abat Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Here is the latest in my RAN 1/72 Fleet Air Arm project, the Airfix Vampire built as a T.22 at HMAS Albatross, Nowra in the mid-late 60's. I remember walking past the hanger containing these aircraft as a young boy on the way to the weekend base cinema and being intrigued by their twin boom design. Although I don't remember 808 specifically, it was no doubt one of the marvelous little jets I admired. This was supposed to be a quick build and so I never got around to a WIP, but alas I proceeded at my usual snail's pace and it took quite a while in the end. The kit was rather straightforward to build with some minor filling required around the wing roots and the tail planes but also some slight sink marks on the upper wings. I used Vallejo plastic putty on the wing roots and Tamiya putty for the sink marks. It was built out of the box apart from two Martin baker ejection seats from Pavla. The lower parts of these needed to be cut down quite a bit to allow enough room for the cockpit to close. The resin ejection seat cords were cut off and replaced by yellow and black thread twisted tightly together and set with PVA glue. I also used a Montex mask on the canopy as some of the curves in the smaller side windows were too fiddly for my fumble fingers to mask. These were a pretty good fit and were supplemented by a little extra Tamiya tape on some of the longer edges.Painting was the most complex part of the build. I started with NATO black on the cockpit frames and leading wing edges. The edges were masked and then white primer applied to the area of training stripes followed by yellow. I mixed a drop of red with the yellow to try and match the colour of the black/yellow tail stripes decal. The yellow was then masked and a general grey primer applied as undercoat, followed by Tamiya silver from a rattle can. I also applied a dark grey panel line wash to control surfaces and removable panels to make these stand out a little better. They actually stand out a little too much in the photos but are a little more subdued when life-size. Painting the yellow tips of the fuel tanks was quite a fun exercise and involved very fine strips of Tamiya tape, a narrow tube of clear plastic, some thin black decals and lots of Microsol.The silver, NATO black and primers were all Tamiya, the yellow Model Master and the ejection seats and various details were hand-painted with Vallejo Model Colors. The final satin clear coat was a mix of Tamiya gloss and flat base at a ratio 14:1. I really enjoyed this build. Perhaps a twin boom Sea Venom one day to complement it. Thanks for looking, Andrew. 45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vh-bob Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Nicely done Andrew, I love the panel lines. I have a photo somewhere of a derelict Vampire in these markings at Fogartey's Field , Melton Victoria 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 great work - nice little model 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Love that, really cool 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Lovely model. Well done! DennisTheBear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Thats a beauty and I love the scheme too, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenko Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Now that is sooooooo nice. Dick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 great looking vampire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 That's a little cracker. What a lovely neat and clean finish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 That is really nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reini78 Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 nice little bloodsucker, good finish and please Airfix, do a 1/48 trainer version 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saddler Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 (edited) What a superb Vampire Andrew, one to be proud of. Edited August 4, 2016 by Saddler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Very nice, love the quality of the finish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmouredSprue Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Good work mate! Looks very nice indeed! Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spadgent Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Very neat. Bravo. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 nice little bloodsucker, good finish and please Airfix, do a 1/48 trainer version Yes, and a 1/72 Sea Venom while they're at it! Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Strasser Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Looks awesome!!1 Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Very smartly done. It looks 1/48th. I think I'm going to have to add a RAN Vampire to my collection at some point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Great model! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howlindawg Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 The Vampire is always a very pretty aircraft but these colours really make it stand out. A beautiful build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albamac Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Hi Andrew, A great build and finish, a real Beaut. Next to an RAN Sea Venom would be great. The RAN must have kept their planes in pristine condition as my memory of the RAF ones at 1 FTS Linton on Ouse had a slightly worn look about them ha ha. Please keep up the excellent work. Cheers Mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abat Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 Hi Andrew, A great build and finish, a real Beaut. Next to an RAN Sea Venom would be great. The RAN must have kept their planes in pristine condition as my memory of the RAF ones at 1 FTS Linton on Ouse had a slightly worn look about them ha ha. Please keep up the excellent work. Cheers Mate Thanks. More likely clean as I'm not that good at weathering. Yes a venom is very tempting. I have an old Novo (Frog) kit that is calling out for some TLC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max39 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Very nice Vamp.;Made a great job indeed. Richard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bombernut Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Yummo! Great job Andrew, Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnthedude Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Very nice indeed. I have one of these to build and if it looks even half as good as yours I'll be over the moon. Finnthedude. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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