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This one is the Airfix Starter Set, the kit itself needs no introduction. I started the model while I was on an Airfix Vampire kick in my Shackleton WIP, but was discouraged by some Humbrol Clear mistakes I made with the other two. I’m not really in a position to airbrush for a few days, and have the Twins GB yet to start. I’m also holding off a bigger project until the Shackleton is complete. I was going to turn this into a 14 Sqn. build alongside the Sword Strikemaster, but decided it was time to wrap up the Vampire quickly instead. Here’s the progress so far. I was raised with a bit of a Protestant work ethic, so my six-months-ago self did all the boring parts first. Great! I learnt a few little idiosyncrasies in the last few which are still fresh (make sure the fuselage doesn’t set twisted, listen to Airfix and install the main gear legs early), so this should theoretically be a nice simple build. I’ve had a good experience with the Stynylrez black primer recently, so I’ll try that again along with their metal primer as it looks like a good approximation of the high speed silver dope.

Hi Guys. Welcome to my next build, The De Havilland Vampire T.11 1/72 scale by Airfix. I fell in love with this jet when I saw Phil Lewis building one a few moths back. 1/72 has never been my thing but I had so much fun building My FW 109 I got hooked. My last build was 1/48 and Im toying with the idea of going bigger next time but for now I'm going back to the gentleman's scale. Any way without further waffle I will begin. I hope (if you decide to come along for the ride) you enjoy this as much as I will. Here is the obligatory box shot. And here are the assorted sprues and decals. It is a really nice looking kit, The mould is wonderful, I'm so loving Airfix right now. . I and going to be doing this here scheme as it is different from Phil's and I'm a sucker for day glo. Also the shiny silver will be a new one for me. I start off by sticking the first few bits of cockpit together. Nice and easy. The detail is really quite nice except from a few raised pin marks which I'll sand down but you'll never see it when the tubs in. I wanted to get some nice belts to match some reference pics I found. Mmmmmm blue. I decided to get some Eduard PE belts, Cheap as chips and they look really nice. First up was shooting the seats black. then the inside of the pit, I used a small amount of Vallejo steel to dry brush too. And that's where we are. It's all going rather well at the moment. I'm mostly planning an out of the box build with only a few little additions. We will see. Thanks for looking. Take care y'all and happy modelling. Johnny boy.

Been in a bit of a modeling funk recently - finding it hard to build up any enthusiasm for the hobby. Two weekends ago, my wife and daughter were out of town, so I thought I'd give the new Airfix JP a go - a nice, simple build, no complications, just the thing to get the modeling juices going. As I was looking at the boxes in my stash, I thought to myself that perhaps I could build the Airfix Vampire as well, while I was at it - similar, simple colour scheme, so I could airbrush both at the same time. While I was contemplating that idea, I spied the Airfix Gnat box - same scheme...... So I started all three.... And they are nice, simple builds - aside from a few minor issues, they built up very easily and quickly, such that I had all three airframes complete before the end of the weekend - just what the doctor ordered! Finishing them was another matter - the Airfix JP Dayglo decals are thick, brittle and unresponsive to decal softeners. A re-think and a quick look through the old SAM magazine pile showed that I could do the JP in an identical colour scheme to the other two. A profile in SAM showed that I could even build the exact same airframe - XM413 - in an earlier scheme than that offered in the Airfix box, so I could use those decals for this build - bonus! And a lucky bonus too - I discovered I was reading the Airfix painting guide incorrectly - I thought the Airfix box scheme was High Speed SIlver with Dayglo stripes, whereas it's actually LAG - I had painted the model in the wrong colour. Finding the same airframe in the earlier HSS/Fluorescent Orange scheme was fortuitous, saving a re-paint. I even had some spare CFS rhomboid decals in the spares box from the old Matchbox Provost kit. I spent most weeknights this past week adding decals, and just finished all three this morinng. So, here are the Airfix 1/72 Jet Provost T.3, Gnat T.1 and Vampire T.11: Thanks for looking!

Hi, here's a fun build of the excellent Airfix Vampire T.11. The photos actually make it looks a little rougher than she looks in real life (honest!) Xtradecals used for a a 43 Sqn a/c late 1950s. Used AK Extreme Metal paint and xtracrylic for the yellow (the bands on the wings are a little too wide - d'oh!) \Thanks for looking and Happy new Year Untitled by bryn robinson, on Flickr Untitled by bryn robinson, on Flickr Untitled by bryn robinson, on Flickr IMG_2442 by bryn robinson, on Flickr

I was hoping to get my Vampire finished for the Huddersfield show but didn't manage it as I didn't get enough modelling time and decided I didn't want to rush it in the end. I took some pics on my phone so thought I would do a retrospective work in progress thread showing the stage I'm currently at with my Vampire. The kit is lovely and I've really enjoyed putting it together so far and think I will be buying more. The kit certainly generated a lot of interest when I displayed it at Huddersfield and plenty of kits were being purchased. I'm going to do the No.5 Training school option. First job was to paint the interior black. I painted it in Humbrol 33 matt black and lightened it with some 67 tank grey to give a bit of shading. As you can see from the pic below you get full length intakes and an engine face. I only quickly assembled and painted this as nothing can be seen when the fuselage halves are joined. Here is the cockpit dry fitted in the fuselage. Fit was excellent. I glued the intakes on at this stage. I also decided to break from the instructions and assemble the rest of the aircraft ready for fitting the fuselage once the cockpit was painted to save time. Due to the intakes sticking out and the undercut in the wing to Fuselage join for the flaps it is tricky to get them together but you can do it with a bit of twisting. I wouldn't recommend this method as I had some allignment issues doing it this way and ended up with a gap in the lower wing. Next time I will follow the instructions. Please note the main landing gear must be fitted to the boom before joining the wing due to the actuators and they wont fit once the wing is together. here are a couple of shots of the painted cockpit. I found the detail to be accurate and very little needs adding. I'm unsure about the bulge in the floor for the nose wheel going the full width of the cockpit floor but as it's black in there I don't think it's too distracting. I cut the glass off the gunsights and will replace it with clear sheet later in the build. The instrument panel decal is nicely done and is acceptable in this scale although an eduard panel would look nice in there. The only detail I'll ad will be to the ejection seats. This is the stage I'm currently at. The plane is assembled and the plastic has been polished and the Vampire has received a coat of Alclad grey primer followed by a coat of white primer for the orange areas. I have a couple of imperfections I need to sand out before more paint is applied. I will also then add the very fine balance weights to the tail along with a new pitot tube and the small underside aerial I managed to break off. I also cut off the splitter plates on the intake as they were a little on the thick side and will add some more from thin plastic strip. I'll update the build when I've done a bit more and hope people will find this work in progress useful. Cheers, Mark