cathasatail Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Afternoon all, Here is the belated write-up and RFI of Airfix's Handley Page Victor B2 in 1:72 scale. (WIP here for anyone interested) So let's get started! Vigilant Victor Kit: -Airfix 1:72 Handley Page Victor B.Mk.2[BS] Paints: -Vallejo "Model Air" paints Weathering: -AK Interactive washes and UMP dark dirt wash The Build: As you can see from the WIP (linked above), the build followed the standard procedure of constructing the cockpit and any fuselage internals such as the airbrakes and nose gear bay, this was followed by the joining of the fuselage halves. It should be noted that a lot of filler was used to try and close the various gaps but having said that, Airfix have used a somewhat ingenious construction technique of using a flat "plate" that slotted into place of a built-in recess along the top of the fuselage to mitigate any potential seam issues. Following on from that were the wings, tail and main gear bays. Again, the construction of the spars, bays and intakes were noteworthy and added a lot of structural integrity to the wings when fully assembled- the intakes utilised a "drop in" method for the intake vanes where slots had been cut into the upper and lower intake halves and the vanes were simply slotted in (no more worrying about removing intake seams, I hear you cry! Huzzah!). Finally the Blue Steel fairing, antennae, aerials, gear, crew door and other such details were added; with all but the Blue Steel door being added after the main paintwork had been completed. Talking of painting, I always seem to have a devil of a job trying to paint white (dust tends to stick to the painted surface with almost reckless abandon!) but I persisted with painting, sanding, painting, sanding until I was satisfied. The venerable Blu-Tack sausages came in handy- as did many, many feet of cheap masking tape (imagine the expense of using Tamiya tape for all of the underside and the demarcation lines!)- when it came to painting the camo. Gloss coats were quickly followed by the exceptional decals (which I think were printed by Cartograf) and then I moved onto weathering. I had a dabble with streaking some AK washes down from the cockpit windows and some of the fittings lining the radar fairing, furthermore the exhaust streaking on the underside of the wings was done by several light spraying passes of diluted Vallejo paint -Edit: a UMP dark dirt wash was used on the panel lines and rivets. Cue the pictures! : (Centre console decal stolen from a Revell Victor K2 ) Conclusion: All in all it has been a great kit to work on (except for painting the white underside! ); the decals were a dream, the surface detailing was top-notch and the Blue Steel is by far the most comprehensively detailed and decaled piece of kit ordnance that I have ever had the pleasure to build. Thanks for having a look! Kind regards, Sam 60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Excellent Victor .... By far my Favorite of the “V” series bombers. Though im a fan of all three including the Vulcan and Valiant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael51 Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 A fine build and very impressive weathering. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Fantastic mate, very impressive 👍🏿 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Again I find myself stumbling into the airy-fairy section, drawn by the word 'Victor'. And I'm glad I stopped for a while. What a superb depiction of this stunning aircraft. Rearguards, Badder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 Superb build and finish,love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 That is superb. Well done sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niknak Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Excellent work. Always liked the victor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildeSau75 Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Looks very convincing - like it. Cheers, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Wow. Breathtaking. I wish I knew how to paint as well as that, it's not a model this, it's art. Kind of demoralising for mortal modellers. I've just made my best ever model Victor, used proper spray paint, filler, all the 'pro stuff', and it looks like a child did it compared to this. How do you get this good? Or is it like a Sunday league footballer thinking he can be as good as Kevin de Bruyne - talent you're just born with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathasatail Posted October 1, 2017 Author Share Posted October 1, 2017 47 minutes ago, Lord Riot said: Wow. Breathtaking. I wish I knew how to paint as well as that, it's not a model this, it's art. Kind of demoralising for mortal modellers. I've just made my best ever model Victor, used proper spray paint, filler, all the 'pro stuff', and it looks like a child did it compared to this. How do you get this good? Or is it like a Sunday league footballer thinking he can be as good as Kevin de Bruyne - talent you're just born with? Haha, no I'm not born with it thanks for the kind comments I think the trick is to take your time and build the coats up over time. This is the first large model where i've had a crack at a bit of "tonal variation". So in this case (let's use the green as an example) I sprayed a thin base coat of grey, followed by another base coat but this time a "Medium Olive" colour (I'll refer to the Vallejo names). Following that I sprayed fairly random lines and squiggles of a mix of green/brown to a get a bit of an uneven effect. After that I sprayed over it in a watered down "Dark Green" colour and then to top it all off I did some post-shading (should be post-lightening technically) by spraying the centre of each panel with a watery mix of "White", "Dirt" and "Medium Olive". Gloss coats and a panel wash followed, with a light spraying of a diluted "Black" going along the panel lines to just add that little extra in terms of colour variation. What I had done prior to this model was to slap down the base camo coats, complimented with some panel lightening and a wash- and that was it. Although having said that I would still argue that the single best bit of paint/weathering-related kit that really makes it all stand out is the UMP wash; not only can it be used for panel lines but once it is cleaned away there can be remnants of it left where there is a tight angle between surfaces (see the join between the tail and fuselage, for example) where the wash almost adds a shadow to the area. Gosh, I sound like a pretentious wotsit- "tonal variation", I almost said that the wash "adds to the depth" but I thought better of it Thanks everyone for all of your comments, I'm glad you like it! Kind regards, Sam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Thanks for the detailed info - I can see why there's such a difference between mine and yours now, that's a lot of effort! But definitely well worth it by the look of it!! I've never done a base coat or anything, apart from my current Victor I did all over grey then painted the green bits over that, but that was it. Are those Humbrol 'weathering paints' any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathasatail Posted October 1, 2017 Author Share Posted October 1, 2017 5 hours ago, Lord Riot said: Thanks for the detailed info - I can see why there's such a difference between mine and yours now, that's a lot of effort! But definitely well worth it by the look of it!! I've never done a base coat or anything, apart from my current Victor I did all over grey then painted the green bits over that, but that was it. Are those Humbrol 'weathering paints' any good? I haven't come across Humbrol "weathering paints", but I did have some Humbrol enamel washes but those were somewhat gloopy and unusable, even after mixing. Hence why I tend to stick to the AK washes, which are superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPuente54 Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 In looks, the Victor was way ahead of its time; it still has the 'feel' of a "just designed, and, fresh off the line" look. Lord riot is correct; you have created art, and, not just a model. A superb job of building and painting! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza l Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 A fantastic looking Victor, very nicely done. For white I can recommend Halfords Appliance White, decanted and sprayed with an airbrush... great coverage and a bullet proof glossy finish. gazza l Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Brilliant job on that Victor! Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathasatail Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 6 hours ago, gazza l said: A fantastic looking Victor, very nicely done. For white I can recommend Halfords Appliance White, decanted and sprayed with an airbrush... great coverage and a bullet proof glossy finish. gazza l I've been looking at getting some Halfords white- might I ask what one would use to thin it (or more specifically, clean the airbrush with)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza l Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 14 hours ago, cathasatail said: I've been looking at getting some Halfords white- might I ask what one would use to thin it (or more specifically, clean the airbrush with)? No need to thin it, it's good to go, but I use Car Plan paint thinners to clean my air brush after use... this thins and clean all types of paint. gazza l 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Excellent work. Very impressive. I really like the weathering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamS Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 I'm only getting empty white boxes 😢😢😢 Is it it just me? Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shatters Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 36 minutes ago, GrahamS said: I'm only getting empty white boxes 😢😢😢 Is it it just me? Graham Pictures working fine here. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Superb Victor there Sam, fantastic job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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