Anigrand 1/144 Valiant B.1, previewed by Scott Van Aken

KIT #:	AA-4027
PRICE:	$102.00 from www.NostalgicPlastic.com Includes US/Canada shipping
DECALS:	Two options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	Includes Fairey FD.1, Handley-Page HP.115, and Bristol T.188 experimental aircraft.

In 1947, the British Air Ministry issued a request in the form of Specification B.35/46 for an advanced jet bomber capable of carrying nuclear bomb. Short and Vickers responed with S.A.4 Sperrin and T.660 Valiant. Sperrin was set as program backup while Valiant was awarded for production order. Handley-Page and Avro came up with advanced designs for competition which would become the Victor and Vulcan. Due to the aggression in Europe from USSR, both the Victor and Vulcan were also awarded production contract. The first Valiant prototype made its first flight in 1951, and the first production aircraft flew in 1953. In October 1956, the Valiant performed British first atomic bomb test-drop. It led UK to become the world's third nuclear power. A month later, Valiant took first combat in Suez Crisis. In 1957, Valiant performed test-drop of the first British hydrogen bomb. When the Victors and Vulcans began to become operational, the Valiant was switched to low-level tactical operations in 1962, and the entire Valiant fleet was retired in 1965 due to structural problems caused by low level flying, something for which the aircraft was not designed.

Historical background from Anigrand website.

THE KIT

Anigrand's kit comes packaged in their usual compartmentalized poly bag with a separate compartment for the resin clear parts, each of the additional aircraft and three sections dedicated to the Valiant itself.

Those of us who have built and enjoyed Anigrand kits will come to recognize the nicely engraved detailing, the usual resin blobs and air bubbles that will need to be taken care of, and the generally good fit of the parts. Anigrand has added an interesting item to this kit in that there are large tabs that run vertically in the fuselage sections to help keep things aligned as well as to add some stiffness to these parts. The one piece wings are nicely molded with slots to accept the landing gear and the fuel tanks. No real detail in any of the gear wells, b

ut this is acceptable for 1/144. There is some cockpit detail in terms of seats and one will have to use acetate, Krystal Kleer or even clear paint to handle some of the small windows. Anigrand does not mention nose weight, but you'll need it for this to keep it from being a tail sitter.

Three smaller aircraft are included with this. You get a Handley Page HP-115 experimental aircraft that is made of very few parts. There is also a Fairey Delta FD.I and a Bristol T.188. All of these will be a challenge to get to sit on their nose gear as they have solid fuselages with no place to put weight. These may be best displayed in flight on a stand. Anigrand provided two identical decal sheets for markings. The Valiant can be done either in unpainted metal or in the white that it wore while doing high altitude work. The markings for the white scheme seem to be too too dark and should be a near pastel. I've included a photo so you can judge for yourself. No unit badges are provided, though if one wanted to do a low level camo'd plane, that should not be too difficult once one locates a camouflage diagram.

Aside from a Contrail vacuformed kit of the rare B.2 variant, this is the only Valiant currently available. Hold the presses. I've been informed that Welsh does a vac kit in 1/144 and Mach 2 does one in 1/72 scale. Still, this one should be easier to build than the Mach 2 kit and is a good alternative for those who do not wish to do a vacuformed version. It is a fine looking kit and doing this in 1/144 scale is perfect for a larger scale model would be far too large for most display shelves. I'm very much looking forward to building this one.