New Tempest model build and Cold War RAF deterrent trilogy

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

As this will be our final edition of Workbench for 2021, we would like to start by taking this opportunity to wish each and every one of our readers a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year holiday period and to thank you once again for the unbelievably loyal support you continued to give us over the past twelve months. Despite the ongoing challenges we all faced during 2021, our on-line modelling community has used Workbench as a blog medium for a little Airfix escapism, allowing us onto computer, tablet and mobile phone screens all over the world to bring you all the latest project updates from our development schedule. This is a privilege we will never take for granted and we look forward to bringing you even more interesting content throughout 2022, only this time in our new weekly publication format.

Before we embark on what will be a seventh year of Workbench blogs, we will be taking a little break over Christmas and the New Year (other than a special Airfix Advent 2021 review blog), as we know most people will have better things to do over this period, such as spending a sneaky hour or two at our modelling workstations. We will be back with a bang from Friday 7th January, a month where we never have a shortage of new information to bring you, so we look forward to seeing you all back here well rested and well fed in the New Year. 

For this final blog of 2021, we are delighted to confirm that we will be going out with something of a bang and yet another built sample new model exclusive. This time, our feature model is the new 1/72nd scale Hawker Tempest V tooling and using the built model to illustrate the article, we will see why our scale homage this powerful late war fighter is destined to be an incredibly popular addition to the Airfix range following its impending New Year release. We will be following this up with a look at a trio of iconic British jet bombers and how Airfix presented modellers with the ability to produce their own scale RAF nuclear deterrent force. As you can see, its classic British air power all the way in this final edition of Workbench for 2021.

New Tempest V whipping up a storm

Keeping the suspense going for just a little while longer, here is a look at one of the CAD design screengrabs produced during the tooling development of the new Hawker Tempest V kit.

As the Second World War entered its final eighteen months of conflict, the world’s leading aircraft designers were already fully aware that the latest breed of powerful piston engined fighters were approaching the zenith of their development potential and that a new kind of propulsion system would be required in their quest to achieve ever greater speeds. The problem was, with the tide of war now turning in favour of the Allies, should development resource be directed towards this new technology, or should the tried and trusted technologies, which after all were already pushing them inexorably towards victory, remain in full and unrelenting production.

For Germany, she would not have the luxury of such a quandary, as they were losing aircraft and pilots at an ever increasing rate and industry could not produce enough new aircraft to make good their losses. They were in the territory of needing to introduce ‘wonder weapons’ simply to stay in the conflict and doing this whilst coming under ever increasing enemy pressure was never going to make this desperate situation any easier. The scene was set for the latest Allied piston engined fighters to take on the world’s first jet and rocket powered aircraft in a combat situation, a case of reliability and quantity against cutting-edge technology deployed in relatively small numbers. Indeed, they would even be charged with pitting their fighters against the terrifying threat of pulse-jet powered pilotless flying bombs, in the weeks immediately following the D-Day landings.

Having served the Royal Air Force faithfully with excellent aircraft designs for many years, Hawker Aircraft Limited would present them with a real brute of a fighting aeroplane in early 1944, one which could rightly claim to be the much vaunted ‘Super Hurricane’ they had been working to develop for the past four years. A design which incorporated everything they had learned during the rather troubled development and squadron introduction of its Typhoon predecessor, the Tempest was a thoroughbred fighting machine, one which was bred for speed, but one which was intended to be robust enough to play a full role in the final annihilation of what remained of the Luftwaffe. In the eyes of many aviation observers, the Hawker Tempest was the finest Allied piston engined fighter of the entire war, with its impact on the European air war only limited by the lack of Luftwaffe opposition its pilots were able to engage in combat, during the final stages of the conflict. 

All the following images we are showing here feature a production sample of our new 1/72nd scale Hawker Tempest V kit, one which has been finished in the lead scheme option to be included with this initial release.

