Airfix Vickers Valiant

This is the first picture I took of the build because quite honestly the kit just pretty much fell together.
The biggest issues were having to slim the cockpit down a little to get the fuselage halves to mate, some seam work in the intakes and some seam work around the exhauats 

I masked the cockpit transparencies with a New Ware masking set and sprayed the rest NATO black 

The area in the bomb aiming blister got painted black as well as there is no interior detail. A couple of small sink marks were filled just aft of the bomb bay 

I primed the whole kit in Vallejo grey primer 

Next up came the anti flash white, courtesy of Hataka 

Another view of the white. I was a big fan of how this came out but it needed many coats 

The masking kit came with masks for the anti glare panel ahead of the canopy, and the Hataka paint set contains a black that Hataka reckons is an exact match for the anti glare 

Paint on 

Anti glare unmasked and looking sharp 

Gear bays given a quick preshade 

Anti glare and radome painted 

Gear bays and bomb bay painted silver 

21 little 1000 pounders ready for loading! 

In they go! 

I started decaling but the colour I’d sprayed the exhausts was bugging me, it was too dark. So out came the masking tape and I carefully sprayed them a lighter colour  

I didn’t use the many of the kit decals as I wanted to build an aircraft that wasn’t a choice in the kit. I wanted an airframe with pale anti flash insignia with a refuelling probe. Don’t know why, that’s just what I wanted.
I bought some excellent decals by Freight Dog. They look amazing and are nice and thin. I highly recommend them.
I also highly recommend using nail sponges to support in work kits! 

Gear and fuel tanks on 

 

 

All done. I gave the kit a coat of matte varnish but I didn’t go nuts with it. I also added a couple of streaks here and there from the control surfaces, for a bit of interest 

Close up of the cockpit section 

The other side. I posed the hatch open and replaced the kit door stay with a piece of wire that seemed a little more in scale. It’s a shame the kit doesn’t come with a ladder.
I had to cheat a little with the squadron badge by the door. I didn’t have the right one for the aircraft’s squadron so I just used the kit one 

 

I gave the kit minimal weathering as from what I could see on pictures these aircraft were kept fairly clean, other than being a bit oily on the engine panels.
The gear doors are actually incorrect, they weren’t robbed on the real aircraft. I could have fixed them but sometimes you just want to get a kit built.  

Another angle