Luke Piewalker

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234958511-vulcan-s1/ The first of my whiffy Vulcans is up...

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls... I give you the first of my 1:200 Vulcan whiffy trilogy! The Vulcan S1! Having invented carbon fibre Britains finest boffins decided to use it as the basis for a lighter weight Vulcan. The project was shrouded in much secrecy with only a select few being aware of the overall project goal. The aircraft was ultimately rolled out with a 'spoof' tailcode and markings. Super secret special engines were built using exotic materials that were capable of whisper quite operation at cruise speed while still maintaining the characteristic roar at full power. The aircrafts biggest secret was discovered during it's first flight, when it took off and remained undetected on radar! At this stage project secrecy was stepped up even further. The interior of the cockpit differed from the 'standard' Vulcan in that it was designed as a purely two man aircraft, with the rear 'accommodation' available for a variety of configurations of technical equipment, passenger seating, or even a 'cabin' where one crew member could sleep during long missions. The traditional bomb aimers position was replaced with a prototype laser target designator system. After a year of test flying and tuning of the avionics (including the Gorton-Airbles-Yardsley Direction and Range system, a passive version of radar the performance of which was declared fabulous by those who experienced it), the project was blabbed (I mean... introduced...) to the Americans and a visit was arranged to the US, starting with the Lockheed Skunk Works in Burbank California. The aeroplane took off with the only three men aboard who had intimate knowledge of the project (the aforementioned Gorton, Airbles and Yardsley) and what little paperwork existed on board. It was never seen again. The Americans claimed it never reached the US, and with no radar traces to use as evidence the fate of the aircraft remained a mystery, and with the loss of the three men and the most vital information, the project was never acknowledged oficially in any way shape and/or form.

Did something strange just happen... or have I answered a post on another page

I've always thought 617 would be the obvious choice for F-117's's's'. Tucked out of the way at Lossiemouth... That and it's 617 Squadron... Or for true whiffines.... 633...

I have just taken advantage of the cyber-hobby 1:200 Vulcans at £9.99 from Hannants... Three of them... With a view to some Whiffyness... Probably just paint based... but I'll keep you posted.

And I may have failed to put any nose weight in it too...

Another from the 'let us never speak of it again' pile... The instructions were vague to the point of useless, I ended up downloading Eduards instructions for their version with the photoetch to try and work out what was going on! A number of tiny parts tragically lacking in locating holes were quickly knocked off, the colours were largely made up as I went along, the decals are terrible, and I didn't even get bort numbers Anyhoo, I suppose it constitutes a cartoon Mig29 of vaguely German pilotage.

Finally... after a long and painful build, on several occasions I wished never to see the thing again... But it's finished... At least, I'm done with it And of course, having taken the pictures, I realised I'd forgotten the no step decals on the intakes... so i stuck them on... A lot of issues with dodgy fit, notably around the airbrake/canopy and the undercarriage doors. Instructions were a bit vague at times and the aicraft in the painting/decal instructions didn't seem to be the same one that I was looking at, all the panel lines in different places and things which made it hard to position some of the decals. If I was cylincal I would say they'd just slightly modified the drawing of the twin seater and decided it would do... Anyhoo, it meets my usual standard of 'ok from a distance'...

I was hoping for splinter, but I'll take digital

The front wheel bay is indeed a bit of a faff.... You can see a few gaps here and there in the view of the underside. If you are one for sanding and fillering I would have thought it could be tidied up quite easily. The other bit I can remember that is a bit 'lumpy' is where the assemble with the engine pods attaches to the fuselage. I didn't put weight in mine, I used to the clear pokey bit supplied to prop the back up.

At least it's not another fifty shades of grey variation...

In amongst all the Vulcans, Red Arrow's's's's, Su-27s, Tornados, Hercules short landings and the like there was always something special about the Harrier sliding sideways along the flightline pausing to bow politely to the crowd...

It's going well! The reference drawings I printed out aren't consistent with themselves, and the lighter shade of green wasn't light enough. Found another lighter green that will hopefully do the trick. Trying not to turn it into a terrible mess with more paint than plastic...

The story so far, I wish I had used the Eduard instructions all along... A distinct lack of rigidity makes sticking the fuselage together a nightmare... I wish I had done it as suggested in the Eduard instructions where you basically complete the entire top and bottom halves then stick them together...

Ahoy chaps. Another 'quick and dirty' build. Never built anything japanese so thought I would give the 1:72 Zero a bash. As ever, apologies for the bad pictures, once more my phone camera fails to cut it. The kit went together fairly well, I lost one of the aileron control horns to the carpet monsters, had a bit of decal silvering (really should have seen that coming with the state of the painting...), and through my hamfistedness dropped it and bent the pointy tail. I wasn't overly impressed with the security of the undercarriage which is a bit wobbly, and I suspect the aerial is on backwards. The instructions were a bit vague and lacked some of the paint details for the undercarriage wells. The biggest problem was the pilot. His lifejacket looks more like the British type with the vertical bulk running up and down either side of the chest rather than the Japanese ones which are more of an all encompassing waistcoat sort of arrangement (if that makes sense...) There were no instructions for painting the pilot (it's probably just as well he's out of focus), and I had to cut his legs off to get him to fit in the cockpit... Anyhoo, it is done.

A 1:1 Gnat for commuting? Or Ben Ainslies Finn, I'd buy one of those...

It'll all help... It probably won't be perfect, but it will hopefully look at least a bit miggish... Although it'll probably have to be post-unification, as there are no bort numbers on the decal sheet...

I'm thinking something a bit darker, possibly revell 43...

Right, I've had a dig through my box o' acrylics... Humbrol 93 for the sandy colour Tamiya XF10 for the brown Revell 361 olive green for the lighter green Humbrol 75 for the dark green And Revell 371 for the underside and the undercarriage bays. Any suggestions of a shade of grey for the cockpit? Would it be 371 again or is it a different shade.

Right, I think I just need to find a selection of four appropriate colours and wing it...

Yeah, I'm wanting to do the four colour camo...

I'm getting even confuseder... The Iraqi and German camouflage patterns are the same in pictures (with different colours). And neither pattern seems to fit any aircraft... The German one seems to be missing two colours... I'm getting a bit lost.

I've built two of these now, 1/32 seems to be the perfect scale for a Hawk. Still not entirely happy so may well build a third... I suppose I can just keep going and worse case scenario I end up with a full diamond 9...

Is the airbrake cavity not red, rather than the off white grey of the wheel wells? Couldn't find a picture of a red one in the walkround thread but there is a picture of a black one and it has black inside the airbrake. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/51911-hawk-t1-walkround-lots-of-photos-and-a-few-t2s/?hl=%2Bhawk+%2Bwalkround