With such significant aviation credentials as this, it is no wonder that the Tempest has attracted the attentions of scale model producing companies over the years, but not quite as many as you might think. Thankfully, this situation improved somewhat at the beginning of this year, with the announcement that we had already started a project to bring a new 1/72nd scale representation of this magnificent aircraft to the Airfix range, with the early development of the new kit reviewed in the 148th edition of the Workbench blog. Since then, we have brought you regular updates from the project as they have become available, culminating in this, our final update and a look at a fully finished, advanced production sample of the new kit. Built and finished by our product designer Paramjit Sembhi, we had been hoping to bring you these details a little earlier than this, however, Paramjit was forced to pause his build until a set of the kit decals arrived from the manufacturers. As a result, this first sight of a fully built example of the new Hawker Tempest V kit will now serve as a rather nice pre-Christmas treat for our blog regulars. 

Possessing the speed and firepower to take on any aircraft the Luftwaffe could put into the sky during the final months of WWII, the RAF’s Tempest squadrons would be brought back to perform home defence duties, for a very specific reason. On 13th June 1944, a strange sight and sound was noticed flying high above southern England, what seemed to be a small aircraft making an unusual buzzing noise and appearing to have fire coming from its rear. Soon falling silent, the aircraft fell to earth with a mighty explosion, claiming several civilian lives in the process. What Britain had just witnessed was the first of Hitler’s ‘Vengeance Weapons’, the ‘Doodlebug’ flying bomb, a brutally indiscriminate way in which to terrorise the British population in a callously cost effective manner. Over the course of the next few months, over 10,000 of these primitive cruise missiles would be directed towards the British mainland, in a concerted campaign which Hitler hoped would buy Germany time until new ‘wonder weapons’ could be deployed in their numbers.

Initially, it appeared as if the indiscriminate nature of a V1 attack would make it almost impervious to interception prior to detonation, something which genuinely terrified the public at large. Having survived the Blitz, it seemed to them as if these new terror weapons could not be stopped and if one had your name on it, there was little you could do about it. Thankfully, the home defence network and particularly the Royal Air Force had other ideas and they had an aircraft which would soon earn a reputation as an effective ‘buzz bomb killer’. 

Paramjit elected to finish his Hawker Tempest V build in the markings of an aircraft flown by famous British pilot Roland Beamont, a man who would enjoy notable success as a V1 hunter and the pilot who inspired the artwork created to grace the packaging of this exciting new model kit.

A02109 - Hawker Tempest Mk.V JN751/R-B, Aircraft flown by Wing Commander Roland Prosper ‘Bee’ Beamont, No.150 Wing, Newchurch, Kent, England, June 1944.

When discovering details about the life and flying career of Roland Beamont, it really is like reading extracts from the Boy’s Own Paper, a true British hero and one whose exploits continue to inspire anyone lucky enough to discover them to this day. Graded ‘Exceptional’ during his RAF Officer Training, Beamont passed out as a pilot officer on 21st October 1939 and was almost immediately sent to join the Hurricanes of No.87 Squadron in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, despite only having 15 hours on the type. Taking part in the frenetic fighting during the Battle of France, Beamont would be credited with his first aerial victory on 13th May, when he shot down a Dornier Do.17 bomber, but whilst he would probably have at least shared in the destruction of several others, this was the only victory officially credited to him.

Following the fall of France, Beamont and the rest of No.87 Squadron returned to England and prepared to face the might of the Luftwaffe once more, this time as they attacked the Royal Air Force, in advance of a planned invasion attempt. During the Battle of Britain, he would be credited with a further five enemy aircraft destroyed, giving him the coveted status of ‘air ace’ and a growing reputation as an influential leader of men. As daylight raids gave way to the night blitz, Beamont would become part of Britain’s fledgling nightfighter force and whilst flying on clear moonlit nights, began to lobby his superiors about mounting raids across the Channel to harass Luftwaffe airfields in northern France, something RAF officials would soon sanction.

