Pollitt

oh and one more picture that I missed. I think this one shows the white tones better

So I've been a little poor in getting this update done but it's here at last. So first things first I primed the aircraft. I'm used to priming with black primer and so stuck with what I know. The primer layer revealed a few spots that needed a little extra filling/sanding which was dutifully done before repriming those areas. It does look a good plane in black... If only I could do the B2 prototype. Anyway I then sprayed the landing gear bays an aluminium colour before filling them with foam and repriming over the over spray The technique I'm used to doing is filling the panels in with white in a kind of reverse preshading technique. Once this is done then this is what I'm left with. Now at this point I decided to experiment a little. I was wary of just having a completely uniform white aircraft. I wanted to add depth and tones to the white while maintaining the anti flash white look. To do this I tried painting a tan colour on using an airbrush template to crate a texture that would hopefully show through slighting on the white layers. I think the idea was sound but I did it too soon or with too light a colour. In this next image I hope you can just see hints of the tan colour coming through just a little in spots like the engines (it was better/clearer in person), but the darker shading is still too strong, and by the time I put more layers on to get my desired white effect the tan tones had completely disappeared. It was around this point that I hit a snag.... I ran out of paint! The model was using more paint than I expected and doing thin coats of white was taking a lot of coats. Here's the picture of the aircraft when I ran out of the white. I'm nearly there but those darker tones are still too strong for me. So a bit of a wait later for the paint order to arrive, and a few more layers later, we manage to get too.... It's really hard not to over expose the white in the picture. The tonal variation of the white is subtle but there, especially in person. Hopefully once the decals are done, and the panel line wash is done I will be able to get some nice pictures showing the whole effect together. As I said at the start, this post has been a little while coming. Partly due to the slow process of layering up in thin coats, partly because of a short break waiting for more paint, partly to lots of stuff happening behind the scenes and finally because I was just delayed getting this post up once I finished the painting. The good news is I'm already well in to the decal process and the next update should be on here quicker than this one was.

I might be interested in taking part in this if it goes ahead.

This is looking great, really looking forwards to the final result. This is a kit that's definitely on the build list and I hope mine turns out as well as yours has so far.

Thanks all!

Thank you!

So managed to get the final parts added. Starting with the jet pipes. The fit of these when attached to the model was not good, and a lot of sanding was required to get them to a reasonable fit. Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of this part. So next up was the control surfaces. The control surfaces are able to be set in to any position. I wanted to give the model a little bit of customisation and use these features to tell a bit of a story. I decided to leave the ailerons in a neutral position but set the elevators at a slight angle as if the control column had been pushed forwards a little at the end of the flight so the pilots could get out easier. I used masking tape to set them in to position while gluing. Next up just finishing the front of the aircraft by attaching the nose probe and priming the surfaces around the cockpit that will be covered by the canopy bubble once installed so I won't get to paint it later. It's then time to tackle and fill the joins and gaps between the larger pieces. Where the wing and tail plane join has particularly big gaps. Putty time! And once cleaned up... you can also get an idea for how well I managed to get the jet pipes fitted in this pic. And here we are right at the end with the canopy bubble installed and the model ready to start being painted. I'm going to do a primer layer over the various joins and seams first to check if any areas need touching up before pushing on with the full paint job but that will be in the next update.

Really nice collection there. Inspiration for my own builds that I've got lined up. Nice work!

Looking like a nice start. What paint are you using to get that shade of green? I like the tone.

So wings and tail plane. First things first I had a decision to make. Wing tanks or no wing tanks? I know when the Valiants made their live drops they didn't use the tanks. Presumably this was to keep as much aircraft performance as possible to keep the aircraft as safe as possible from any unexpected occurrences. However the tanks were removable, the box art shows the tanks on, they probably did fly out to the Pacific using them, the grandstand aircraft supporting the test may have still used them and I have some reference pictures showing them with the tanks on such as this one... I've decided that because I'm not showing it carrying a nuclear device due to it being in ground configuration with bomb bay doors closed there is nothing to say the configuration is for a live drop. I'm also used to seeing XD818 at Cosford fitted with the fuel tanks. So I'm putting the tanks on. Now that's cleared up, I start off by opening up the tank mounting holes in the lower half of the wing. I then install the landing gear bay and the engine intakes I made earlier. And once both halves are done it's time to add them to the top wing section... It's now that the size is really starting to sink in. That's an 18" by 12" cutting mat and the wing span is clearly larger. So next up is blending the leading edge seam better and the engine intakes in to the wing. Took my time, used some perfect plastic putty and sanding sticks and ended up with a result like this... I then made up the external wing tanks, which needed some work to clean up and make them smooth, and the tail plane. now all the parts are ready it's time to add them all together on the fuselage... So that's it for now. Next bit is adding control surfaces, jet pipes, cockpit bubble and other additions to it before getting ready to paint.

