Aircraft In Miniature Limited

[kitnut617]

Aircraft in Miniature is slowly getting back into production, they have five of their big kits for sale now at Hannants (along with their Historic Wings, RugRat Resins and Ground Equipment lines of products).  They also have three conversion packs available to, the 747-400 set, the 747 Shuttle Carrier set and the 767 AEW set.  I already had the Shuttle Carrier conversion but now I also have the 767 AEW set too.  It comes with good instructions and a set of additional decals for the Japanese Air Force.  These compliment the decals that come in the 'basic' 767 kit.

Very nicely cast in resin and white metal.

[kitnut617]

Some very welcome news here from this manufacturer;

Keep in mind these are all 1/72 scale
http://www.aim72.co.uk/page6.html

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The resin engines for the Airbus are quite fetching.  I see the CF-6 engines are also available as a separate purchase but price is TBD/TBA so that takes some of the fun out of the moment. 

Maybe that ducted fan C-130 can yet be realized :)

[kitnut617]

The CF-6 engines are to convert the 747 kit Jeff, the pylons would be for that kit too.  I've been trying to get Neil Gaunt to sell the Airbus resin separate as I wouldn't mind upgrading my CC-150 with the new bits.

I'm really looking forward to the Tristar and Voyager tankers though but why he decided to do a Comet 4 I'm not sure.  It would have to be way better than the Welsh Models offering which is already a very nice kit in itself.  I've got a copy of one of their Comet 1's in RCAF service which will be built OOB.

[GTX_Admin]

I'm really looking forward to the Tristar and Voyager tankers   

The Voyager would also provide the basis for releasing a RAAF KC-30 if they add in a Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS).

but why he decided to do a Comet 4 I'm not sure.  It would have to be way better than the Welsh Models offering which is already a very nice kit in itself. 

Agreed.

[jcf]

The Welsh kit is a Comet 4C, and the note on the AIM page says Comet 4, which is a
different aircraft.

[kitnut617]

Reading up on the Comet 4 and Comet 4C, it would seem to be the same dimensionally, just that the 4C had greater seat density (source wiki)

Correction:  Re-reading my Putman De Havilland book, there is a difference in length, Comet 4 was 111'-6", Comet 4C was 118'-0".  I should say that I have found some errors in the Putman book with other aircraft listed there.

[kitnut617]

I'm really looking forward to the Tristar and Voyager tankers   

The Voyager would also provide the basis for releasing a RAAF KC-30 if they add in a Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS).

It seems that since I posted the 'News' link, AiM has updated it, a conversion to do a KC-30 is in the cards ---

[kitnut617]

Latest news is the Comet 4 is now available, and there's a Comet 4B and 4C in the works.  Also the CF6 engine set is now available (got one in the stash)

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page6.html

[GTX_Admin]

More info re the Comet 4s:  http://www.aim72.co.uk/page85.html

I still do wonder re the 4C given the Welsh Kit...though one could just as easily point out the dozens of Bf-109 kits etc. out there.  And anyway, who are we to complain if there are more kits?

[kitnut617]

  And anyway, who are we to complain if there are more kits?

Agreed  ----  but then again I have a few kits from both manufacturers.  Although I've not seen any of these new AiM kits in the flesh, but  going by the AiM style, the Welsh Models ones are hard to beat.

[kitnut617]

Some ground equipment is now available in all the major scales.

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page71.html

[kitnut617]

Just read some sad news on the AiM website, Neil Gaunt's partner Marion, has passed away.

[GTX_Admin]

Announcement this week:  In response to many requests we have a new series of 1:48 resin kits in preparation.  These will use a combination of traditional and CAD/CAM technology. These will be in the Rug Rat Resins series.

New 1/48th Kits announced:

Cessna 310B/U-3A ‘Blue Canoe’
CASA 212
DHA-3 Drover

More details. including their 1/72 range  here

[kitnut617]

More News from AiM today --

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page6.html

[kitnut617]

This should please a lot of people, the Blue Steel transporter truck

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page130.html

[The Big Gimper]

Coming soon ....

Vickers Valiant B2 - “The Black Bomber” Conversion Set in glorious 1/72 scale!!!

A developed version of the Valiant B.1, the Valiant B.2, was intended as a Pathfinder to mark targets for the main bomber force and to reach its targets at low level and high speed.
The B.2 had a strengthened airframe. The wing was strengthened by removing the large landing gear bays in the wing structure -  instead each main landing gear retracted backwards into large fairings to the rear of the wings. The B.2 also had a lengthened fuselage with the extra length giving room for more avionics.

The prototype B.2, serial number WJ954 first flew on 4 September 1953.  Finished in a gloss black night operations paint scheme, it became known as the "Black Bomber".  Its performance at low level was superior to that of the B.1

The conversion  consists of a resin fuselage plug (between the cockpit and the wing leading edge) and two resin landing gear fairings on the trailing edge of each wing.

The kit nose wheel and doors are used, but cast metal main landing gear units and doors, together with silkscreen printed transfers for serials and roundels  complete the conversion set.



Available from Hannants.

[finsrin]

Most interesting !
Did not know there was a 1/1 B.2 version.

[The Big Gimper]

It was a nice looking aircraft:

[Volkodav]

Ironically with its strengthened airframe the B.2 could have served the RAF very well for much longer than the B.1, not just in the low level penetration role but also as a tanker.  I have long thought it could have been a very sensible addition not only to the RAF but also the RAAF, as a tactical nuclear/conventional bomber, had the potential of guided missiles to make high level bombing obsolete been realised earlier.

[GTX_Admin]

in glorious 1/72 scale!!!

[The Big Gimper]

I was wondering if you would notice this little Easter egg Greg. 

[kitnut617]

AiM has a whole bunch of new additions added to their website, including this:

http://www.aim72.co.uk/page170.html

I'm also going to be waiting patiently for the B-52 'Big Belly' bomb clips to appear, started making some scratch-made ones quite some time ago to detail one of my B-52's, only the 'H' section styrene stock I used didn't glue very well and they're falling apart. It was some green coloured stock and the normal styrene glue just didn't react with it.

[Weaver]

Ironically with its strengthened airframe the B.2 could have served the RAF very well for much longer than the B.1, not just in the low level penetration role but also as a tanker.  I have long thought it could have been a very sensible addition not only to the RAF but also the RAAF, as a tactical nuclear/conventional bomber, had the potential of guided missiles to make high level bombing obsolete been realised earlier.

As I understand it, the root cause of the problem with the Valiant wasn't the switch to low-level work, it was the fact that they used the wrong alloy in it's construction. In one case, a spare wing set that had never even been fitted to an aircraft cracked after doing nothing more than lying around the factory for a few years. This means that unless the B.2 was made of different alloy, it would have suffered the same fate as the B.1.

The potential of SAMs to make the high/fast 'sanctuary' untenable was actually realised as early as 1951, before a production Valiant had even flown, and the working party studying the matter concluded that such an aircraft would be needed by 1963: quite prescient since the switch to low-level tactics actually occurred in 1963. They put out an operational requirement OR.314 in 1952, anda ll the manufacturers responded with some fascinating designs. However the conclusion was that there were too many unknowns and developmental items for one project, particularly low-altitude gust response and navigation, making the risk of program failure quite high, so the requirement was allowed to lapse until the technology and state of knowledge had matured somewhat.

[GTX_Admin]

Yes, a 1/48 AVRO Blue Steel Missile...now where be my 1/48 HP Victor to go with it (resin or vacuform would be fine!):