The SUD/BAC Vedette

[Bullardino]

Oh, I can sense the old magic, my friend. Another stunning piece of literature, let's see some awesome plastic model

[Bertie McBoatface]

Great read Don, looking forward to seeing it take shape.

I thank you very muchly.

Oh, I can sense the old magic, my friend. Another stunning piece of literature, let's see some awesome plastic model

Grazie Mille.

And now to the actual build ... the excitement mounts ... can we contain ourselves in da house?

Apparently some of us can. It's not really her thing. Maybe if I made it out of tripe?

Lovely old box. (Oooh Matron!)

It's all in there somewhere.

Any members out there want to be in touch? (Ooooooooooooooooh Matron!) Seriously I remember Buster and Valiant, great British comics. Gone, gone, all gone!

I thought about an in-flight version but the old stand is so brittle and ill fitting that I decided not to bother. It fair takes me back though.

Back to 1796. Britain and France in concorde, as always in our histories.

Not many pieces but they are quite nice and fit much better than the pesky 1/72 version. Last time I build that one I took it in the shower with me and used full sheets of wet and dry to smooth it out and make it shiny. Then I sanded down the model. (Ooooooooooooooh...)

Step one. I don't need all those tiny windows so a strip of plastic is glued in to save on filler later.

It's MAD, MAD I tell you! My hypersonic MAD boom.

This might be the sideways looking radar. More funky than aerodynamic, but who really cares?

A little something for that lateral stability problem. We don't want the thing changing ends at 2000 miles per hour.

Maybe these will find a home somewhere too, camera lenses fit for the paraparasti! prapastari! propernastis!

Until we meet again...

[Parabat]

Cracking idea Don and some well thought out add-ons there too.

[pigsty]

Mmm, interesting. A couple of thoughts:

• your side-looking radar is going to be in an odd place - much of what it tries to see will be blanked by the wings. You could instead install a radar flush-mounted along the lower forward fuselage sides. Such was the original plan for the Avro 730. This would have a number of advantages: greater resolution (through using a larger scanner); less drag; and, from the modelling point of view, only a quick scribing job to put a long thin rectangle along either flank
  
• those canards are going to help with longitudinal stability but they won't do much on the lateral stability side. For that, you'll need more keel area - a bigger fin or an auxiliary surface under the tail. Although if you take the flush radar route, you might not need more keel area - unless your improved engines are going to me much larger? If they are, a longer forward fuselage would be equally effective.
  

[Bertie McBoatface]

Cracking idea Don and some well thought out add-ons there too.

Thanks Ruari.

Mmm, interesting. A couple of thoughts:

• your side-looking radar is going to be in an odd place - much of what it tries to see will be blanked by the wings. You could instead install a radar flush-mounted along the lower forward fuselage sides. Such was the original plan for the Avro 730. This would have a number of advantages: greater resolution (through using a larger scanner); less drag; and, from the modelling point of view, only a quick scribing job to put a long thin rectangle along either flank
  
• those canards are going to help with longitudinal stability but they won't do much on the lateral stability side. For that, you'll need more keel area - a bigger fin or an auxiliary surface under the tail. Although if you take the flush radar route, you might not need more keel area - unless your improved engines are going to me much larger? If they are, a longer forward fuselage would be equally effective.
  

Radar. I'd considered the flush mounted idea, believe it or not, and rejected it as too boring. Maybe I'll hang the radar underneath to be clear of the wings. It's actually 'sideways and down', isn't it? There's lots of room under a Vedette for things like that. Perhaps even a small missile bay of some kind...

[Edit. If the radar is behind the CoG it IS extra keel area, no?]

The canards. Yeah, I meant longitudinal, not lateral. Are you going to insist on a bigger fin? It would help solve the problem of the old Airfix thick leading edge.

The engines? I think we will have to grow them just a little to get that 50,000+ dry thrust. (Let's not mess about here! Power is good! 200,000lbs thrust 400,000lbs weight = At least Mach 3 even in a craft shaped like the Albert Hall!)

Edited June 22, 2012 by per ardua ad ostentationem

[pigsty]

[Edit. If the radar is behind the CoG it IS extra keel area, no?]

Not quite - the centre of pressure is the one that matters most. This is generally just ahead of the CoG.

[Kallisti]

I sit here struggling to pick my jaw from the floor after such an awesome introduction! Glad to see that you have your full creative and modelling mojo back Don

[Bertie McBoatface]

Not quite - the centre of pressure is the one that matters most. This is generally just ahead of the CoG.

'Not quite' right but good enough. I like that phrase, good enough. Good enough is always, well, good enough for me. I find that 'perfect', on the other hand is rarely achievable and aiming for it usually leads to disappointment and abandoned projects. Heck, it's only a toy and a story I made up. (I'm still going to grow that fin though. )

I sit here struggling to pick my jaw from the floor after such an awesome introduction! Glad to see that you have your full creative and modelling mojo back Don

Hello Kalisti, thanks. It's good to be back.

Edited June 22, 2012 by per ardua ad ostentationem

[Bertie McBoatface]

Building proceeds (as interest diminishes).

An Airfix kits is always rather like your recruit uniform, it fits-where-it-touches. A wide range of clamps and lots of lovely glue fumes left me with a smile on my face though.

Bigger engines? Monster engines! They need big jetpipes.

Like power station chimneys in fact.

Auxiliary intakes and ram jet combustion chambers. These come into operation at speeds above Mach 2.25 and exhaust through the turbines and reheat unit, multiplying the total engine thrust by a factor of [sECRET].

Why? Why did I even bother increasing keel area? A sudden attack of AMS in a what-if is a bit incongruous, methinks. The MAD boom will do that job anyway!

As if I wasn't wasting enough filler already...