At the end of his tour of duty, Beamont turned down the opportunity to be Trafford Leigh-Mallory’s personal aide to take up a position as a production test pilot with the Hawker company, where by his own admission, did he only then start to gain an understanding of the technical aspects of flight dynamics and an appreciation of the valuable work performed by test pilots. He would spend the majority of his time flying newly built Hurricane fighters, however, he would also become involved with the development of the new Typhoon, an aircraft he would go on to champion, despite some significant official opposition to its continued operational use. Having been so involved in the development flying of the Typhoon, Beamont was keen to return to operational flying and in July 1942, he first joined No.56 Squadron and was later given command of No.609 Squadron, both units operating the mighty Typhoon.

Returning to Hawkers once more in May 1943, he would become influential in imploring the RAF to keep faith with the Typhoon, an aircraft which may have had its problems, but one which Beamont passionately believed to be an excellent aircraft and one which had a big part to play in the coming months of war. Test flying the Typhoon as well as Hawker’s new high performance fighter the Tempest, he would be heavily involved in the final development of the Tempest V, an aircraft which would once again tempt him back to operational flying.

Charged with forming the RAF’s first Tempest Wing (No.150 Wing), it is thought that Beamont went on to score the Tempest’s first aerial victory, when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109G two days after D-Day, a victory which was certainly the first for No.150 Wing. Beamont’s Tempest Wing would also be used extensively in a home defence role and particularly in combating the V-1 ‘Doodlebug’ threat which was hurled towards southern England in the aftermath of the D-Day landings. By the end of August 1944, No.150 Wing had accounted for no fewer than 638 flying bombs, with Beamont himself destroying 32 V-1s.

On 12th October 1944, Beamont was shot down by flak during an attack against a troop train near Bocholt in Germany, whilst flying Tempest V EJ710 (JF-L). Captured by the Germans, he would spend the rest of the war as their guest in Stalag III, but on his repatriation back to Britain after the war, would take up a position as a test pilot with the Air Fighting Development Unit. He would leave the air force soon after, first to take up a post with the Gloster Aircraft Company and later as the Chief Test Pilot at English Electric Aviation Ltd. In this role, he would famously work on and fly the futuristic BAC TSR.2, as well as the Lightning, going on to be regarded as one of the nation’s most accomplished airmen. With a string of awards to his name, Beamont would also become famous as the first British pilot to exceed Mach 1 in level flight and the first to achieve Mach 2 in a British aircraft. His glittering career would see him flying an impressive 170 different aircraft types during 8,000 individual sorties - in fact, he probably spent more time in the air than on the ground!

The stunning image artwork produced to grace the packaging of this fantastic new model.

This beautiful new model finished in the markings of Wing Commander Roland Prosper ‘Bee’ Beamont of the RAF’s No.150 ‘Newchurch Wing’ during the latter stages of WWII.

Hawker Tempest V JN751 was built at Hawker’s Langley factory in early 1944 and delivered to No.20 MU at Aston Down on 20th February 1944. She was initially allocated to No.486 (NZ) Squadron, but subsequently passed to No.3 Squadron, where she would become the personal aircraft of Wing Commander Roland Beamont, wearing the distinctive fuselage codes R-B. On 8th June 1944, this aircraft became the first Tempest to shoot down an enemy aircraft, when Beamont brought down a Bf 109G-6 near Rouen, quickly followed by two further victories by other 150 Wing Tempest pilots. This famous aircraft (and its pilot) would go on to shoot down 32 V-1 Doodlebugs over the following few weeks, as the Wing’s priority became home defence against these indiscriminate and terrifying flying bombs.

On September 1st 1944, JN751 suffered an in-flight engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing at Langley, thankfully suffering only limited damage during the incident. The repaired aircraft was collected by Beamont on 5th September, who flew it back to his base at RAF Newchurch in Kent, however, this would be the last time he would fly this particular Tempest. Later transferred to No.287 Squadron to perform anti-aircraft co-operation duties, it was lost in an accident on 18th May 1945, tragically claiming the life of its pilot.

