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A Valiant as old as the real thing


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Finished at last! A kit that may be as old as some of the real thing, a 1/148 scale (yes, 1/148) Kader Vickers Valiant. This was built for the Big and British group build. It's not quite built straight out the box, I did a small amount of improvement to the intakes and shortened the underside of the wing fences. Decals are a combination of Mark1 Decals and home printed ones. 

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Next to a diecast that I repainted last year

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It's not quite the same size but it's close enough to go on my 1/144 v force shelf.

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WIP thread below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Looks good, well done. The old Lincoln/Kader kits are very much of their time but decent replicas despite the 'fit the box 'scales they used.

 

Steve

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Walk down memory lane. I remember these. Made in Hong Kong by now famous model train OEM Kadar and sold in Australia around 1967-'68 under the Lincoln brand here through of all places Woolworth when they were still variety stores rather than supermarkets. As I recall the scales were all over the place varying respectively from kit to kit. I had quite a few, but no Valiant. = [ I think they also did the Victor if I remember rightly. Yours brought back memories of many happy hours of a then equally youthful friend and I building and playing with and Lincoln Lancasters among others.

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13 hours ago, BritJet said:

Looks good, well done. The old Lincoln/Kader kits are very much of their time but decent replicas despite the 'fit the box 'scales they used.

 

Steve

Thankfully in this case it's close to 1/144. I think though that the reason they never did a Vulcan B1 was that it would have had to be in a tiny scale to fit their long , narrow boxes. 

 

12 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

Nice one, Adam.  Such a pretty airframe, and that all silver scheme is a peach.

Ty 

The early silver is one of my favourite schemes on all the V Bombers

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12 hours ago, Bigglesof266 said:

Walk down memory lane. I remember these. Made in Hong Kong by now famous model train OEM Kadar and sold in Australia around 1967-'68 under the Lincoln brand here through of all places Woolworth when they were still variety stores rather than supermarkets. As I recall the scales were all over the place varying respectively from kit to kit. I had quite a few, but no Valiant. = [ I think they also did the Victor if I remember rightly. Yours brought back memories of many happy hours of a then equally youthful friend and I building and playing with and Lincoln Lancasters among others.

I didn't realise where these were made. Yes they did make a Victor shaped object but it's not as good as the Valiant. Unfortunately these kits seem quite rare now, I've only seen two completed builds on forums, and this is of them. Glad I could bring back some happy memories with my build :)

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10 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

I didn't realise where these were made. Yes they did make a Victor shaped object but it's not as good as the Valiant. Unfortunately these kits seem quite rare now, I've only seen two completed builds on forums, and this is of them. Glad I could bring back some happy memories with my build :)

They were only around for about a year as I recall, and in my part of Australia sold only in Woolworth variety stores from bins placed at aisle intersections. Woolworth must have bulk bought a batch and ran them until run out. They were very keenly priced. Naturally all the more exciting to children types went first. Here's that Lancaster in, as characteristically Lincoln, an odd 1:152 scale. And here's the box art of the Victor in 1:148. I suspect the timeline date info there is out by a year, perhaps two. The Gannet surprisingly in 1:72, was an unusual and attractive model for the day.

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14 hours ago, Bigglesof266 said:

They were only around for about a year as I recall, and in my part of Australia sold only in Woolworth variety stores from bins placed at aisle intersections. Woolworth must have bulk bought a batch and ran them until run out. They were very keenly priced. Naturally all the more exciting to children types went first. Here's that Lancaster in, as characteristically Lincoln, an odd 1:152 scale. And here's the box art of the Victor in 1:148. I suspect the timeline date info there is out by a year, perhaps two. The Gannet surprisingly in 1:72, was an unusual and attractive model for the day.

Well that may explain why they're so hard to find now. It's a shame there aren't so many kits like that produced now, something that a skilled builder can shape into a nice model, but something simple and small that it is good for children to get their first taste of modelling with.

 

The thing that impressed me the most about this model was that every single part fitted, or at least to a standard good enough for a kid. Sure, I spent time perfecting seams and gaps but if you really wanted to this could just be thrown together in an hour. You don't get that even with something like a small modern Airfix kit, too many parts that are tiny and delicate, things that need to be assembled with some care. 

