Jump to content

Airfix Sea Vixen, with some aftermarket help


Christer A

Recommended Posts

I guess you guys starts to get tired about me starting WIP:s left and right and then just stall them...so here's another one!

I've not forgotten about the Bf110 or the P-47N yet, they just got pushed to the back burner for a while. The Spitfire VIII will get finished soon, since a the C4 competition is getting closer by the minute.

The first weekend in September my local IPMS chapter run it's yearly competition and I did my first stint as a judge there (don't laugh!) 

Very inspiring, and all though the 1/48 jet class was packed with excellent models I decided that I should enter one there next year. So that leaves me with just about a year to finish this:

36976516201_7d271e9398_h.jpg

This box was definitely made to lure me in. It's Airfix red, it's got a big honking (very) british piece of metal, rockets and a sharkmouth. The only missing thing was probably a evocative nose-art of some sort, but that would probably be a bit too much.

The Airfix kit looks great, but I couldn't help myself to some aftermarket candy:

36929540166_d0fa93ba67_h.jpg

I was satisfied with this for a while but then I decided to just order a few more parts, but since Hannants doesn't do instant delivery to Sweden I'll just have to wait for a little while longer for the rest to arrive.

It's quite a large beast this one?

36745442170_f2585c5e2e_h.jpg

Meanwhile I was pondering why and where my builds stall. They usually proceed quite ok until after the decals are placed, and then I burn out on the subject. This leaves me with quite a few kits on the shelf of doom that are fully painted and decaled, just missing final weathering and all the small/loose bits.

With that in mind, let's see how to tackle this one.

Surely I must begin with the loose bits!

That means all weapons, pylons, antennas,  landing gear and maybe also the canopy must be finished before the fuselage is joined.

It also seems that the air brake hangs loose, so let's start with that.

 

Airfix in the year 2012 was using another inejction moulding company then their present ones, and those guys really liked thick ingates and hard plastic. As an extra bonus some sink marks and those pesky ejector pins must be dealt with. Razor saw is a must to get the parts out from the runners.

36745441630_bf233001b4_h.jpg

I decided to enhance the air brake using some plastic strips and will start to add bundles of wires, pipes and hoses to the bay itself, while pondering how to paint the tanks and pylons.

White yes, but maybe I should add some brown to it to be able to play with shading?

 

Sounds like I'll need to do some testing...

 

 

 

 

  • Like 15
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a great kit, Airfixs' finest I reckon, but you are right about the sprues, they are huge and removing the smaller parts can be quite an operation and becomes a chore.

Well worth the effort though.

 

Will be watching your build with interest!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Sea Vixens so I'm up for this one! A year to do this one? Its a fine kit and with the accessories you have lined up, it shouldn't give you too much trouble in that time scale.

 

Martian

  • Like 2
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the cheers James, Martian and DAG!

I'm still waiting for the resin wheel wells (unneeded really, since the main gear bay doors are closed), resin wheels and cockpit etch to arrive so there'll be some more stuff to fiddle with.

Tanks and pylons got a first coat of white UMP primer to check for flaws

36306756544_7e30257b4e_o.jpg

Are the pylons handled?

I marked the left ones just in case.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got two of these on the go at the moment, one a build for someone else and the other a what if, both out of the box but no race for me!🐭

 

I've not noticed the kit pylons being handed, though the originals are likely to be.

 

Nice work so far.

Edited by 71chally
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 71chally said:

I've got two of these on the go at the moment, one a build for someone else and the other a what if, both out of the box but no race for me!🐭

An OOB What-If?  How does that work?  

 

You have to love a Vixen, even after being hit with the FAW2 ugly stick.  And it's a great kit, so you should have lots of fun; I loved doing my FAW1.

Edited by Ex-FAAWAFU
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2017-09-13 at 08:53, perdu said:

You won't, but please do. 😁

 

I need lots of knowledge for my own Sea Vixen, which shall not be converted to the early mark

 

I'll just sit quietly offstage looking for prompts

😉

:-)

 

Well, look to me to see how to not do it I guess...

On 2017-09-13 at 14:37, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

You have to love a Vixen, even after being hit with the FAW2 ugly stick.  And it's a great kit, so you should have lots of fun; I loved doing my FAW1.

Thanks Crisp! I hade a fun couple of hours on the commute reading up on your magnificient FAW1. That was an epic build!

 

A small update would you like?

I got a package from der Sockelshop and Big H containing some much needed stuff. Or not...

37102700781_5a65a1a793_o.jpg

The only thing missing now is a turned refuelling probe, but I can't find that anymore. Too bad.

