The First Britannia

[norri]

G-ALBO the prototype Britannia 175 first flew on the 16th August 1952. it appeared at the Farnborough air show the following year, in the livery of BOAC










this sat around half finished on my shelf for months after i broke off the tailplane while polishing the lower fuselage.

G-ALBO as it was, Farnborough September 1953

In 1960 it became a ground instructional airframe and was scrapped in 1968.

usual stuff, white, black, silver, lot of polishing. most decals from scratch.

[A30yoyo]

Apparently it did make an appearance at the 1952 Farnborough show which used to be held every September

[richardstarr]

HI NORRI,

I have to say this. This is the most beautiful BRISTOL BRITANNIA I have ever seen. You have the creative ability to
make an old, rusty airplane look BRAND NEW; in fact, better than MINT IN THE BOX. I like to see your
beautiful colour pictures of transport aircraft and also jet fighter aircraft.

Keep up the good work. These pictures are too good to be true.

RICHARD STARR

[norri]

many thanks Richard, nice of you to say.

half a dozen projects on the go at present, but work's going to get in the way, for the next few months at least. hopefully have something finished before august,

regards norri

[998]

Hi Norri,
I have to agree . . . that is the most spectacular version of the Dinky Toy Britannia I have EVER seen. Wow! As a modeler and a 1:200 diecast aircraft collector, I really like the dazzle you brought to an otherwise basic 'toy' that I've had a large affinity for since I was a young boy.

As it happens, I have a 40+ year penchant for the Bristol Britannia, and I think it only fair you know that the livery and 'ALBO' are indeed the first of the 175 series. The catch is . . . you applied all your magic to what Dinky modelled as a series 300 Britannia -- which is a longer aircraft. OK . . . something like 10 feet or so (114ft. vs 124ft.), but it is noticeable in the photos.

Regardless, it's all academic . . . the resulting model you created is astounding, looks great, and you've inspired me to re-think a number of possibilities regarding mine. And for that alone, I thank you!

[norri]

thank you for the comments 998. really chuffed to bits to read them. I've restored a few Britannia's, in case you haven't seen them. a second in BOAC contemporary livery and one each in Laker and Cubana livery. always thought the latter of the two was my best effort. but popular opinion seems to be in favour of this one.

been sitting on another one for ages, which was waiting on props. they've just arrived. will post when done,

regards norri

[998]

thank you for the comments 998. really chuffed to bits to read them. I've restored a few Britannia's, in case you haven't seen them. one each in Laker and Cubana livery. always thought the latter of the two was my best effort. but popular opinion seems to be in favour of this one.

been sitting on another one for ages, which was waiting on props. they've just arrived. will post when done,

regards norri

You are most welcome!

I did see the others, and indeed, they are each an outstanding accomplishment.

I find it very odd that Dinky Toys never did a BOAC series 300 Britannia. Regardless, your images and insight here has inspired me to get a Britannia 'scrapper' locally and re-do a Canadian Pacific Airlines version in a similar fashion to what you have done. (I was completely mad for this aircraft when I was a kid -- still extremely fond of it) For this though, I'll have to create a set of decals as I haven't seen (so far) a set of these aftermarket decals where the CPA 'spaghetti script' is correct. No worries. All part of the fun.

[norri]

I haven't found any aftermarket decals of an appropriate scale for the Britannia either. had to cobble them together from various bits and bobs myself. the boac window and stripe I took from boac stratocruiser decal sheet. the laker livery I made from scratch including the windows. cubana was a combination of the two. awful lot of mucking about, but there was no other way.

the ideal is to find a decal sheet which can be scanned, resized and printed on decal paper. which is what I did with the eastern airlines connie. even then its a time consuming exercise. at times one I end up wishing I hadn't started!

[norri]

just in case anyone's interested

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DINKY-TOYS-No ... SwBLdZrn9X

don't have the space anymore, you're welcome to make me an offer