Scale aviation modeller international

THE KIT

First of all, just about everything

you’ve heard about the quality

of Mach 2 kits is true...but they

CAN be built into some nice

looking aircraft. Having already

finished their 1/72 scale Vickers

Viscount and Convair CV-440,

I was prepared for a battle and

Mach 2 didn’t surprise me.

As usual, I was confronted

by a rough finish on most parts

with LOTS of flash. Separating

176 parts from their sprues took

most of a day, but once cleaned up,

they began falling into place (note

that the two passenger boarding

ramps shown on the box top art

are NOT included in the kit).

This boxing depicts a Britannia

300, a stretched long-range

version, making this a BIG bird.

It measures about 20 inches long,

with a 22 inch wingspan, so make

sure you clear a large area on your

workbench before you start work.

Like other Mach 2 kits I have

built, the two-sided, single-page

instruction sheet is quite basic and

you will need to have some further

references before starting out.

CONSTRUCTION

As someone once said about kits like

this one, you have to be a “builder”

and not just an “assembler” to

finish it. LOTS and LOTS of sanding

is required to make just about every

part presentable, but that is to be

expected with limited-run, low-

pressure moulded kits like Mach 2.

The surface of their plastic is

rougher and a little softer than

most injected kits, but I find that

this actually makes sanding

and scribing a bit easier. Just be

careful AFTER you sand that you

don’t scar the surface, which is

very vulnerable to scratches.

After preparing all the parts,

I began construction with the

cockpit, which provides the basic

details, with pilot seats, steering

columns, an instrument panel,

a floor, and some bulkheads.

Unfortunately, there is no passenger

cabin interior, and though scratch-

building one is possible, it would

be a massive project. I decided to

build mine out of the box, so the

only thing I added was several

fishing weights in the nose section.

Later I found out that the

amount of weight I had added was

THE WHISPERING

“WITH JUST BASIC MODELLING

SKILLS THE BRISTOL BRITANNIA

CAN BE MADE INTO A VERY

GOOD LOOKING MODEL”

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