[Neal]

Brilliant. Keep going

[nimrod54]

Great stuff Don, the reheat from those exhausts will be something. In the words of a famous Scot 'She can nae take any more Captain'. Keep it up buddy.

[AnonymousDFB1]

Does the King approve? Oh sorry wrong build Looks great Don

[Parabat]

This is great Don! I love those engines, they'd certainly shake your foundations!

[Bertie McBoatface]

Brilliant. Keep going

Hello Neal, thanks for the encouragement.

Great stuff Don, the reheat from those exhausts will be something. In the words of a famous Scot 'She can nae take any more Captain'. Keep it up buddy.

This is great Don! I love those engines, they'd certainly shake your foundations!

Thanks guys. Just imagine the noise! Mach 3 ramjets amplified by conventional reheat. It would sound like it was tearing the sky in two!

Does the King approve? Oh sorry wrong build Looks great Don

Hell Mish, don't mix this one up with the fantasy stuff. This is for real!

[Bertie McBoatface]

Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. I'm not showing photos because I don't want to depress you.

The Airfix kit of the Vedette doesn't have bad joints. It doesn't have any joints really, just a few places where separate bits of plastic are fairly close to each other.

It also lacks most of the role equipment so I have been searching worldwide for "Vedette aftermarket" and "Vedette resin" etc. Looks like I'll have to scratch instead.

I want it finished now and off my desk - pronto!

[Bertie McBoatface]

Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand. Fill 'n' sand.

Well, at least I am refining my fill 'n' sand techniques.

Usually I indulge myself with expensive sanding sticks because I can. When I can't (this close to payday!) I do this:

Making a sanding block with a rubber eraser.

It keeps the sanding even and avoids finger ridges and those annoying dips where handheld paper follows the existing bad profile downwards. I usually dip it in a saucer and wipe the slurry off with a tea towel. I did the 1/72 Concorde some years ago standing under the shower with the thing, rubbing it with full sheets of sandpaper, but in 1/144 I was able to use the kitchen sink. Still slow though.

Then I had a wet and dry brainstorm.

This takes only seconds to produce spectacular results!

Ready for the next cycle of filling.

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NB: THAT PHOTOGRAPH IS A JOKE - THE SANDER IS NOT PLUGGED IN - DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME - OR IF YOU DO, DON'T TELL THE CORONER WHERE YOU SAW IT FIRST!

[cheeley]

"some years ago standing under the shower with the thing, rubbing it with full sheets of sandpaper"

(well someone had to...)

Chris

[Parabat]

!

Amazing! That's how I felt with my Canberra!

[Bertie McBoatface]

(well someone had to...)

Chris

That's right, and no one else wanted to do it for me so there I was trying to smooth all

those ridges off the beast. I wanted it so smooth that when I showed it to them, people

would be naturally drawn to it and want to slide their fingers along it. You have to admit

that, at bottom, it's a lovely shaped thing; it's just little that bit spoiled by the wrinkles

and cracks. The full sized version is very impressive and no-one notices the surface

flaws, but when it's small it just doesn't stand out enough and the wrinkles are far more

noticeable. Unfortunately, the more I sanded the worse it seemed to get and I guess

I went too far. Eventually the end fell off completely and that was that!

Amazing! That's how I felt with my Canberra!

My Sea Vixen called out for the chainsaw and the blowlamp. It's an Airfix thing!

Edited June 30, 2012 by per ardua ad ostentationem

[robvulcan]

bloomin fantastic i love the idea of this. its so awsome. are you gonna modify the wings and nose too

[Bertie McBoatface]

I haven't been near this for weeks, Rob. This is as far as I've got.

I still need to do some sanding.

On the bright side I kinda like the sideways looking radar thingies and the other thingies on the tail.

[i know it's not aerodynamic but it suits me. I may even add a few missiles and guns!]

[robvulcan]

I haven't been near this for weeks, Rob. This is as far as I've got.

I still need to do some sanding.

On the bright side I kinda like the sideways looking radar thingies and the other thingies on the tail.

[i know it's not aerodynamic but it suits me. I may even add a few missiles and guns!]

Hi mate I totally agree looks awsome I'd put some

Pods under its chin like a tornado who cares about aerodynamics when you got engines as big as that. no doubt these would lord it in the air and be like a huge organ of hellish noise in the sky's imagine just the volume would be enough to either stop a war prevent one or maybe even cause one hehe. I guess this is gonna be a flash white bird with. Black radar bits is it. awsome work

[Bertie McBoatface]

Hello again!

I finally became sick of the sight of this unfinished project and hauled it off the shelf for another bash.

The wheels, extra control surfaces, canopy and aerials are on and the sanding is more or less done.

Actually the sanding is done because I'm just not going there again!

What scheme? I'm going with Citadel Chaos Black overall, mostly because someone gave me a big

rattlecan of the stuff, but I think it will look good, especially when treated to show the extreme weathering

you'd expect from a hyperfast, hyperhigh, aircraft powered by 4 Fusion Activated Reaction Turbines (FARTs).

[Bertie McBoatface]

I'm at home this morning waiting for the gas man so I've been able to move things along quite rapidly. The black paint is now on.

I had to do it in two sessions due to the Vedette not fitting the spraybooth. The Citadel paint dried really

quickly for a non-cellulose primer. I'm not sure what kind of paint it is but the smell is quite pleasant and

not at all strong. The finish is a bit rough but that's mostly down to my technique.

Is it just me or does that look cool?

[Bertie McBoatface]

Finished, photographed and free to fling. (I tend not to hang onto things like this for very long)

Even messed around with like this, it's a beautiful shape.

Note the "Remember Cairo!" logo.

Heat damage.

It's a little bit Thunderbirds-are-go! I reckon.

Well, that was fun while it lasted. Thanks for watching.