Scale aviation modeller international

pitot head, ring antenna, and radio

antennae mast were attached.

The ring antenna is supplied in

the kit as a PE piece, but I replaced

it with some 0.45 mm steel wire

bent around a paintbrush to give

a more realistic appearance. The

finishing touch was a pair of radio

wires made from elastic thread

running to the tips of the fins.

AND THERE IT IS

The qualities of short-run kits mean

two things. The first is that you

must be prepared to put in a fair

amount of extra work to

achieve a decent standard

of model, but as long

as you are prepared for

this the resultant build can be

even more satisfying on

completion. The second

is that we lucky modellers

are presented with kits of obscure

aircraft we could previously only

have dreamed of building!

When I was a lad, the idea of a

1/72 Albatross would have been

pure fantasy, yet here we are,

thanks to Valom, with a fine kit

of De Havilland’s most beautiful

offering. The nature of the kit rewards

careful planning and repeated

checking to ensure parts fit where

they should, but it assembles into

an excellent replica, and it proved

to be a most enjoyable build.

I’d like to congratulate Valom on

their foresight and exquisite taste in

producing the Albatross; I’m tempted

to convert one into the prototype

configuration and go for a silver finish

(supplied by Valom as kit number

VAL72128 with four marking options.

Ed). Now that is REALLY pretty.

My thanks to Valom for supplying

this kit for review. In the UK Hannants

have both the kit (£49.99) and the

resin set (£7.99) in stock. They also

offer a 10% discount for orders

collected at Scale Modeworld

in Telford or for collection from

their London branch next to the

RAF Museum at Colindale.

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