Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie by Amodel

1/72 scale
Kit No. 72372
Cost: $25.00
Decals: Three versions
Comments: Detailed cockpit; optional position for large bubble canopy; painting masks and small photo-etch fret included

History

First flown in January 2015, the Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie is a single-engine, four- to five-seat aircraft intended to be marketed and sold as a kit to wealthy aviation enthusiasts. It is a pusher configuration with the propeller in the rear and features a large canard fitted to the nose. Powered by a Continental TSIOF-550-D turbocharged piston aircraft engine laid out in a “flat six” configuration and capable of 350 hp (260 kW), it can cruise at 290 mph and has a range of 1, 434 nautical miles. Fitted with Garmin G3X Touch avionics, it has a service ceiling of 25,000 feet.

A light aircraft designed for private owners, it was initially developed by Cobalt Aircraft of San Francisco, California, but Cobalt ceased operations in July 2018 and the rights to the design reportedly passed to Centauri Aircraft Company. The Valkyrie’s composite design incorporates retractable landing gear, twin angled vertical stabilizers and automatic aircraft. There is an option for a ballistic parachute as well. Passengers enter through a large fold-down door.

Marketed as “the ultimate private plane” the Valkyrie’s asking price is about $700,000, so it’s safe to say its owners will be millionaires and corporations. With its turbo-charged piston engine, fitted at the rear for a quiet cabin experience, is easily capable of 300 mph speeds. A key feature is its elegance and comfort, as the Valkyrie features a leather-appointed interior and a dashboard design with a single on/off switch and a docking space for a tablet or smartphone. It has one of the largest single-piece canopies in the world, offering impressive visibility through a forward-tilting glass roof and a 320-degree view. Finally, custom finishes are available for its exterior.

For sleekness and sex appeal, the Valkyrie has a legitimate claim to leading the pack. But since its acquisition by Centauri there is not much information on the briskness of sales, although as of February 2016 there were over $50 million worth of orders. One wonders if this aircraft will show up in a future James Bond film…

The Kit

Amodel’s Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 90 parts, including 9 clear plastic parts for the canopy and navigation lights. Photo-etch parts are included for cockpit components and a ventrally mounted engine exhaust panel. The detailed cockpit/cabin features individually mounted seats, dual rudder pedals and dual F-16-type joystick flight controls mounted on both side instrument panels. There is a decal for the main instrument panel.

The main landing gear consist of six parts each but are not especially detailed; likewise the wheels which are in two halves but in this scale could easily have been molded as a single part. The three-bladed propeller features a separately mounted spinner. The forward canard should not pose a problem as it does not have to be fitted through the nose, but rather is cemented directly to its ventral surface. Care will have to be taken with the twin vertical tails, as they are to be cemented to the fuselage at an angle,but there is no head-on illustration to provide guidance about the degree of the angle — modelers will have to refer to online photos of the Valkyrie if they are concerned about accuracy on this point.

Markings

The kit decals are by Decograph and are printed in the Ukraine. They consist of serial numbers, a single marking for the main instrument panel, and rather small examples of the Cobalt logo — silver should you paint the plane Gloss Black, and black should you paint the plane in Polished Aluminum — for the alternate two versions of the Valkyrie displayed on a separate color plate included with the instructions.

Conclusion

This looks like an entertaining weekend build. A key stage will be fitting the unusually large canopy and keeping it free of glue smears! Highly recommended.

References

• popularmechanics.com
• elitetraveler.com
• thecoolector.com
• www.wikipedia.org