 

I also bought a bottle of Ultimate Gloss black primer, so I decided to test that

37245379035_74d83ccc04_o.jpg

 

37245378805_ca4524bfff_o.jpg

 

Works just as good as the normal stuff, but dries to a gloss finish, perfect for metal!

Those air intakes will defenitely require lots of TLC though.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work with that primer surface.

I found the intakes were fairly easy to get smooth.

 

Dunno if it helps, but the real intakes are a dull natural metal finish.

The engine faces are really nice and fun to detail. 

The spokes are black, other than the 4 o'clock one (which should be a bit thicker, it's the HP air starter outlet) which is a silver, just slightly duller than the bright shiny starter bullet.

Blades are typically a dull aluminum finish.

 

I might not be seeing them properly, but I think the kit wheels look more realistic than the aftermarket ones

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks James!

So If I paint it like this, then it should be good enough I hope

36444278993_53c3ce3aae_o.jpg

Work continues on the intakes

37086522352_0667cb1da0_o.jpg

The splitter plate on the inside was far from a sharp corner on the mating parts, leaving a very visible nasty wedge.

My plan is to add some plastic strip and filler, and then sand it all smooth.

Let's see how that turns out.

 

Also, wet sand PPP is not a great idea, since PPP is almost eaten up by the water itself. Ooops.

 

Here's a comparison shot between resin wheels and standard items.

36860581610_356cc15489_o.jpg

Not that much different on the nosewheel or the inner side of the main ones, but CMK adds all those lovely brakes.

I can see quite clearly that the resin ones are more detaild, but if they're more correct than Airfix I can't say.

Still, they look lovely and that counts in my book!

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've just reminded me with the intakes area, I had to fit some plasticard plates to the intakes outer bodies (26 & 27), these start ahead of the intakes and lead down them slightly, this gets rid of a visible gap which allows you to see right through inside the kit when finally assembled.   Basically they form the inner wall of the boundary layer intake (the narrow slot between the intake assembly and the fuselage). 

The assemblies that represent the vertical intake guides, these can fit well and look good, but require thinning down of the top and bottom parts, and rounding off  the leadibg edges of the guides themselves.

Constant trial fitting and fettling in this area does pay off.

 

Cracking work on the engine faces, I would be happy with that. If you're really fussy, the centre bullet fairings are a very shiny (almost chrome) silver, back to level with the black spokes.

The blades (Intake Guide Vanes) appear as a dull uniform alloy finish, and I think they may actually be coated/painted a very pale grey or off white on some Avons.

This is being uber fussy though!

 

The resin wheels do looks beautifully molded, but they look clunky or something - hard to say.  They certainly add the brake detail which Airfix don't represent at all.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Christer A this is great image of the engine fronts and other details,

Sea-Vixen-damage-004.jpg

From the Navy Wings site, https://www.navywings.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Sea-Vixen-damage-004.jpg

Note the observers hatch being clear is unique to XP924 since it was on the preservation scene (I guess the passenger wanted to see out!), and at least one of the Tarrant TT.2s, but not on service FAW.2s. 

 

 

This is the area where I inserted plasticard, roughly the yellow dashed area.

The intake assembly inner edges need to be quite sharply finished to nicely represent the boundary flow intake, arrowed.

37264317915_72b0113307_c.jpgAirfix Sea Vixen inlet by James Thomas, on Flickr

Edited by 71chally
added pic link
  • Like 10
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Christer,

Someone who repeatedly starts WiP and kits ?? Really ?? Does it exist ??  :rofl2:

Waow the Sea Vixen, really like the beast !

I got 2, the Airfix one and a Dynavector one, and No, will not start this project right now :P

Congatulations too for @71chally for both the pics and the air intake ! great work !

Will follow this one too if you do'nt mind ,

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp (just another serial starter) :penguin:

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Christer,

when XP924 was at Llanbedr operating as a drone trainer (she never flew unmanned ) the observers hatch was opaque (black). We had 4 Sea Vixens on charge as drone trainers when I arrived in the mid 80's. 2 were in Naval colours and scrapped after a grand total of approximately 1 hours flying time after having been on a Major servicing. The remaining (in drone red and yellow scheme ) flew a limited number of times, then lay dormant save for engine inhibiting runs, until 924 was sold to Glyn from De Havilland Aviation.

A rather difficult aircraft to maintain and if posed on the ground in a hangar you must include at least 24 drip trays underneath ( she leaked enough fuel over a weekend to warrant a refuel on the Monday ). Having said all this, as an engineer, I thoroughly enjoyed working on  the Sea Vixen.

More power to you on this fantastic build.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2017-09-16 at 15:38, 71chally said:

Note the observers hatch being clear is unique to XP924 since it was on the preservation scene (I guess the passenger wanted to see out!), and at least one of the Tarrant TT.2s, but not on service FAW.2s. 

