Scale aviation modeller international

Victor K.2 /SR.2

First look at Airfix Victor K.2 /SR.2

O

ne of the most eagerly

awaited release of the

year was the Airfix Victor

K.2 Air to Air Refuelling taker

aircraft that was in service from

1965 to 1993. It gave vital service

during the first Gulf war and

during the Falklands war was

pivotal in the Vulcans “Black

Buck” bombing missions.

Obviously based on this

manufacturers previously released

B.2 bomber, this new kit has

just one grey sprue extra that

supplies the modified short wing

tips as well the as the underwing

and fuselage air to air refuelling

equipment. Special mention

must be made of the retracted

refuelling basket, which with

careful painting will look amazing.

The only downside on these new

mouldings is that the short wing

tips do have some slight sink marks

in them that will need filling.

Markings are supplied

for two options.

• HP Victor K.2, 57 Squadron,
  Royal Air Force, Operation
  Black Buck, Ascension Island,
  May 1982. This aircraft carries
  the original scheme of white
  undersides, with grey and green
  upper surfaces. Like all the RAF
  tankers this has a large number
  of Day-Glo stripes under the
  fuselage and wing and these are
  supplied on the decal sheet.


• HP Victor K.2, 55 Squadron,
  Royal Air Force, Operation
  Granby, Bahrain, 1991.

The decal sheet also supplies

over 100 stencils, which should

keep you busy for a couple of

nights if you use them all.

But that is not all, a surprise

addition was the inclusion of bomb

bay camera pack and additional

electronic reconnaissance

equipment to produce the Victor

B(SR).2. One of the rarer variants

with only nine aircraft produced

these aircraft were in service

for less than nine years before

being converted into tankers.

• HP Victor B(SR).2, 543 Squadron,
  Royal Air Force, Operation Attune,
  Lima Airport, Peru, 1971.
  This aircraft was used for the
  collection of Radioactive Samples
  from French Government
  Atmospheric Nuclear Tests,
  between May and September 1971.

CONCLUSION

Following on from their superb

Valiant, the Victor is just as good

in fact, so good that you really do

not need any aftermarket sets.

Certainly any added detail in the

cockpit will be mostly invisible.

Is there any downside to this

kit, well as with most new Airfix

releases I am sure this kit will hard

or impossible to find in a year

or two. So if you think you want

a Victor on your shelf at some

point lay one down sooner rather

than later. And can there be any

doubt a new tool Avro Vulcan

will appear at some point in the

future? If it is to the same standard

as this kit I sincerely hope so.

My thanks to Emily Houghton

of Hornby, as always for

supplying the review sample.

“IF YOU THINK YOU WANT A VICTOR ON

YOUR SHELF AT SOME POINT LAY ONE

DOWN SOONER RATHER THAN LATER”

42 • OCTOBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

FIRST LOOK!

042-45-FirstLooks-1018.indd 42 14/09/2018 15:17