Inverted

Tanks and pylons still not painted yet. They're just dry fitted at the mo....

Hi all, thanks for the comments. Only a small update. All decalling done (At last!). She's up on her gear now, so now just have all the detailing to do. Fuel tanks are dry fitted, still to be painted etc, along with the rocket pods and missiles.... starting to look the part now Looking forward to getting her weathered as well Chris

day 3 of stencilling! i am actually going cross eyed with all this! Marking off as you go is a must... over 80 stencils (yes just stencils) on the bottom alone!! but i'm getting there.... the decalling station (aka the kitchen table...) should get the main fuselage all zipped up this weekend. Then onto the gear and stores...... Chris

ooo looking nice! Did you hand paint those markings around the canopy and cowling? If so... u must be mad! looks great though.....

Thanks for the comments everyone.... Regards aftermarket, bar the usual cockpit etch, and maybe the odd gear detail and wheel wells i'm not too sure what can be improved upon. I believe some people have found some errors on the kit, but to my eye, its beautiful as is Now one thing with doing work on the model during the day, when its time to pack up for the day its dark and my camera struggles with the low light. I always think that flash makes it look too harsh Anyways, heres what she is like after an afternoons decaling. Still a fair few stencils to put on. This may take some time! With regards the xtradecal decals, i found the "VL" tail code to be far to large to fit on the model. Luckily Airfix have their on VL codes on their sheet, that fit perfectly..... Again sorry for the photos... Chris

Not a wash... just different shades of paint Yup in the UK Future is called Klear.... or was until they changed it to Pledge recently....

Firstly happy new year everybody! I finally managed to get some time to get some post shading done tonight on '609. only the second or third model i've tried this on, but i think i'm managing to get it subtle enough. My extra dark sea grey was lightened using only a drop of medium sea grey. I do it all by eye, and i have applied a couple of varying tones to break it up a bit and give that more sunbleached look... The pics are rubbish sorry, and show up the paintwork more than to the eye... She's also had a couple of coats of klear to set overnight, so i can start the decalling tomorrow Also i've had a quick dry fit of the canopy framing etc (still to be painted) and one of the Airwaves Mk4 seats.... Chris

red should be on the left, green on the right..... i use the phrase taught to me by an old pilot friend..... "There's no Red Port Left..." i've done that before after finishing a build.... sorry!!!! Chris

Looking niiiice! Mines still at the painting stage, but what great inspiration just one ickle thing.... i think the nav lights maybe back to front.....? just in case you missed it... Great work

next 3 stage masking for accuracy around lumps and bumps... (its something i'm happier doing...) 2mm Jammy dog tape... 6mm Tamiya tape 40mm tamiya tape et voila!! some minor touch ups.... Chris

last one for today.. next once a couple of coats of white are on, then the EDSG.... Chris

Bar some bang seats... i'm really not sure what may need to be improved upon...... nothing some lead wire and some plasticard wont fix for the detailers....

Well... she's coming along nicely now... DeHavilland surely produced some of the most beautiful aircraft ever produced..... anyway i digress.. Inner flaps sorted and a bit of filler and sanding got them to fit. I sure there must be a simpler way, it must just be me. everything else fits like a dream.... The underside is all done now... i've since stuck in place the inner gear doors and the rear nose gear door.... as these will be up with the gear down. These can be posed open for maintenance I usually leave all the fiddly bits off to attach later, however, in this instance the probes and sling hooks are all pretty sturdy so i've attached them now. When building i also suggest that you fit the probe fairings on each wing before paint as they are so fiddly, its good to get some liquid glue around them to blend them in well.... also i think Airfix have transposed the part NOs for each wing (73c & 72c) i changed them over and they look better.... Going over the model before primer i noticed a couple of sink marks. This in all honesty was probably me be over zelous with the glue for the wing joints. They really are sturdy so dont panic and overload with glue like i did... all fixed with a skim of filler... i prepare the model for priming by giving it a quick rub down for scotchbrite... this removes any burrs from rescribing, or rough sanding, and gives a good key for the paint.... i then wipe down with damp kitchen towel... and all ready for primer..... things will slow over christmas.... so have a good one everybody.. i hope to see the fleet expand after Santa has delivered all those kits Chris

Looking good! Mine should get primer tomorrow... Looks like we may have sisters rolling off the line together. Before you carry on... I see u haven't attached the fairings for the probes on each wing yet... From fitting them today, definitely do it before paint as the fit is quite fiddly. I believe airfix also called the parts the wrong way round.....