Described by some Messerschmitt Me262 jet fighter pilots as the Allied fighter they would least like to come across during flight operations, the Hawker Tempest V was without doubt a fearsome aviation adversary and the culmination of many years of design works aimed at finally producing Britain’s ‘Super Hurricane’. Our new 1/72nd scale kit version of this aviation phenomenon has now negotiated all of its various development stages and is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2022.

The RAF’s V-Bomber force - The power to deter

Beautiful yet deadly, the Vickers Valiant was the first of the RAF’s mighty V-Bombers to enter service.

Charged with the significant responsibility of protecting Britain during one of the most volatile periods in world history, the three jet bombers which made up the RAF’s V-Force were a high-profile aviation deterrent against any potential enemy’s pre-emptive nuclear strike attack, by virtue of the unimaginable destructive power they themselves possessed in retribution. Initially configured to deliver Britain’s independent free-fall nuclear munitions from extremely high altitudes, Vickers Valiants, Avro Vulcans and Handley Page Victors were all designed to perform this role, with at least two aircraft being kept at a state of 24 hour, 365 days a year Quick Reaction Alert readiness. Loaded with nuclear weapons, these aircraft would be positioned at the end of their home airfield’s runway, with its crews housed in temporary accommodation just yards away, ready to get their aircraft airborne in a matter of minutes, should they receive a scramble alert. For them, if called upon, this would likely be a one-way mission, as what they would be returning to would be the devastating aftermath of a nuclear strike.

This QRA strike force was later refined to keep the enemy guessing and to force them to commit ever more nuclear weapons in order to neutralise the threat posed by the V-Force. At times of heightened international tension, the RAF’s V Bombers could be stationed around the country at any one of up to 36 airfields, whilst still retaining a rapid response capability, something which was exhaustively practiced throughout the Cold War period, keeping crews sharp and watching enemies forewarned.

A force which included three of the most advanced jet bombers the world had ever seen, the RAF’s first V-bomber to enter service was the Vickers Valiant, arguably the most conventional of the three designs and something of an ‘insurance’ option. This was followed into service by one of the most distinctive aircraft ever produced by Britain’s aviation industry, the mighty Avro Vulcan and finally, the Handley Page Victor, arguably the most technically advanced aircraft of the trio and the one which would ultimately remain in service longer than either of its predecessors. 

Continued advancement in Soviet surface to air missile technology would later dictate that the mission profile for which all three aircraft had been designed to perform was no longer feasible and a change to low altitude interdictor strike missions would see the aircraft gaining camouflage markings and their airframes subjected to much greater stress forces. Ultimately, by 1st July 1969, the responsibility for providing Britain’s nuclear deterrent had passed to the Royal Navy and their Polaris ballistic missile equipped submarines, with the former V-Force aircraft still in service reverting to conventional bombing and airborne refuelling roles.

Airfix V-Bombers on parade

A pair of Avro Vulcan B.2 bombers featuring dramatically different scheme presentations, an indication of how the V-Bomber Force were forced to change from high to low altitude mission profiles, due to the advancement in Soviet anti-aircraft missile technology.

With all three aircraft occupying such a prominent position in the history of British aviation, not to mention the fact that they also happen to be three of the most distinctive aircraft ever to take to the skies, it was obvious that they would be of huge interest to the modelling community. Eventually producing 1/72nd scale model kit versions of all three of these mighty jet bombers, the Airfix V-Bomber tooling journey began back in 1983 with the release of our first Avro Vulcan B.2 kit, a hugely successful model which has been a consistent best seller since that date. This was joined by a newly tooled example of the Vickers Valiant B.Mk.I in 2011 and a Victor in 2016. 

This story was brought right up to date earlier this year when a spectacular newly tooled example of the Vulcan B.2 added even greater levels of detail and accuracy to our tribute to the ‘Tin Triangle’, an aircraft which has to be in the running for consideration as Britain’s most famous aircraft type. Significantly, these beautifully accurate kits allow modellers to create their own scale tributes to this iconic trio of nuclear capable British Bombers, Cold War sentinels whose awesome destructive potential kept Britain safe through some of the most volatile years in modern history.

