Two Mikes Resin

1/72 Avro Vulcan Seamless Intakes, Landing Gear Bays and Doors For the Airfix kit

Stock Number: 72-002 (Intakes) - 72-004 (Bays / Doors)

Reviewed By  Rod Lees, IPMS# 10821

MSRP: Part 72-004 $30.00 MSRP: Part 72-002 $25.00 Website: www.twomikesresin.com First off, a huge THANKS to Two Mikes for providing us these accessory kits. We are blessed to have manufacturers providing us their wares, and we IPMS members benefit! This is not a full build review; that is because I received these sets from Dave soon after the Nationals, and wanted to get the general "how are these things" review done. We owe it to those companies who provide us such cool stuff to provide timely reviews… On this kit, I was planning to scratch build a bomb bay, and have life interfering with my available time to do that, so the finished kit will have to wait… but I HAVE used the two accessory sets up to the point they are installed, and will express my overall impression this way: FANTASTIC work, Two Mikes! I've been one who has fought with at least three sets of intakes for Airfix' Vulcans over the years, and this particular set addresses the problem of cleaning up the seam down the center quite nicely. These are true "drop in" fit items. Their white resin is better left as is; I tried to paint them and ended up dropping them back in a jar of acetone to clean the paint off. The white is more "true white" than the paint I tried to use (Tamiya insignia white) and they just look better this way. One area of caution; there are locating dimples on the lower part of the intakes for them to line up with the stand-off pips to hold the intake in place. I recommend you cut off the locating pin at the end of the towers, because when I super glued them in place one of the pins cracked through the resin. (Happens with superglue sometimes; chemical interaction causes cracking in resin under stress). The compressor faces are light years ahead of the kit supplied items, and just click into place after painting (I used ModelMaster Metallizer Magnesium lacquer from a rattle can) Modeler's fault, not the intake. And the forward intake lip fit?... Absolutely spot on! It doesn't get better than this.

On to the gear bays. Once again, well engineered, perfect fit. Follow the instructions, thin the edges on the kit doors like they tell you to, and install. The sidewall detail is overwhelming… and they truly "click" into place. This is how ALL interior upgrade sets should be. I have not had opportunity to install the gear or gear doors, but they are detailed on the inside as well; overall impression is high quality.

Both accessory kits come with full-color instructions with detailed photos. Hard to mess this effort up. And you don't have to have a Dash-four illustrated parts breakdown manual to figure out which part is which; they are labeled or discussed in the instructions. Some manufacturers have fallen down in this area, but not these guys… Two Mikes just entered the "big guys" playing field, in my opinion. If you have a Vulcan, fork over the cash and save yourself a lot of extra work and sweat… Both accessory sets are 10 of 10 in my rating scale.