Jump to content

Big white triangle


Recommended Posts

Now I have a couple more Vulcans to make, it's time to do one in the iconic, sinister, glorious and beautiful white. Only one Vulcan survives today in this anti-flash white, XM603 at Woodford.

 

Because of the jetpipes in the Airfix kit, I'll need to make this as one of the later XM-serialled Vulcans with 301 engines. (I'm saving my Freightdog jetpipes for another one in glossy grey/green with red, white & blue roundels at some point).

 

The ECM box on the fin will need to go, and the TFR thimble. I think beyond that the kit should be ok, just sprayed with satin white all over. 

 

2yxfd5u.jpg

 

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at the 'Different Angle' book and a few specific Vulcan images online, it seems a few XL-series aircraft did receive the larger 301 engines. These appear to have been retro-fitted whilst they were Blue Steel carriers, but I've only found photos so far of those aircraft in grey/green with 301s.

 

Does anyone know if any of the XL serialled Vulcans would have had 301 engines and the all white colour scheme at the same time?

 

Or were they repainted in camouflage when they were re-engined?

 

Looking at reference material, it looks like all Vulcans up to XM612 were delivered white, then 645-657 were camouflaged from birth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't glued these yet, not sure how best to approach it. The huge gap is so obvious, what's the best way to cover it up? I thought of filler, but then how do you sand away the excess if they're glued together? I need to spray them white inside too, but there's no point before filling and sanding.

 

Perhaps liquid glue and excess sprue 'gloop' painted along the joins, then spray through the intakes after? Any better ideas? ...

 

jq2fxh.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gloopy sprue dissolved in liquid poly. Clamp and tape tight and leave them for like a week to go rock hard. 

You then need long files/sanding implements to smooth it all out. 

Get plenty on the central pillar round the front, always the worst bit to do. You can then spot fill any small imperfections. 

I would paint down the intakes but don’t worry about where they meet the leading edge as you need to blend them into the airframe 

 

Its a drawn out tedious affair but worth it. I’ve got some pictures of the ones I’ve done, I’ll try and put some on. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For sanding inside long, thin tunnels, try a bit of wet and dry paper in your choice of grit stuck to various shapes of stick with foam double sided tape. A few minutes of creative tool design can save hours of frustration.

 

Or better yet, a diamond bit in a Dremel tool, but you need the hardware for that.

 

Personally, I'd  be examining the possibilities of using thin plastic card as a cover panel.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Done with the method described. Put plenty of gloop on so when you stick them it oozes out. Once properly hardened, it sands back like normal plastic 

 

These are the first set I did 

IntakeIntake

 

These are the current ones done to same method. Currently fairing and smoothing them to the fuselage 

Intake

 

Intake

 

You can see where the parts join but they are smooth and seam free

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

I haven't glued these yet, not sure how best to approach it. The huge gap is so obvious, what's the best way to cover it up? I thought of filler, but then how do you sand away the excess if they're glued together? I need to spray them white inside too, but there's no point before filling and sanding.

 

Perhaps liquid glue and excess sprue 'gloop' painted along the joins, then spray through the intakes after? Any better ideas? ...

 

jq2fxh.jpg

Hello,Lord Riot - I cheated a little with this issue when I built mine by adding homemade Intake Covers (plasticard).When fitted and painted I thought they also added a little extra detail and another splash of colour.😉👍

'SCALE MODEL SHOW'

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking good so far. Having just completed one of these I appreciate just how much work has to go into making something decent out of this kit. I did mine because I can smell an Airfix new tooling in the not too distant future and I didn’t want to get stuck with this in my stash. The intakes are looking promising; I found a round needle file useful for those central dividers and long thin sanding sticks for the fuselage side seam. Are you going to bother with a rescribe or not? If I ever build another of these I doubt I’ll do that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! No, I won't be rescribing, just if I file away anything, but it's mostly raised lines so I'll leave it as much as I can.

 

And we're in business with the decals and these superb jet pipes. Thanks @chrisrope for the pipes!! 

 

28arlua.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Progress!

 

Fuselage halves fitted together and intakes finally beaten into submission, just needed a bit of gloop where the front parts joined the side of the fuselage, which I'll file once it's all dried. I pushed the intake bodies right up to the lips using blu-tack pushed up behind them inside, it'll probably stay there as it'll never be seen. 

 

I also added 32g weight inside the nose and painted the interior all black. Vulcan windows are so small hardly any interior is visible, though I'll display it with the crew door open.

 

She's got all day to set now while I watch the rugby!

 

2a0maea.jpg

 

Hole for the probe filled and sanded. Still need to cut off the TFR thimble and file it all smooth.

 

4zuudf.jpg

Edited by Lord Riot
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't believe the amount of filing and cutting needed to get the tail fin to sit without any gaps!

 

vdea94.jpg

 

And it still needed gloop!

 

n6c8ph.jpg

 

Happy with the intakes and TFR removal though.

 

jux36r.jpg

Edited by Lord Riot
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fuselage coming together, though again quite a bit of filler needed for the rear section. Rear wing roots hollowed out and filed enough now to accept the resin jetpipes, though I'll add those after spraying as it appears from photos that the whole structure is silver, not just the actual pipe bit. 

 

2eklz7k.jpg

 

Looks like the rear radome will need some attention too. It's quite a struggle to get a smooth fit on this particular kit, I'm sure my last Vulcan fitted better, yet it was exactly the same Airfix kit. 

 

I think because I'll be doing this one all over white any imperfections will show up, so I need to get it as smooth as possible before spraying!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As this will be a single and rather large expanse of satin white, I'm worried that the sanding marks might show through, along with other imperfections. Any ideas how I smooth out things like this?:

 

2vijewp.jpg

 

What's the best way to tackle the painting, a coat of white, let it dry then spray again?

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...