Vickers Valiant BK.Mk1 XD818, RAF No.49 Squadron, Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Pacific Ocean, ‘Operation Grapple’, 1957.

Although this beautifully built model is a fine example of a nuclear capable Valiant bomber, it has actually finished in one of the scheme options included with the original release of this magnificent kit, however, it helps to illustrate just how impressive a model kit this actually is. Our 1/72nd scale Valiant was re-released earlier this year and is still currently available on the Airfix website at the time of publishing this blog.

With the atomic bombs dropped at the end of the Second World War taking the world into a new era of unimaginable destructive potential, the post war years found Britain somewhat side-lined by America in attempted to secure a nuclear deterrent of their own, despite being heavily involved in the development of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Desperate to secure this technology for themselves, Britain embarked on a programme of testing and detonations, with the aim of providing the RAF’s V-bomber force with a weapon which was powerful enough, whilst at the same time being stable and reliable. It is not known whether the actual intention was to force America to share data and to collaborate on future projects, or to actually go it alone, but whatever the plan, Britain would eventually get what she wanted, a viable nuclear deterrent.

Initial research and test detonations took place at Maralinga, a remote part of South Australia, but as the next phase of the programme required more powerful weapons to be tested, a new, even more remote location would be required. It was decided that Christmas Island (Kiritimati) in the Pacific Ocean would be the research base for this concerted period of testing, with the Island of Malden, some 250+ miles to the south, selected as the initial detonation zone. Known as ‘Operation Grapple’, the programme was effectively to provide scientists with the data to produce an effective Thermonuclear bomb - an H-bomb - which could be carried and delivered by Britain’s V-bomber force, providing the country with the destructive reassurance only nuclear power could now provide, in a world where two powers already held such fearsome weapons.

Central to these testing plans were eight Vickers Valiant bombers from No.49 Squadron, which had been modified by Vickers specifically for use during these vital tests. The many modifications over standard RAF Valiants ran into the hundreds and included the addition of scientific equipment, navigational and bombing improvements and additional equipment for crew protection. Perhaps the most visible of these changes was the adoption of a distinctive all-over white ‘anti-flash’ paint finish, designed to protect the aircraft and its crew from a nearby Thermonuclear blast. Valiant XD818 would be the first of the eight specially modified aircraft to arrive at RAF Wittering prior to Grapple deployment.

The aircraft left Wittering for Christmas Island on 3rd March 1957 and a place in history not just for Britain’s V-bomber force, but also for the future of the nation’s defence through strength strategy. Taking a route which saw landings at Aldergrove, Goose Bay, Namau, Travis AFB and Honolulu, XD818 arrived on Christmas Island on 12th March, where the crew saw the size of the operation behind this programme. With the island basically turned into a massive research station, the airfield would also be shared by RAF Shackletons and Canberras, all with specific tasks to perform over the coming months.

Profile artwork featuring one of the most important aircraft in British aviation history. The Valiant was the only one of the three British V-Bombers to actually deliver a nuclear weapon.

On the morning of 15th May 1957, Vickers Valiant XD818 was tasked with dropping Britain’s first live H-Bomb, off the coast of Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean. The device was code named ‘Green Granite’ and was contained within a Blue Danube ballistic casing, giving the device a combined weight of 10,000lb. XD818 would be joined by a second Valiant (XD824) acting as an observation, or ‘Grandstand’ aircraft for the detonation, again with the intention of yielding valuable data. Crews boarded their aircraft at 07.50 on Christmas Island, and embarked on a lengthy series of pre-flight checks. At exactly 09.00, Valiant XD818 and her shadow aircraft left the runway at Christmas and set course for Malden Island, with ships laden with scientists and servicemen waiting in the vicinity, aboard ships on the edge of the blast area, detailed to record the spectacle.

