December 2022
Avro Blue Steel
Avro Vulcan B.2
Avro Blue Steel Stand-
617 Sqn, Royal Air Force V-
RAF Conningsby 1963
Airfix 1/72 (Suppiled with 1983 Avro Vulcan kit)1
The Blue Steel rocket was designed to help the RAF V-
Missiles could be launched at high altitude 150 miles from the target, flying at
Mach 1.5 until near the target, when it would accelerate to a top speed of Mach 3,
followed by a free-
Unfortunately, Blue Steel was not reliable, with up to 50% of missiles expected to
fail. It required up to 7 hours of preparation before flight,and complex fuelling
and safety facilities for its volatile Hydrogen peroxide fuel. Its comparatively
short range meant that the V-
Attempts to replace Blue Steel with the longer range US Douglas Skybolt stand-
Building the Airfix Blue Steel Missile Kit:
Not much to say here; the missile comes with the older (1983) Airfix Vulcan kit as
armament for the kit’s 1963 617 Sqn anti-
The cradle was scratch built from sprue to allow me to display the missile. It is not based on any accurate plans, although it is loosely similar to the raised maintenance/instruction cradle seen in the picture below. This missile and cradle used to accompany Vulcan XH558 to airshow displays.
Note that a better Blue Steel model now comes with the newer Airfix Vulcan B.2 and Victor B.2 kits
Part 2
Above: © IWM RAF-
Below: © IWM RAF-
Below Missile
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