Opinions on Eastern Express Vickers Vimy

[TimC]

I have a chance of getting hold of the Eastern Express Vickers Vimy kit, but there seems to be very little information on it on the internet. Was just wondering what peoples opinions were on the kit and how it compares to any other Vimy or similar aircraft kits.

[StephenLawson]

Try looking under Frog Vickers Vimy.

[Flamingo]

Hi Tim

Frog released this kit as the transatlantic machine of Alcock and Brown in the Trail Blazers series and as such was and still is pretty good, only rib detail on upper wing surfaces and tailplane is way out of scale.
Later Frog released it as a bomber and did some mods but not all that were necessary. This is the Novo kit.

Either close all gun positions and windows and paint it as the atlantic machine or for the bomber the tapering part of top decking (it covered the additional tanks) and the side windows and the rear gun have to be moved forward.
The transatlantic machine is preserved in the Science Museum in London and there is a Windsock publication about the Vimy.

There is a little mistake in the Novo instructions, the instruments on the nacelles have to face inward.

[Wienne]

If you really want an accurate Vimy bomber, be prepared for some major surgery. I started one in a groupsbuild on the Dutch Modelbrouwers site. Unfortunately I never finished it. Got stuck with the nacelles and the struts...

Foremost is the rounded bump, who extends to far backwards. Because of that the aft MG-position sits also to far backwards, as are the side and bottom windows. Also the bottom MG-position is missing.
Secondly, the nose on the bomber isn't rounded, but has some flat planed glass windows. Frog (and probably Novo) uses black decal to simulate this. Interior is non existing and consist manly of some rather large ejection marks.
After several attempts to rectify these short-comings I ended up scratch-building the fuselage with thin plasticard (clear for the aft fuselage) on plastic or soldered brass frames.

And then you have off-course the hideous wings, which took hours to sand...

I posted some pics in my thread here, Although most of it is in Dutch, I added some noter here and there in English.

Wienne

[Flute]

Halfway between Wienne and out of the box was my build here: The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum :: View topic - Flute's Vimy . Sorry about the long url. This was for a Frog group build. It isn't particularly good but I think the effort is worth it for the degree of improvement on the kit.

Paul.

[TimC]

I thought it was probably going to be the Frog/Novo kit but I had hoped they may have improved on it a bit. Think I may get it anyway as the price is quite good and maybe at a later date when my modelling skills have improved, I may be able to do a better model.

Wienne and Flute Thanks for sharing your builds, some impressive models you have built and are building. Should be able to get some help from them when I get around to building it myself.

Even with all its flaws, it seems to be the only kit available at that scale.

Thanks
Tim

[Flute]

There was one other, a vacform by a company called Eastern Star, in the early'90 sI think. Suposedly a good kit, but nowadays very hard to find.


Good luck, Paul.