WV908

My fourth would either be a Black Buck example, or XM655 in her current scheme. XH558 isn't really on my radar and I'm already building two 200 series aircraft, one of which is in wraparound camo so I'm not too worried. Cheers, WV908

New wings have landed, so the triple build is back on. Cheers, WV908

Thanks Alan, I'll have a good look into what was carried (and cross reference it with what you supplied in the kit) I didn't know you served during GW1 and I've not heard an account like yours before (I tend to focus on the Scud Hunter side of it) . It certainly puts it into perspective how scary it was. Cheers, WV908 (I'm still having no luck replying to your emails sadly)

Hi Alan, Sorry I missed this, but I was thinking of things to complete a Gulf War fit. All my spare missiles from Phantoms are going onto two Tornado F3 builds sadly. Cheers, WV908

@Icelandic Fine Art Did enough of the original moulds for the B.2 survive to be able to cast me a new set of wings to replace my original 'full cast' ones? Cheers, WV908

I'm looking forwards to the Mandator too - Is the one at Hendon the only survivor? Cheers, WV908

Theoretically there must be at least two people with two sets of uppers. Mine was from Jadlam too but they are not able to help with spares. A direct line to the Airfix spares department is the way to go. Jadlam at best can give you a refund as they are out of stock now. Cheers, WV908

I wouldn't know I'm afraid, sorry

Ouch. I got two sets of lower wings in one of mine and no uppers. I emailed Airfix and they are sending spares. They'll ask for the batch number on the little white sticker on the bottom of the box and proof of purchase when you put your request in 🙂 Cheers, WV908

Thanks for the photos Xray Lima - providing the aftermarket Olympus 202 faces appear on the market pretty quick, XL426 is jumping the queue ahead of XM594 Cheers, WV908

I'm gonna have to buy a fourth now! 🤣

That's really good of the spares department. Equally that's gonna be a lot of broken up kits sat in their office readily available as spares. Would you be able to show us how bad your wings are please? Cheers, WV908

I'd take a short shot wing over a missing one haha - it's sad that these QC issues continue to creep through. I remember the amount of 1st batch Sea Furies that were missing their tails. Anyway, have a photo of XL317's cockpit dry fitted; Erm, I've put *quite a bit* of weight in there as you can see. Cheers, WV908

Might be worth giving Buchon models a shout. They are doing a 1/24 Spitfire IX conversion and have now said they are doing canopies and windscreens so the Airfix kit can be converted (they were originally designing it for the Trumpy VI) - it would be worth your time asking if you can buy a windscreen and canopy set as the ones that come with the Airfix V are horrible (and the wrong shape / rake angle too) Cheers, WV908

Update - Spare wings are available and have been posted today! Maybe Hornby should take a page out of their sister company's book. Fantastic service from the Airfix spares team here. Cheers, WV908

One part sorted from Jack (thanks!) Airfix have asked for more info before they'll check spares for the wings which is reasonable I guess, so I have provided that info. Worst case scenario is I'll have to return the kit, in which case Jadlam will pay for return postage. The only other problem is that the kit is now sold out everywhere so I'd have to wait for the next batch. Cheers, WV908

To add insult to injury the rear cockpit bulkhead is also missing from this kit. Since I've already opened it up fully though, I have swapped the wing sprues over with my current unopened kit (which does have the bulkhead) - I'm leaving the bags in this one unopened for now as if I can't get spare wings and need to return a kit, it will be that one. Anyway, with this in mind I've scratch built a new bulkhead which is now fitted. Cockpits have been painted black and I'll post some photos when the detail painting has been done. Cheers, WV908

Hi Dave, I've contacted the spares department and they give a five day timescale for a reply. The two wing sprues are packed together but it's still poor. Still, it doesn't trump the worst thing I had happen. I bought the last BBMF set and it was missing the Lancaster. The whole thing. They sorted me out with that so I'm hoping they will do here too. Cheers, WV908

Another thumbs down for Airfix QC. One of my kits has two sets of lower wings and no uppers. Cheers, WV908

Thanks @general melchett - should all the dielectric panels be black then too? This is one of my other references for XL317 and they all look to be the same colour; https://i.pinimg.com/originals/09/98/b2/0998b253dad4ad68e1fc467310ad1fcc.jpg I've had a flick through my 2nd edition of Criag's book and certainly in a lot of photos the circular belly panels look black, but in others (as above) they are a lot lighter. Colour references for Anti-Flash White seem very rare, so could it be that XL317 is an exception and the source of Airfix's tan Doppler panel? Cheers, WV908

Not sure if I'm ok linking to this site or not, but this is one of my references for XL317. It looks to be a very early photo - I don't see any difference in the tail cone, there is a large black(?) panel behind the port main gear and it appears from this angle that the radome may be white? https://www.militaryimages.net/media/avro-vulcan-with-blue-steel-missile.17270/full?d=1521491454 @Adam Poultney @general melchett Cheers, WV908

@XrayLima Thanks You learn something new every day. I previously thought she was 617sqn both sides. I would really appreciate some photos of her intakes as a guide for painting please Cheers, WV908

Image posted at Alan's request; Cheers, WV908

Oh b****r I don't need two. I don't need two. I don't need two. Erm, give me some time to save up haha. Have you made up any extra ordnance for the Bucc? Cheers, WV908

Well this was a nice surprise to drop into my inbox! Posted at Alan's request; Cheers, WV908