Having first made a navigational run to check the accuracy of their equipment and then a dummy run over the target, Valiant XD818 released her bomb off the coast of Malden Island at 10.38 at a speed of Mach 0.76 and from an altitude of exactly 45,000ft. This was extremely significant, as this was to be an air burst detonation and as a clockwork timer was being employed, to ensure the correct detonation altitude, the bomb had to be released from exactly 45,000ft. Once the bomb had been released, both of the Valiants had 40 seconds to make good their escape, executing a maximum rate 60 degree turn and putting as much distance between their aircraft’s tails and the blast as they could. The test was successful and both aircraft returned safely to Christmas Island just over an hour later.

Other Valiants would drop weapons during the remainder of the Grapple series of tests, however, Valiant XD818 would embark on her return journey to RAF Wittering on 21st June, even though this would not be the end of her Operation Grapple involvement. It is fascinating to note that this aircraft would actually make the journey from RAF Wittering to Christmas Island a further three times in support of the overall ‘Operation Grapple’ project, which would continue until late September 1958, only ending due to Britain’s inclusion in a testing moratorium pact agreed with the US and the Soviet Union. On the cancellation of the programme, XD818 would resume a busy career as an RAF V-bomber and not resting on her laurels as one of the nation’s most significant aircraft.

Avro Vulcan B.Mk.2 XM602, RAF No.12 Squadron, Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England 1963. Nose section now preserved at the Avro Heritage Museum, former Woodford site.

Avro Vulcan XM602 emerged from the assembly hangar at Avro’s Woodford factory in 1963, resplendent it its stunning all white anti-flash nuclear scheme. Immediately joining the RAF’s V-Bomber force, her first posting would be to RAF Coningsby and No.12 Squadron, where she would be tasked with maintaining the nation’s nuclear deterrent threat, helping to ensure the country was not dragged into another devastating conflict. She would actually turn out to be quite a well-travelled Vulcan, spending much time on overseas deployment around the world and representing a modern RAF at international Airshow events. In 1967, she would prove to be a huge attraction at the Dulles International Airport Airshow, where she rather effectively showed the American audience what a real aeroplane looked like.

During her service career, XM602 would spend time based at Coningsby, Cottesmore and Waddington and in 1971, operated out of McCoy AFB in Florida, as she took part in the US Air Force’s ‘Giant Voice’ Strategic Air Command bombing competition. A little closer to home, she was a regular UK Airshow attendee, where she would usually take her place in the static aircraft display, leaving display performances to other Vulcans. A series of magnificent pictures of the aircraft were taken at the 1981 Greenham Common Airshow, which can be found via a quick web search, interesting as these were taken during the twilight of her RAF career. That career ended in 1982, when XM602 was flown to RAF St Athan to take up residence with the Historic Aircraft Museum located there, but that was not to be the end of her story. 

In the Autumn of 1993, the aircraft was unceremoniously scrapped, with just the nose section surviving the cull - this surviving section was secured by the Avro Heritage Centre based at Woodford and was later transported back to the airfield of her birth. Regularly worked on by heritage volunteers and Woodford apprentices, the nose section would be displayed at the annual Woodford Airshows, a popular attraction at this home of the Vulcan.

With the Woodford show falling victim to a change in status at the site, the nose section was loaned out to the Vulcan to the Sky trust, where she toured the country in an attempt to gain public support and funds to keep Vulcan XH558 flying for as long as possible. Returning to Woodford some years later, the now beautifully restored nose of Vulcan XM602 is now one of the highlight attractions at the new Avro Heritage Museum, a purpose built facility on the site of the old Woodford factory site. Museum visitors can climb aboard this fantastic exhibit and experience what it was like to sit in the pilot’s seat of one of Britain’s most famous bombers, made all the more special by the knowledge that you are doing so just a few hundred metres from where the aircraft was originally built.

