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Airfix 1/72 Valiant; In box review
Topic Started: Aug 3 2011, 10:10 AM (976 Views)
Deleted User
Deleted User

I have now got the pleasure of having two of the new Airfix Valiant in my stash.

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The Kit includes 4 decal options which are;

XD823, No.49 Squadron, RAF Marham/Christmas Island 1957

XD857, No.49 Squadron, RAF Marham 1963

WZ404, No.207 Squadron, RAF Marham 1964

WB215, 2nd prototype, Aeroplane and armament experimental establishment, Boscombe Down 1956

On opening the box I was greeted by a huge amount of styrene and a massive sheet of decals.

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Onto the main part, the styrene. This comes in one clear bag on 5 trees + 1 clear parts tree.

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The parts are molded in light grey styene which was a great relief as I was dreading the thought of it being done in white. The styrene itself has a slightly matt finish to it which I think will give a good surface for the paint to adhere to.

Onto the actual parts, these are nicely laid out on the trees for easy finding.
The details are very fine, I was very impressed with these. I first started getting back into building Airfix kits when the Canberra's and nimrod came along, this Valiant once again does not disappoint.

Here you will see the fine recessed panel lines and excellent detailing on the fuselage.

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I was very impressed with the detailing on the tail as well, all the lines are very clean with no flash to speak of.

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And this is the wing join I have heard so much about, from what people are saying it gives a very nice join for the wing and looking at it I the they will be right.

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Speaking of the wings, they are huge as you would expect of a kit of this subject and scale. These are very nicely molded with one large top piece and two smaller parts on the underside.

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You also get the option of positionable control surfaces

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Moving on to the instructions, these are very clearly laid out in the usual Airfix manor.
Starting with the cockpit which is in one piece with the 5 crew seats positioned 2 up front and 3 behind.
You are then given the option to remove the tail cone and replace it for a different variant (provided).
We then move on to the huge bomb bay where you are given a choice of ordnance.

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And last but most definitely not least we have the decals. These are printed on a huge decal sheet and appear to have a slightly matt finish to them.
You do get the choice of the light (faded) roundels and the darker, more common versions.
There is a massive amount of stenciling set out in 6 boxes which I think is a good idea as you can do one of the boxes at a time so if like me you wont get a bit confused along the way.

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Ive been looking forward to this kit ever since the rumors started about the subject being done in scale.
I was most definitively not disappointed with what I got and this kit comes very highly recommended!!
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Mark M
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Hawk T1
cracking review, im going to have to get one of these
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davedubya
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Airbrush master
Good stuff.

I do like the quality of the new Airfix kits.
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Deleted User
Deleted User

They really are getting better and better with each new release. I just wish they would re do (new tool) there 48th scale Jaguar's and buccaneer :unsure: :D

Although, saying that they are re releasing there 48th lightning which I will be getting 1 or 3 of as Ive got some nice projects all lined up for them. I just wasnt prepared to pay the current asking price of £60 :(
I much prefer the price of the re release at £25ish :D
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benskipper
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LCDR Ben 'NITRO' Skipper
Absolutely there will be a couple of additions of the '48 Lightning in the Skipper Stash come Christmas time me thinks.
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aviationandy
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Wibble...
The current Airfix mag gives a review & build of this kit, & what a cracker it is too, with very little problems during the build, & very nicely finished. Glad I got one now. B)
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