors were built with leading edge flaps, but following the findings from the tragic loss of XH668, the first B.Mk.2, they were refitted with the fixed extensions depicted in the kit. To build mine in the configuration I wanted, I needed to convert the wings back to the original design. All this required was sanding back the leading edge, reprofiling it and rescribing the panel lines. Here the wings were marked with tape along where I needed to take the leading edge back to.

 

Replacing the kit's photoetch airbrake fins is a must. The upper fins are larger and the lower ones are more of a ridge. The kit supplies two sets of upper fins. Plastic card was used to make new ones, the upper ones using the etch parts as a template and the lower ones just being thin strips.

After fixing some damaged parts, assembly was completed. My standard process for painting V Bombers in white is white primer, in this case Tamiya, followed by a medium grey pre-shade a couple of coats of Halford's Gloss Appliance White.

From there the details were painted in, decals were applied using tape as guidelines to align them properly. The landing gear was added, which I think is overengineered with 17 parts on each main gear, or 9 if you don't include the wheels. In 1:144 scale that is simply too complex, and not particularly durable. It's one of only a few points I will criticise on this otherwise good kit.

The penultimate step was adding a gloss varnish to protect the decals and make them as shiny as the Halford's white. And finally to finish the build, a panel line wash was added. My taste is for darker lines, I know this isn't to everyone's taste, but it's how I like my models to look.

 

The Finished Model

Finally, with the model finished after four months of on and off work, here is the final result:

 

A few with the stand I made for my first Mikromir Victor. I think I'm going to have to make another of those, it's a modified ICM stand and I think I have a spare around somewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, the full set of V Bombers in the early version of the anti flash white scheme:

 

Replacing the Vulcan B2 with a Vulcan B1, albeit a bit smaller in 1/200 scale. The three Vs in their original production variants

 

With pale markings I have a Vulcan B1a in the right scale

 

And finally with a more recent, better quality build of a Vulcan B2

 

 

[Vulcanicity]

Beautiful job, for me the Victor in its early "clean" state was the most beautiful postwar aircraft Britain produced. 

 

You'll have to try taking your modelling equipment to uni, I ended up having a portable bag of modelling gear which went in my packing, and took one or two small-sized projects with me each term which did wonders for my sanity, if not my productivity! Even now, ten years later I still do the same on overnight work trips, modelling greatly improves nights stuck in bleak Travelodge a!

[Wulfman]

A lovely build, great modelling !

 

Wulfman

[593jones]

Splendid work!  The Victor is my favourite of the V-bombers, such a beautiful aircraft.

[Val_Ukraine]

Brilliant job! And nice V-Force collection! My congratulations!

[cardiff guy]

great work, love all three.

[Adam Poultney]

On 15/04/2022 at 08:57, Vulcanicity said:

You'll have to try taking your modelling equipment to uni, I ended up having a portable bag of modelling gear which went in my packing, and took one or two small-sized projects with me each term which did wonders for my sanity, if not my productivity! Even now, ten years later I still do the same on overnight work trips, modelling greatly improves nights stuck in bleak Travelodge a!

I do take a reduced setup to uni, but there's no airbrush which limits what I can do. The reason this one was interrupted by uni though was that I didn't want to get ferry the model bank and forwards to uni for fear of damaging it. 

This Vulcan B1 was built at uni

 

 

 

[Viking]

That is a lovely little collection of V-Bombers! 

 

Cheers

 

John

[David H]

Looks nice from here. The distinctive "Crescent" wing" planform gets lost when you add the Underwing tanks and the Kuechemann Carrots and the camouflage, so it's nice to see a "clean wing" Victor.

 

-d-