The Avro Vulcan was one of the ‘V-bombers’, flown by the Royal Air Force during the 1950s and 1960s as part of its nuclear deterrence force against the USSR.

They remained in service until the mid 1980s.

The Vulcan was designed as a high speed, high altitude bomber capable of penetrating Russian airspace.

Avro used the delta wing for this difficult role, the first prototype flew on 30 August 1952 and they began entering service in 1956.

The B.2 version began flying operationally in 1960 and remained a frontline nuclear bomber until the deterrence role was given to the missile armed submarines of the Royal Navy from 1970.

Vulcans were then given other roles but were withdrawn from service in March 1984, having flown several long range missions during the Falklands War.

This model represents a Vulcan B.2 of No.9 Squadron RAF at Coningsby in 1963

Airfix 1/72 kit with mixed decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in January 2003.