Loving the tonka.. having built one myself with the conversion i know how much work it actually takes superb Loving the tonka.. having built one myself with the conversion i know how much work it actually takes superb

She's coming along and nearing primer.... for this build i've decided to make it pretty much clean, as in everything stowed away... just to get that overall sleekness of the vixen. Struggling with my first fit issue. With the inboard flaps. they are such a complex shape, they dont appear to just click in place around the booms..... after much swearing, some filler and sanding i think we'll get there..... i'll post some pics when its sorted....\ The next one will have folded wings, but that also needs to have the flaps up, so i'll have to figure something out.... Chris

thanks for the comments everyone! roll on 2011!!

That was my thinking too... but you end up looking so hard you start to question yourself!

Hi all... In the process of building the 1/48 vixen.... build thread HERE I'm looking to build it in markings of XJ609 from the xtradecal sheet.... HOWEVER can you guys confirm there maybe an error? The xtradecal calls for the radome to be black. From my reference i cant decide conclusively whether this was the case or not... can i have your opinions from the pics below? also... what are these circled in the pic below?? Chris

looks superb..... how did you get on with the fuselage to wing fit???? Chris

Looking great! Mines pretty much in the same position! If only i'd known about the ailerons as well!!

Hi Col... would you believe its only just now i've found this thread! Looking superb, and it was great to see them in the flesh at club night... if only i'd known how much work had gone into them Will they be done for Jan?? Chris

well here they are.... Latest one first going back to january.... 1/48 Hasegawa AH-64D converted to WAH64-D 1/48 Airfix TSR2 to GR1 Eagle 1/48 Hasegawa SeaKing HAR3 1/32 Eduard BF109 E 1/48 Airfix Buccaneer 1/48 Hasegawa Seaking AEW2 to AsAc7 1/35 Tamiya Challenger II (desertised) My first tank 1/48 Revell Typhoon FGR4 Not bad for a year.... Chris

Clunk clip, faultless join!! Just superb....

Hi everyone, I dont usually post a WIP of my builds, but the latest release of the Vixen has made me have to post something up. I honestly believe its Airfix's best release to date. Sorry the main structure is pretty much complete but i thought i'd point out a couple of things i've found along the way..... Firstly, the cockpit is fantastic. Yes it probably is missing the finer details found on other kits, however, for a black painted cockpit i feel it is sufficient especially given what can actually be seen through the canopies.... One question i do have is for later with regards to painting. The rear bulkhead of the main canopy sits on the fuselage body and should be black. The surrounding body, should this be EDSG? I'm guessing so... the reason being i intend to pose the canopies open, and this will be visible... The main construction of the kit is exceptionally easy. Every thing fits well.... The only real gaps that need to be filled are on the underside of the intake shrouds... A nice touch is that the control surface are constructed in such a way that it is possible to fit them without glue to allow them to move once complete.. fantastic!! the ailerons should also be able to do this HOWEVER!! follow the instructions! I glued the two wing halves together without sandwiching the ailerons in at this point. As a result it took me a fair old time getting them to fit properly into the recesses afterwards. In doing so it is inevitable the hinge points will be damaged so that it no longer provides a strong grip, which means they have to be glued in place.... ah well... i live and learn.... well.. she's nearly ready for paint... just waiting on some reference pics to be delivered for a particular scheme i'm looking to do.... come on Mr Postman!! Here she is with the canopy framing dry fitted..... Chris