Vickers Valiant - Mach 2 in 1/72nd

Have fun!

Cracked open the box tonight, and did a parts fit test... BOY are those Mach 2 kits wobbly!!!

As you can see by the preceeding pics, there's a lot of warping in the parts.  The fuselage is like a banana, as are the wing roots, and there are large ejector pin turrets on the inside of most parts, some of which actually prevent the parts from mating.  They were all nipped off, and the whole looks rather good, if you ignore all the warping.  The plastic has an odd gritty surface, and occasionally, on the top of the fuselage and the vertical tail especially, there is a noticable undulation in the surface of the parts... that will require some diligent sanding & filling, for sure!

The pic above shows the weird angles the wings attach at present.  Partly due to the warping of the wing root, and partially to the hastily taped bits... nothing that can't be fixed with some styrene shims.  If you look closely, you can probably see how the root of the wing inboard of the intakes is gaping nastily.  That will probably require some reforming in hot water, as it could quite easily pop open if I just glue it together.

Moving on to the small parts:

The uneven surface continues over to the canopy, but with a little buffing it'll hardly notice, especially as the windows are so small on these V-Bombers (gotta love 'em )

Not a bad job on the cockpit, although the seats are infantile, and the interior probably isn't accurate.  Not much will show through those tiny windows though, thank god

The wheel wells are actually quite nice, although they suffer a little from under-filling, due to the thin walls in places.  You can see on this one where one side hasn't formed properly, and has a wavy top.  Also, there's a hole in the base, where an ejector pin has gone straight thru!

The turbine face isn't too bad, but I've not actually checked how it fits into the wings... I'm sure it'll need PLENTY of filler!

A small sheet, with a bit of a creamy white that doesn't really show up on this pic.  If they don't work, it wouldn't be a difficult job to replace them with some generic AM decals.

What do I think after having a pore over the plastic?  Terrible quality control, and awful fit awaits me, but I'm going to enjoy EVERY minute of it.  Where else can I find a 1/72nd scale Valiant?  Aim27? Ask them again in 6 months if they've got any vacform kits made up yet...

Here's the inspiration:

I have a whole host of pics that were taken early this year, just after the last surviving Valiant was transported to Cosford & rebuilt

 

 

Nice review! I ought to be getting one in a couple of weeks or so. According to Hanannts this was the biggest and fastest selling kit Mach 2 has ever produced. Lets see if this new batch has similar issues to yours. It can only get better or worse it seems!

Shame about the quality - 'bout what I expect from a French kit though.  I was looking forward to featuring this kit in the club mag but now I'm having second thoughts.  Do you mind if I quote some of your comments in a brief overview?

hello mike,  i hope you've got the patients of  a saint !!!  in building that valiant, i built a avro shackleton once, and i could not get one of the wings level no matter what i did and i have never liked it,  talking about doing 'vacformed' models have you seen on 'EBAY', there is an  I.D MODELS 1/32 LANCASTER here's a link to that model, i would love but wouldn't entertain it !!!!!,  link

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ID-Models-1-32-Avro-Lancaster_W0QQitemZ6061829160QQcategoryZ70105QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sounds like a bit of a challenge Mike, but that's how we hone our modeling skills .  Keep us posted as the build progresses.

Regards,  Rick

MJH wrote:

Shame about the quality - 'bout what I expect from a French kit though.  I was looking forward to featuring this kit in the club mag but now I'm having second thoughts.  Do you mind if I quote some of your comments in a brief overview?

