Vulcanicity

That reminds me of the Xtrakit Scimitar, upon whose decal sheet there was a beautifully legible warning notice which said "Keep Will Away From Intake While Engines Are Running". I never found out who Will was, or why he in particular had to be kept away from the intake!

Totally flawless finish. Bravo!

Beautiful!

@Steve: Serious kudos for tackling that thing mate-talk about masochism! This one is, I suspect, a doddle by comparison. I'll be interested to see your result. @Mike/Melchett: thanks for your encouragement men, your builds have both been inspiring! One question: how much nose weight did you use? The instructions say 22 grams, and I added 30 in front of the cockpit tub, but this doesn't seem like much to me just holding the fuselage: are the instructions a bit too conservative? Since the canopy is such a close fit on the cockpit aperture and a nice tight fit into the locating slot behind the ditching exit, I'm idly thinking of leaving it removable to see all the detail inside...

Cheers!

Cheers all! If the 1000lb bomb carriers were loaded before adding into the aircraft, then I might construct the bay closed. I'm not prepared to use the kit bombs (quite a let-down in shape I agree, I understand Airfix used inaccurate Vickers drawings!), and by that token I can't really add the carriers empty. Leaving the bay empty without carriers or weapons would mean rather a lot of scratchbuilding to match the picture above! The Blue Danube is also out really, as I'm modelling a 1963 aircraft and the Danube was apparently retired by 1962. I might display it alongside the aircraft on a mounting trolley. I'd not heard of them being cleared to drop Tallboy or Grand Slam, were these ever in regular squadron usage? One big advantage of doing the bay closed is that to my eye the aircraft looks much prettier: plus they seem to have been mostly kept closed while on the ground anyway (except for during maintenance)

Awesome as ever Fozzy. That electric cable hardly looks like it needs painting: it looks like leather already!

Great shots! That first one of the two-seater is particularly gorgeous.

I was going to have a rest from doing WIPs, especially considering how meagre my work on the Airfix Valiant will look next to the likes of General Melchett and Bossman Mike. However, I just couldn't resist. This is the kit I have been waiting for with breathless excitement ever since it was announced, and one of the most massive models I've built in ages! Much of the ideas for the interior are shamelessly stolen from either Mike or the General, (wish my back seats looked as good as Mike's!) however I've added a few of my own touches: Throttle/flap levers, Rolled curtain over the rear crew window, Modification of the yokes to a more accurate mounting on the sidewall, The "3D" effect of the top part of the instrument panel, which sticks out somewhat on the real thing. Some (ficticious) detail on the bulkhead opposite the rear crew (the one with the ladder) Coaming panels (currently unfinished) The green is an approximate 2:1 mix of the kit's suggested colour (Humbrol 88) and yellow (Humbrol 24). I used Revell Anthracite for the front cockpit, drybrushed with Ocean greay to bring out the added detail. Given how dark the 'pit is, I reckon this should look OK through the windows. Yes, I will be posing the crew door open so this lot doesn't go to waste! I decided to thin down the rather chunky exhaust pipes, and ended up using a countersinking drill bit to give them a bit of flare on the inside. I think this is an improvement. They’re now ready for a bit of paint, having been primed up and assembled The cockpit work is going irritatingly slowly, so I’ve been keeping my excitement levels up by finishing major sub-assemblies: here are the ones which are more or less ready to go on the aircraft once there is one to attach them to. The intakes were really very tough to smooth out to my satisfaction, they reminded me why I only do V-bombers very rarely. That’s all to start with! Not much to show for nearly two weeks’ work!

No, I dripped not drooled, honest!! The weather that morning was wall-to wall foul, and I was actually so wet I couldn't help dripping all over the sprues. That said, I may have been drooling too... Yes, the 'fish has separate bottom and sides for the fuselage: I can only assume that this is due to separate warload options. (optional belly for torpedo?) Also note the interior framing provided separately for the cockpit, this is very promising! There was no indication of markings options, however one of the two Swordfishes on display had RPs under the wings, so that suggests a Mk. III is in the offing at some point as well as a Mk. I with torpedo. As for the Gnat, I can't see them missing the opportunity to do a Red Arrows version as this would be a seller, however I'm really hoping for the red/white scheme and particularly the dayglo/silver scheme. Here's anticipating!

A beautiful and very well-done, conversion, to add to most interesting collection. Nice stuff!

Folks, I am having trouble deciding whether to build the bomb bay of my Valiant open or closed. One factor that might seal the issue is how accurate the moulding is. Does anybody have any pictures of the bay itself or the 1000lb carriers fitted to the Valiant? I wouldn't add the 1000lb bombs as they're so far wrong, but might be tempted to build it with empy bomb carriers if I can find any detail shots. Googling has drawn a blank, and I have only one rather bad picture of the bay itself. Cheers in advance, Phil

Also totally black finish looks a bit too dark to me, I tend to use a very dark grey like Revell "Anthrachite".

Great build, this really has tempted me to get a Hawk now! Well done on your first WIP and RFI pictures: a great start!

I wouldn't get a 707: even if you make it as beautifully as this kit, it'd look ugly next to that marvellous shape. Lovely build!

As others have said, this looks better and better. I went inside the Varsity at Newark quite recently, and can appreciate how superb your interior is: it looks spot-on! Keep up the good work, it'll look amazing when done!

A fine build, what an elegant aircraft too!

Superb idead and great work. I really look forward to seeing this done!

Lovely build!

I concur, it would be most helpful to benefit from the General's knowledge. If you could put up those photos you had of the outer gear bays in the rear thread (think you posted them in Mike's buidl thread), this might also be a great help, as most walkarounds I can find seem to have the outer gear doors of XD818 closed. Cheers!

I like this: simple but very natural-looking and effective.

Looks good to me, it's many moons since I built a ship but always agreed I'd cave in when somebody made a 350th Warspite...

This is a very nice build, and I find myself quite tempted to do a Hawk now.

Well I only have one that is stalled actually half way through construction, a 1:72nd Beaufort. However my problem is rebuilds. I see a model from my youth that's looking a bit tired, get all excited for a rebuild and start stripping off the paint, then find it's a massive task and give up half-way through. I've currently got a Vulcan, P-39 and TSR-2 in this state.

Beautiful job on that seam, much better than I managed! I couldn't decide if there was actually a panel line along the seam line or not, but I left it as a panel line. The Suez stripes help to hide it nicely. You made any decisions about the scheme yet? I think she'd look great in black...