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Vampire T.11 ; 1/72 Airfix ; Indian Air Force


Basuroy

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Hello folks , I will be participating in the GB with the fine 72nd scale kit from airfix .  I have the printscale decal sheet with the necessary markings for an Indian Air Force machine from the fifties . 

The Vampire was the very jet fighter purchased by our Air Force and one that has always stood out from the lot due in part to the attractive and unique form . I have for long wished to build this kit and this group build presented itself as the perfect opportunity to get down to the kit . I have already finished assembly and only need to sand down the seams and putty before I start painting .  The fit of the kit is generally good though the wing left a solid 1mm gap at the bottom which required copious amount of putty . The way they have engineered the tail boom assembly is clever and eases construction .

Some pics of progress so far -
8881e873-2720-4942-b684-91093d43adef_zps

1B4006B6-DCE3-4E6E-BF61-11B96C869CF5_zps

10854B74-7D63-4B29-81B7-A1BD36E74A23_zps

Edited by Basuroy
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Progress report :
I always mask canopy using my own home made liquid mask - white glue + drop of water + ink/paint to tint the glue as it dries transparent . It should not be too thin , viscosity should be such that it doesn't flows over the canopy frame under gravity yet thin enough for ease of application .
Critical towards success of this technique is a defined/sharp canopy frame ( even the barely prominent framing as found in tamiya's 72nd scale zero will work but it has to be there ) .I use a pin , load the sharp end with a drop of glue and carefully spread it along the frames .  How time consuming it is ? well at first , it will be difficult and time consuming but this vampire canopy took me 25 minutes ( I was also watching Seinfeld episode alongside ).  After everything is done and dusted , the mask can be lifted up using a sharp pin , care must be taken not to scratch the canopy.

*When I come across a canopy with poorly defined frame , I cut out thin strips of tape and fill the inside with glue .

The photo was clicked right after masking and the glue is still wet - once dry , you can inspect it under light for uniformity . Since I tinted it with red paint , it is easy to check for any irregularity  .
F3294FD6-70C1-4D79-8152-CDEE10D67FA2_zps


Later I applied the medium sea grey  to the model using the vallejo paint -

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I will set this model aside for few days as I intend to wrap up the fokker D.VIII and a sopwith triplane kit .  The fokker scares me because it will be my first full body lozenze decal application .

Edited by Basuroy
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Finished with the airbrush work including paint fading .

Before paint fading -
4AAD8C5B-82F0-491B-9A3D-A781B160A84F_zps

After fading (using airbrush spraying different shades of the base paint)-
D8AC9A41-D57D-4B2F-90F8-9041965B0B12_zps

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Thanks everyone for the kind words , I have now finished with the decals and panel line oil wash . Only matte coat and the landing gears , which I have to paint first , remains - prolly another 2 hour's work all things considered. Might have this ready by day after tomorrow .  

CECCC7F1-32F1-43EE-AE20-F0433BC66D91_zps

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This is looking very nice. I love these twin boomers. I don't have the Airfix kit, just Frogs and Aero's. This and other's builds inspire me to get one.

 

Lovely work and as others have said, very nice to see in Indian markings :thumbsup2:.

 

TonyT

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Calling it done folks and really appreciated all the encouragement  :)  

B0E16F40-03A9-46DC-A9BE-218976721E78_zps

Edited by Basuroy
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Thanks everyone for the kind words , I enjoyed building this kit and equally glad you all liked it . 

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On 4 March 2017 at 7:29 AM, spaddad said:

Tasty.

What do you think of the print scale decals?

 

 

The decals are really thin which is good but the whites are not completely opaque and the underlying camo shows throw . Also the sheet has only national markings , the red no go boxes and stencils are from the kit decal sheet . The choice of subjects are great , I might make the Chilean version one day . 

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