Go right ahead, I'll get my agent to give you a call  

Seriously though, pinch whatever you like from it, even the pics, and if you mention my name, you'll make me very happy

Also, if it's online, just drop me a link to the page, as I'd love to see it.

ian lanc wrote:

hello mike,  i hope you've got the patients of  a saint !!!  in building that valiant, i built a avro shackleton once, and i could not get one of the wings level no matter what i did and i have never liked it,  talking about doing 'vacformed' models have you seen on 'EBAY', there is an  I.D MODELS 1/32 LANCASTER here's a link to that model, i would love but wouldn't entertain it !!!!!,  link   http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ID-Models-1-32-Avro-Lancaster_W0QQitemZ6061829160QQcategoryZ70105QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I do have the patience of a Saint, but I think he knows I've got it, so he's looking for me

Mmmmm.... 1/32nd Lanc.  I've seen someone building that puppy up.  Looks GREAT   Might watch it, and if it doesn't go to silly money, put in a random bid... bet it does go for silly money though!

...In fact, that's Gunpowder from ARC, unless it's the biggest coincidence in the world

I'm surprised he's given up on it... he was doing really well last time I saw it... quite sad

Thanks Mike;

I included the kit in my new releases this month with a short caption but I know it would interest some people to learn more about it - being the 'lost' V-bomber.

I'll put in a half-page item in the next month or two based on your experiences and drop a couple of your pic into it (with due accreditation of course!).

Not on line yet, but I'll get your email  when it's done and send you a PDF.

Michael

MJH wrote:

Thanks Mike; I included the kit in my new releases this month with a short caption but I know it would interest some people to learn more about it - being the 'lost' V-bomber. I'll put in a half-page item in the next month or two based on your experiences and drop a couple of your pic into it (with due accreditation of course!). Not on line yet, but I'll get your email  when it's done and send you a PDF. Michael

Smashin'! look forward to it  

Got busy with the sanding sticks & micro-mesh cloths today, cleaning up all the major parts just to see how bad they were.  The good news is that after the funny mould lines were removed from the trailing edge of each wing, and various places on the fuselage, they polished up nicely, and won't need too much extra work.  I also heat-formed the worst wing root so that the air intakes line up better.  The other wing was simply a case of poor fit, so a good bit of sanding later, and that one fits fine

There are a few bits that didn't form properly, due to airlocks or insufficient pressure on the injector, such as the horizontal tail, where one tip is round while the rest are square... go figure!

The pebble finish on some of the parts is proving a little more troublesome, and the vertical tail is the worst part.  There's a little of the same surface on the top of the fuselage, but here's a pic of the tail after a coat of Squadron white & sanding.  You can see that the Mr Surfacer has remained where the low points are.

Most panel lines on the tail have been re-scribed, and will probably have to be done again before I'm finished.  I'm just waiting for the latest application of Milliput to set, and then I'll be at it again with the sanding sticks.  I've decided against using Squadron again, as it takes paint differently because it's semi-porous on the first application.

 

I'm enjoying the work so far though, and have even glued the air intake trunking together, so I can get to work on making some servicable intakes... that'll be fun from what I can see! I've also cleaned & glued up the Aeroclub ejector seats that'll be in the cockpit instead of the crappo kit parts.  Next I need some cockpit pics to see just how accurate the kit tub is

Very quiet on the Valiant front....  How's it coming?

Michael

Oops!  Forgot to post an update

I've decided to try & make a more accurate shaped intake & trunking.  The kit intakes once you've cleaned them up, whilst not as bad as they first seem, have a slightly "off" profile, and the main intake splitter is a little too blunt & too far forward.  I've trimmed mine down a bit, and tacked the wing together with CA.  In the photo below, you can see some red modelling clay stopping the RTV from leaking everywhere.



I've also filled the round hole inboard of the intakes, as that's just a depression on the real thing... see here:



And here's the mould box that I filled with RTV and plunged the intake into!



Now I wait 24 hours to see what comes out of the mould....

Popped the kit parts out of the mould box to rapturous applause (aka silence), and poured in some resin after chopping the intake ducts to the right length.  Here is the first master from which I'm going to fabricate the more accurate profile...





They're rough & ready presently, but I'll start sanding & filling them into shape shortly.  Next task is to repeat the process on the other side, so I'm making an accurate pair.  Yet another night of lego bricks & gooey RTV rubber 

 

 

Was this build ever completed?