Or two, as the case may be.....
The Handley Page "Victor" bomber was a British Cold War era bomber. It, along with the Vickers "Valiant", and the Avro "Vulcan", made up the primary nuclear strike force of the RAF in the 1950's through the 1990's, and the three bombers were collectively known as the "V Bombers".
Many people might recognize the Avro "Vulcan" as having a plot role in the James Bond movie "Thunderball".
I always thought that the "Victor" had the most futuristic look, and seeing as I've never built one, I thought it was time to fill in that blank.
These are very simple, older kits, that lack much detail. This generally makes them easier and faster to build. The Matchbox kit is 1/72nd scale, and the Lindberg kit standing up behind it is 1/96th scale. I'll start with the Lindberg kit. It's already molded in white plastic, which makes painting it in the "Anti-Flash White" scheme is a no-brainer.
Quite an interesting looking aircraft.
Brings back memories of witching John Steed and Emma Peel battle evil-doers for God and Country.
In black and white, of course.....
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The Vulcan was rendered obsolete quite soon after it's first flight. It was the U.S. Poseidon which had done the deed.
ReplyDeleteAnd the BOMARC killed the Canadian Arrow.
ReplyDeleteDamn politics.....
Oh my! I remember those, and Vulcans, flying over when I was a kid in England. Great looking plane and thunderously large and loud.
ReplyDeleteAlso remember Goucester Meteors flying about over Oxford in the early '70s. They were training aircraft. Remarkable, I'd watch 'em through binoculars, roundels and all.
British designers came up with some remarkable aircraft. The only jet-powered British aircraft I've ever seen fly (besides the Harrier) was an English Electric Lightning. Remarkable airplane!
ReplyDeleteI always thought the Vulcan to be the more futuristic of the V bombers. The Victor looks more Steam Punk to me.
ReplyDeleteOne of my modeler group friends said it looked "Jules Vernish" to him, which is pretty close to Steam Punk.
DeleteI used to assemble plastic airplane models. I'd still do that if I had a place to put them when they were complete. There's a restaurant at the Payson, AZ airport that has a lot of them suspended from their ceiling. I might donate them there.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first moved to Kalifornia and didn't have any real hobbies, I started building again. I made half-a-dozen F-14 kits for managers at Hughes, and a like number of SR-71's and U-2/TR-1's for "other" people.
DeleteThese will probably get hung in the basement workshop.
Like models - just never had the fine motor skills to do them justice. Oh, and patience.
ReplyDeleteI picked up a Supra model at the hobby shop that closed up, and put it with my four other Supra models. Now that I have two functional work benches downstairs I can get back to modeling a bit. I always found it relaxing.
DeleteEnjoy the models!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to build one of the Victor airplanes.
DeleteI can still smell the Testors glue. I used to get that stuff all over everything. I don't think I ever built a model that didn't have my thumb print set in the plastic by the glue somewhere.
ReplyDeleteOf all places, there is a small engine repair shop a few miles from me that has a bunch of those old models for sale now that I think about it. Have fun!
The first kit I ever built was a Brontosaurus, molded in dark blue ( ? ) plastic.
DeleteI think I was 8 or 9 years old, and really didn't know what I was doing, but By God I could read, and it came with instructions, so I went at it.
It quite literally has "my fingerprints all over it."
Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. Quite the young lady.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have been able to identify the Victor and it is an interesting aircraft.
Yes, many an adolescent male's first 'daydream girlfriend'.
DeleteEspecially in her Lotus Elan.....not if I lusted more for her or her car.....
I had the opportunity to tour a Victor tanker variant at Ellsworth AFB in the mid-80's.I asked about the on-board radar and was surprised when told it was an H2S setup which was basically the same as used in WW2.Being a tube type it was not subject to EMP so they kept it in service!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was reading up on the Victor and recognized the H2S radar from my books on the development of airborne radar during WWII.
DeleteThose will be fun!
ReplyDeleteThe smaller of the two will be a "build/sand/prime/paint/decal/clear coat" model. Nothing fancy at all.
DeleteI'd bought a UGears kit a couple of years ago, and I intended to build it when the pace of retirement slowed down.
ReplyDeleteRetirement hasn't slowed down but your post got me thinking about building it anyway in the time before spring brings on the things that must be done outside.
It's this one.
https://ugearsmodels.us/catalog/pneumatic-engine/
I've got the UGears "Grand Prix Racer" that looks like a 1930's Alfa-Romeo.
ReplyDeleteStill haven't built it, but now I have a modeling bench to do it at.