 

 

This is the area where I inserted plasticard, roughly the yellow dashed area.

The intake assembly inner edges need to be quite sharply finished to nicely represent the boundary flow intake, arrowed.

37264317915_72b0113307_c.jpgAirfix Sea Vixen inlet by James Thomas, on Flickr

Great pictures @71chally! At first I thought the bottom one was from the actual aircraft but I realised later that it was not the case. 

I have the boundary inlet under control now, but the rest of the intake is far from smooth. 

More sanding required!

Black painted hatch for the observer, check!

On 2017-09-17 at 21:14, corsaircorp said:

Hello Christer,

Someone who repeatedly starts WiP and kits ?? Really ?? Does it exist ??  :rofl2:

Waow the Sea Vixen, really like the beast !

I got 2, the Airfix one and a Dynavector one, and No, will not start this project right now :P

Congatulations too for @71chally for both the pics and the air intake ! great work !

Will follow this one too if you do'nt mind ,

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp (just another serial starter) :penguin:

Well @corsaircorp, you know me too well.

Starting a new kit is great fun! Not so much to finish it, but it happens once in a while...

Let's see if I can push through this time!

On 2017-09-17 at 22:36, Victor K2 said:

Hi Christer,

when XP924 was at Llanbedr operating as a drone trainer (she never flew unmanned ) the observers hatch was opaque (black). We had 4 Sea Vixens on charge as drone trainers when I arrived in the mid 80's. 2 were in Naval colours and scrapped after a grand total of approximately 1 hours flying time after having been on a Major servicing. The remaining (in drone red and yellow scheme ) flew a limited number of times, then lay dormant save for engine inhibiting runs, until 924 was sold to Glyn from De Havilland Aviation.

A rather difficult aircraft to maintain and if posed on the ground in a hangar you must include at least 24 drip trays underneath ( she leaked enough fuel over a weekend to warrant a refuel on the Monday ). Having said all this, as an engineer, I thoroughly enjoyed working on  the Sea Vixen.

More power to you on this fantastic build.

@Victor K2 Thanks for the info. It sounds like a very leaky beast all right.

 

Speaking of that, how much did everything droop in the morning?

I understand that the Air brake drooped quite a bit, so I need to detail there, but how about the landing hook bay and the inner gear bay door? Any drooping there?

 

During the week some progress have been made, even though the day job is taking a lot of time from me.

I noticed something strange on the grooves for the outer win support brackets. It seems that the thin plastic had sagged somehow leaving a small indent on the top side. I might be hallucinationg but I thought it best to fill it with some Mr Surface and sand smooth.

37199390122_4e5373e0cc_o.jpg

Fitting the Aires wheel bays was easy. So easy in fact that one didn't even have to thin them in any way, or even remuve the pour stubs!

37228826341_eacede6eb8_o.jpg

I double checked the Aires blisterpack to see if it was intended for the Dynavector kit or something but no, it says Airfix!

Must be some mistake here, everyone knows that Aires stuff always require lots of scraping and sanding to fit :wink:

 

Also started on the wheels.

37181716426_2fd2019e2b_o.jpg.

Some tire black, creep marks and a wash or two should sort those out.

 

But the wheels need something to attach to, and here I have two options.

37181716046_3c12f9ff33_o.jpg

Either plastic or the Aires whitemetal. I've only used whitemetal once before for my 1/24 Typhoon, and those buggers were not that great. Here, they have more detail than the plastic parts, but still needs a lot of cleaning up. The brake lines would look better as actual lines and not cast into the leg.

I think I'll go ahead with the plastic ones and see how they can be improved. Should be fun!

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice work Christer, personally I would detail the plastic legs.

... and you're not hallucinating, there are indentations in the wing surfaces where the wing joining parts go.

 

Drooping, if you check out service pics of Vixens ranged on deck or shore based, then drooping did occur after being parked for a while.

Airbrake and arrestor hook are the most obvious culprits.  I tend to droop the main gear inner doors just a few mm, looks more natural, rare to see them fully open unless being worked on.   Flaps didn't droop, due to the way they operate. 

 

I don't usually use museum aircraft as examples for service aircraft, but the FAAM Vixen seems quite typically posed

28969769462_41b853c1a9_c.jpgde Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XS590 131-E 899 sqn by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

Here's a main wheel if it helps

36192175254_aa0838af68_c.jpgde Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XS590 port main wheel by James Thomas, on Flickr

 

 

 

Great to hear of @Victor K2 reminiscences, hope to hear more!

Edited by 71chally
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...