Thank you! Yes I have to admit, it's turning out bigger than I had expected it to! But it's going to make a great model. I should have space on the shelf, otherwise it might stay in a storage box to put on tables at club displays.

Hi all, long time no see. I'm a great aficionado of the V force, so when I was looking restart my modelling after a bad 2019, which as a result was mostly model free, I knew I wanted to do a V bomber. Combine that with Jan 2020 being the 65th anniversary of the Valiants entering service there was no doubt about which model was coming out of the stash. The natural place to start is the cockpit. This is simple and having seen inside the cockpit at RAF Museum Cosford, I know that it's not fully accurate, but considering once the model will be built you're unlikely to be able to see in there much I think it's adequate for the job. Built, painted to a basic standard and decals put on. Next I decided to tackle what I knew would be a difficult area - the intakes. First of all I've got no idea why Airfix decided to put injection pins inside the intake and not on the back but they did, so first job is filling those holes, then once the 2 halves are together you can see that the seams need attention there as well. So a fair bit of work later I finally get them looking pretty reasonable once primed to the point where I'm happy to move on with the build. We start with this... Do some of this... And end with this... As I said, not perfect (especially when viewed close up like that) but I intend to do a bit of further touch up as I blend it to the wing once installed. So now back to the fuselage. I've decided to do the aircraft as the box art version, XD823, which was involved in the same nuclear testing missions in 1957/58 that the sole surviving Valiant, XD818, was involved in. To do this requires a little modification to the tail. I'm not sure why it's not just an option you can choose between glue the right bit on at the end, but to have the correct tail cone for this version you need to cut away a piece of the tail so you can replace it with the correct version later. This has to be done to both sides. I now masked up the 2 porthole windows in the crew compartment so that I could install them in to the fuselage sections with the cockpit. I also added counterweight to each half of the fuselage sections as seen in this picture. I've decided to do the aircraft on the ground and with the bomb bay doors closed so I installed the internal structure pieces before joining the 2 halves together to complete the fuselage. The tail cone was also added and blended in using the help of miliput to fill the small gaps. Next up wings and tail plane

Thanks for the info! I thought it was the Valkyrie but if you hadn't of told me about the different scales I wouldn't have noticed, It looks a good size against the other two. I'll have to look it up.

I really like what you've done with the kits. It makes for a nice fleet. I'm really curious about the smaller ships though, where do they come from? I don't recognise them as moebius kits

So as I originally intended in the original group chat, I've chosen to enter my first group build with a 1/48 Typhoon FGR4. My initial thought was to do it in GiNA Battle of Britain colours. After having a think though I wanted to tie in with the 100th anniversary theme and so instead I've chosen to go for 6sqn 100th anniversary markings instead of GiNA. I was looking to use the Revell single seat 1/48 to do the model but as that's been difficult to get hold of I'm having to use the 'Bronze Tiger' edition which is fine as it's the same plastic and I'm using aftermarket decals instead from Hannants. Finally I've taken the opportunity to push myself and I've got the Big Ed EF-2000 Typhoon photo etch set from Eduard as well to hopefully make the model that little bit more detailed. I've never used so much photo etch before so I will be interested to see how the results come out. I'm currently doing some home DIY so my hobby space has temporarily disappeared but that's going to be solved soon and I hope to get a good start on it in a couple of weeks so don't expect much in the way of updates before the end of April. I guess that's about it, I just wanted to get my submission on the board and commit myself to it, now that's done lets see how it turns out! Thanks all Stuart