Airfix Valiant awaited with bated breath

Frog did one many years ago:

The box illustration in my local model shop window was the first picture I'd ever seen of a Valiant. Knowing what I do now about Frog I'm glad I never bought one :o)

(kim)

You're right, and I should have given a nod to the venerable Frog Valiant which, along with their Vulcan and Victor were in 1/96, but apparently were good kits for their time - of a better standard than Airfix back then. The Frog moulds were apparently lost at sea.

Of course I was thinking of the V-bombers in 1/72 when I said it hadn't been kitted by a major manufacturer. I think Lindberg also had a Valiant in smaller scale?

I built the Frog Vulcan and it was a dog as can be seen here:

Bear in mind I was only eight or nine years old at the time and didn't expect to have to fill and sand every joint in the kit.

Vulcan and Victor.

From the pictures I've seen the Lindberg Vulcan was a much easier build than the Frog.

(kim)

lindberg has victor's and vulcan's in 1/96. don't see a valiant in their current listing's and never had one as a kid. i think their vulan was a prototype? didn't someone here tell us that some years back? it's a lot easier to build than that godawful bad inlet airfix kit but the odd scale and poor detail make it a large challenge to make anything decent of. i haven't built my lindberg victor yet. anyone have expirience/comments about that kit? can it be bashed into a tanker or other variant? love them v bombers. they still look advanced and exotic, especially considering the concepts go back to late ww2.

or the airfix. i lost the online build review one guy had which showed the problems with the inlets. i think he said it took 2 tubes of putty.

now, but Airfix still

I don't recall such a kit from Lindberg but at one time I did have the Vulcan and Victor. They were pretty nice and the version of the Victor that I had could be moved around on the stand with a stick control. As I recall, the Vulcan was of the prototype configuration. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one again but the price for the new ones is a bit dear.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

The HP Victor is an early, almost prototype, too. You'd have to convert it to a Mk.2 before you get into the tanker details. They are pretty fascinating in the flesh, er, metal too. There was one from 57 Sqn here at an air show at Harrisburg back in the '90s. I got pics.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

IIRC, Mach 2 has a Valiant, not that that qualifies as a major kit producer. ;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Now I'm confused. I bought a pro-built Valiant back in 1973 from a small hobby shop in the Marianplatz in Munich (it was part of a window display). I looked at the instructions shown in the above link and the landing gear doesn't match with that on my model. In fact, the model that I bought has working landing gear and transparent cockpit glazing. Is this a Lindberg or somebody elses?

very cool.

I think you've got the Frog kit, which is the only one I know of with working landing gear.

Or a buildable kit, in some cases. Clear parts for the Do. 26 1/72 are terrible. Not at all "clear"....