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I recall Lincoln kits being advertised in RAF Flying Review over a few years in the late 50s, so they must have been available for longer here.  Memory says they also had one of the 4-engined Douglas airliners, and I think it was Lincoln with a 1/43 Gnat?  Which is an odd scale for aircraft, but did match diecast car and O gauge model railways.  I never saw any in shops.  Some decades later I bought a Viscount under the Kadar label, in a red box, and I think there may have been a few other subjects around at the same time.

 

I agree about the unsuitability of many modern kits for the younger modellers, though presumably this was part of the intention behind the Hobbyboss range.

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2 minutes ago, Graham Boak said:

though presumably this was part of the intention behind the Hobbyboss range.

Oh yeah I forgot about those, those are quite good for that purpose, if the decals didn't fall apart

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10 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

I recall Lincoln kits being advertised in RAF Flying Review over a few years in the late 50s, so they must have been available for longer here.  Memory says they also had one of the 4-engined Douglas airliners, and I think it was Lincoln with a 1/43 Gnat?  Which is an odd scale for aircraft, but did match diecast car and O gauge model railways.  I never saw any in shops.  Some decades later I bought a Viscount under the Kadar label, in a red box, and I think there may have been a few other subjects around at the same time.

 

I agree about the unsuitability of many modern kits for the younger modellers, though presumably this was part of the intention behind the Hobbyboss range.

IDK but in Wikipedia Lincoln International is reported as having been a UK brand, although Wiki is frequently incorrect about such things and notably accuracy of dates, That said, Hong Kong was at that time a British colony, with British administration and trade participation prevalent and dominant there, so whether Hong Kong or UK based, Lincoln International probably was no doubt a British registered company at that time. As can be seen by their choice of air subjects it modelled, they were orientated to and targeted at the British/Commonwealth market, so on balance of probability, I'd wager they were both in the UK before, and more widely marketed there before they ever reached AU. 

I had quite a few of their kits at the time (late 1960s). Their most off putting aspect was the irregular scale, and the most annoying, inability to get the model wanted as Victors, Valiants and Vulcans quickly sold out. I think I did score one of those, but can't now remember which. As it was I was lucky to score the Lancaster. I recall the Gnat (1/48) too, as I bought one, along with the Sycamore, Auster in 1/41 -also quite a treat in the day when anything in larger scale than 1/72 were both rare in the Airfix dominated AU market and far too expensive for a child or teen's pocket unless funded by a paper run or parental gift, the Venom in 1/59 -a beauty and my particular favourite despite the oddity of scale, the DC-3, the Gannet, the Fairy Rotodyne in a perfectly in sync traditional 1/144, the Sunderland and possibly the Viscount and Friendship, although I can't be absolutely certain on those last two. 

I think one can still buy modern kits kids can easily build which are affordable, but A. they are to hidden amongst the volume of higher detail kits, and B. for understandable reason as like model railway and to a lesser extent slot cars, they are toys of a bygone age in an era when children's interests have diverted by other things, and to a significant degree, boys natural inclinations toward the things a boy might be interested in have been socially emasculated by society. On a more positive note of availability however is the remarketing of Airfix's Classics range in 1/72 clearly labeled as such so the consumer knows what s/he is buying,, kudos to Airfix for that initiative. Many of Airfix's former range also remain still for sale if not annotated as an old mould on the new glossy box. Comet, Hampden, Ki-46 "Dinah" et al, and although a significant improvement, I wouldn't think assembly of most of their newer mould Series One 1/72 e.g. too hard an ask for the older child. e.g.  Fw 190A-7, or even the Series Two Bf 110C/2-4. I think Zvezda do quite a few simpler model kits which remain very affordable in both 1/144 & 1/72 scale today too, however I can't comment on those kit fits or assembly as I've never built Zvezda in those scales. Revell would have loads available as well, some like their venerable Ki-61 Hien which has been around since 1963. Then there's Academy's excellent range in 1/72. Affordable, or were last I looked, and certainly no more difficult to put together than kits of my childhood. Frankly, kids today have it better in terms of price, quality and what's available than we did if one examines the marketplace. As to access, that I do think is sad, as the urban hobby shop or local high street shop in the UK readily accessible to kids has largely disappeared today. I can't recall the last time I frequented a walk-in to buy anything modelling related. 


 

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