David H

Well kids, the feedback i got was pretty unequivocal: no no further on the weathering, and dial it back a bit if you can. So, i made my best effort to do that. The wings are noticeably dirtier than the fuselage, partly because of the various things leaking out and partly because i suspect they were not washed down as often as the fuselage. The deep panel lines on the wings are really "sucking" the washes and oils in more than i think the rest of the model surfaces have. That's not helping. Up next will be weathering of the undersides. From what few photos i could see the VC10 wing was not very "leaky" and stayed fairly clean. I drew on some missing panel lines on the wing lower surfaces and blasted the belly with semi gloss super clear. Next move is to decide where the leaks and streaks should go. Until next time...

As you know Jon, i always thought this was a brilliant build. Going from the quality of construction and the detail in the kit, you can't really tell it's a 72nd scale model until you read the fine print. I have the FineMolds Tomcat in my stash. Bring it on! -d-

Wow, that's lovely, Patrick! I like how the blues are more faded; not so contrasty and i see you depicted one of the more nonstandard antenna installations. -d-

i know!! -d-

Very cool! I've only flown the Beech 99 and the KingAir 350, but those i know who flew the 1900 says it handles better. -d-

Josh, the picture looks good, but you should be able to use the curved arrow button in the lower right of the Flickr screen, share and paste the link of the picture directly into your narrative. That should make the photo visible *here* -d-

i actually gave that some thought; the plan was to drill a hole in the top of the canopy "cab" and replicate the port with a small piece of round styrene rod from Plastruct or something. I could try drawing it on with a sharp pencil... not sure what i will do, if anything. BTW that's a cool picture. Reminds me i still need to add the DF installation to the upper fuselage. Also you can see in the photo how the engines were 11-12 inches closer in to the fuselage than on the Super... If and when i do a "Standard", it's gotta be British United. -d-

We have reached the point where we can say By God, now THATS a VC10! Over the course of the last 24 hours or so, the engines have been mounted to the fuselage. For the last time. All of the effort spent on tailoring the fit of the engine pylons to the fuselage sides paid off. I used Mig acrylic glue to mount them, and the glue angst and the fettling all worked out pretty much exactly as planned. The left hand engines were self locating. The right hand ones went okay, with a little help from gravity by turning the model upside down while the glue dried. The only caveat being that you need to promptly rinse and wipe away the excess acrylic glue. Its very difficult to remove once its started to set up. A wooden toothpick can help at removing the excess....if it hasn't hardened TOO much. Another thing i had to do was paint on the anti erosion "boot" on the nose. This may be slightly too small, but the technique is basically a one-shot deal and its better to settle for something close and not risk ruining the front end trying to make it perfect. Not sure how well this photo shows the joint, but when the excess glue was removed and the joint hardened up, i think i got as close to a perfect joint as one could hope for. And now....the weather...ing. I know some about the VC10 flight control system, but exactly what leaked, and where remains educated guesswork for me. So, i weathered one wing, just to see if my techniques worked as hoped, and also to solicit some feedback as to whether it's too much, or just right. I leave it to you to decide. I'll wait for some feedback to roll in, before i continue the weathering evolution. I want it to look like a scale model, and not a marketing prop in a travel agency window. Fly Navy!! -d-

Yeah, i learned this when i saw this newsreel footage. I'm actually starting to like these hybrid Vickers/BOAC prototype colours. Just no Meat Axes, please...

Allright, i'm not exactly chuffed about these NH photo-etched FOD covers.....

Latest update. That first pic should read, "May 18, 2022". Up next (in no particular order) the black "Boot" on the radome, touch-up painting of the wing fences, FOD covers for the engines, and then nacelle installation. As always, keep those letters and cards coming!

Bill, 2 questions: 1) What diameter brass tubing did you use to make the fuel dump pipes from? 2) Detail and Scale went on almost a rant about how HobbyBoss got the location of the Sidewinder missile rails incorrect on the outboard position on their 48th scale kit. Were you planning to equip this Demon with some sort of pylons? -d-

Yeah, "Odd Moments" would be one way of looking at it, LOL. -d-

Great build, Marcello! Makes me want to go back to work on mine! -d-

Very good depiction. Clear and easy to understand where the differences lie, which a modeler needs as a starting point to decide what needs to be fixed, and what doesn't. -d-