It is also interesting to note that her sister aircraft, XM603 is also on display at the museum, standing majestically in an enclosed outdoor section, having been the subject of a concerted restoration program. This aircraft is finished in the iconic anti-flash white scheme and is currently the only preserved Vulcan airframe presented this way.

Adding a little additional local interest to this particular scheme option, most of the former Woodford factory site was demolished to make way for a modern housing development and a recent Vulcan related story in the local press caught our attention. A couple who were thinking about purchasing a house on the development did so because they wanted to be close to family, but also because the location had some sentimental meaning for them. The man of the new house was a former RAF pilot who later embarked on a career as an airline captain. He remembered with some fondness regularly flying out of Manchester Airport and seeing a distinctive white Vulcan on the Woodford airfield site (XM603) as he flew over, always looking for it as an interesting aviation landmark. When the couple were looking round their new house, the story was mentioned and the agent told them that the developers had helped to establish the new Avro Heritage Museum, which was on the opposite side of the airfield and open to the public. Significantly, the white Vulcan he remembered with such fondness was now over there.

The former pilot couldn’t resist going across and reacquainting himself with the aircraft he remembered having seen from the air so many times during his civilian aviation days and once in the museum, he was also shown the beautifully restored nose section of another Vulcan, and was invited to sit in the pilot’s seat, bringing back happy memories of his Royal Air Force service. On returning home and checking his service log book, he discovered that he had flown both XM602 and XM603 during his RAF career! What a fantastic story and a development which must have certainly sealed the deal when considering the new house purchase.

Handley Page Victor B.Mk.2(BS), XL512, RAF No.139 Squadron, Wittering, Cambridgeshire, 1963-64.

Royal Air Force Wittering would prove to be a significant airfield in the history of the Handley Page Victor and Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent force. In February 1962, the first Victor B.2 squadron (No.139 Squadron) was formed at Wittering, replacing the earlier Vickers Valiants that were retired due to the discovery of fatigue cracks in wing spar components. Wittering based Victors were the first to be equipped with the Blue Steel missile, which was Britain’s air launched nuclear stand-off missile and formed the basis of the nation’s nuclear deterrent force until around 1970 and effectively helped to ensure an uneasy peace in Europe during its service life.

During the dark days of the Cold War, RAF Wittering and their Victors were to play a vital role in maintaining Britain’s strategic nuclear deterrent force. Until January 1969, two squadrons of Victor B.2 bombers equipped with Blue Steel missiles were part of the Quick Reaction Alert force of the RAF – Two nuclear armed aircraft were permanently on a state of operational readiness to react to any nuclear threat. Parked within 100m of the runway threshold, the aircraft were stationed on the Operational Readiness Platform and if they were manned, they could be airborne in a matter of seconds. This was designed to counter a potential Soviet missile threat and was built around the knowledge that from first detection to potential impact, RAF crews would have a maximum of four minutes to respond – thankfully, this thinking was never put to the test.

As was the case with a number of former Blue Steel equipped Handley Page Victors, XL512 would go on to provide vital airborne refuelling support for the famous ‘Black Buck’ raiding Vulcans of the Falklands War, arguably the most technically complex bombing missions ever attempted.

Even though this magnificent trio of RAF V-Bomber model kits allow us all to produce our own scale versions of aircraft which possessed unimaginable destructive power,  thankfully for us all, the Cold War nuclear power struggle never advanced beyond threats and posturing, and the devastation Britain’s V-Bomber Force were designed to unleash was never called upon. As a deterrent force however, they proved to be incredibly effective, impressing Britain’s military and their allies, whilst at the same time petrifying potential enemies.

Both the Valiant and Vulcan are currently still available on the Airfix website and it remains to be seen if the soon to be announced 2022 range will also include the triumphant return of the Victor.       

Incredibly, that’s another year of Workbench blogs done and dusted, and it’s time for a short break. May we take this final opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year holiday and we look forward to seeing you all back here on Friday 7th January for more modelling news and exclusive images from the wonderful world of Airfix. 

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The Airfix Workbench Team