Tiddler Flys Over Forest of Sponge ;) Vulcan Duo Build XM597 XM595 Airfix & Dragon 1/72 1/200

[robvulcan]

Update time again now. Then its time for some late lunch.

The wings were glued. Man do they need some glue.. The fit was very good but does require a long time squeezing to make sure. Tamiya tape has been used to help the process and ensure a good join.

The internal structure I put in was totally worth it, they feel much better than the others I have made without them. Quick and easy to do too.

Now for the nose. I don't much like the idea of a plastic probe so here is the cold steel replacement starting to be fitted. First I am boring out a channel and a hole that will carry the rod true and straight. This will be fitted also to the rear of the pit to make sure it don't get knocked off. Dangerous possibly but at least the Vulcan will be safe...

I love the color of steel its got such a lovely luster and tone to it. very shiny bright get also very dark at the same time.

Now for lunch.

Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

Hi Folks. Well I thought while the wings are drying and as I am out of super glue. I thought I would do the heavy work on the steel rod before I start the real pig of this build sorting out the intakes...

Here I have bent the rod and fitted it to the inside through the rear floor of the cockpit and then threaded it through the hole I made earlier. I am offering up the kit part with blue tak to mark off for cutting.

Goggles on,.. dremel at the ready !

With that done I have started to shape the end and smooth off with this aluminum oxide sharpening stone provided with the new wood carving set I got the other day. I prefer these to scalpels and the last lot has lasted me 20 plus years that I have been modeling with since childhood and still to this day I am. ( Just miss laid the thing so bought some more.)

Once glued in place I won't be worring about this one getting knocked off.

[nimrod54]

Built by Rob, made to last that should be your motto. Did one of your ancestors work on the Forth Bridge?. You have plenty of strength in the wings and as you have said the re-fuelling probe is going nowhere. Looking good, keep it up bud.

[robvulcan]

Thanks to fellow Britmodeller Chrisrope I can show you these photographs he took at the Brawdy Airshow 1966. They are some of the best photos of a B1a I have seen and are useful to me to try and mark out were to correct the Airfix kit lines for the Radome which are totally wrong.

I am only going to lightly scribe the Radome lines and the tail fin cap and radar panels. To aid Painting in the main. But also these are the most prominent lines to my mind on a Vulcan and crucial with early ones for their characterful Sinister almost "Wry smile"

Here is were the Airfix Kit lines are highlighted in red and not really getting the look right missing that little angle back.

... And for clarity here is some extended lines to try and help me sight were to mask with tape and re-scribe the lines.

Thanks very much Chrisrope.

Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

Built by Rob, made to last that should be your motto. Did one of your ancestors work on the Forth Bridge?. You have plenty of strength in the wings and as you have said the re-fuelling probe is going nowhere. Looking good, keep it up bud.

LOL nope no relation I am afraid but I do come from a line of Engineers and mechanically minded people. I just like things that are Robust (god I hate that word it reminds me of mindless office lingo,,,, Robust workforce with streamlined delivery to end user at point of service with efficient drive from colleagues yada yada yada.... stuff like that drives me crazy)

One thing I always loved about stuff made here in uk in times gone by. Was stuff was made to last and pride was taken in how things turned out. Most the time at least. Its a shame that tradition seems to be something that we see nostalgically on birthday cards and no where else now...

I wish someone would make kits for the wheels and landing gear made from Nickle silver with rubber wheels that rotate on axles. Would be a cool feature.

wow what a waffle I best shut up there and get back to the files glue and plastic..

Cheers Rob

[FZ6]

Comining on nicely. I like the added refuelling probe. I've done something similar by replacing mine with one made out of brass tubing topped off by a Master Models NATO refuelling probe to give it some finesse.

Regarding the nose weight Airfix recommend 30g of weight be added. I will add mine using wheel balance weights which have self adhesive pads. As I'm adding Freightdog Resin Tailpipes to mine I think I will add a bit more to be on the safe side....

I like what you're doing with the panel lines on the nose. I didn't realise they were wrong so I'll follow your lead when I come to rescribe mine...

Keep up the good work.

Mark

[robvulcan]

Comining on nicely. I like the added refuelling probe. I've done something similar by replacing mine with one made out of brass tubing topped off by a Master Models NATO refuelling probe to give it some finesse.

Regarding the nose weight Airfix recommend 30g of weight be added. I will add mine using wheel balance weights which have self adhesive pads. As I'm adding Freightdog Resin Tailpipes to mine I think I will add a bit more to be on the safe side....

I like what you're doing with the panel lines on the nose. I didn't realise they were wrong so I'll follow your lead when I come to rescribe mine...

Keep up the good work.

Mark

Cheers mate I like the idea of the brass tube with Master Models attachment. Good idea maybe on the next build I will try that !

The Resin tail pipes for the 201/202s do add alot of weight.

I forgot the kit calls out the weight but was not sure if they could be trusted as I usually build wheels up. But since getting into dios thats started to become less common now.

The Airfix kit to me seems very accurate its an amazing tooling especially for the age but the nose is wrong. The only people who got the radome correct was Frog and now Pit road and GWH.

The little Dragon copies the airfix very well and even has the same Radome line mistake. Its like a shrunken Airfix kit with recessed lines.

Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

Morning Folks and what a happy sunny and warm start it is to the new week.

This morning I spent a bit more time on the probe.

I give it a good few more passes with the Aluminum oxide block to round it off at the end and polished it up with wet and dry paper.

Then I stuck the tip of it in some side cutters and squeezed and twisted to give me a slight depression at the end to represent the tip

Then I give it another polish over with wet and dry. I am hoping that I can then mask off the tip which will give me a nice real metal look to the tip with the rear portion of it being in grey.

Then in true OTT style I have secured it with impact resistant Rubber infused Super glue. This is also to ensure once its in place it stays true and also provides me with a nice holder to form the milliput and weight around to stop it from becoming dislodged in the future.

Now I need to get some plastic tube just the right diameter to fit in the engine tunnels. and start work on the intakes. I am not sure if I should paint them white or leave them the resin white colour they are.

as they look pretty darn good.

I will have to mask them first before fitting them to the fuselage.

Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

Right then Update time.

I have put some blobs of blue tak on the tiddlers mounting points for the Intakes to protect the white I sprayed earlier. Then I sprayed some matt grey to take the green paint I will be brushing on this one.

The tiddlers Intakes look ok to me when in the Vulcan so I attached the Olympus faces to the back loosely then carefully run some glue around the back to help stop the paint being ruined being careful not to lift the engine faces.

Had a nice thing come in the post today well yesterday but only opened it today. I have been after this for a while its darn cute and screaming build me.

Looks like the best Bucc kit I have seen and a nice scale I would love to see more of 1/100th

Cheers Rob

[Darth Vader]

Thanks to fellow Britmodeller Chrisrope I can show you these photographs he took at the Brawdy Airshow 1966. They are some of the best photos of a B1a I have seen and are useful to me to try and mark out were to correct the Airfix kit lines for the Radome which are totally wrong.

I am only going to lightly scribe the Radome lines and the tail fin cap and radar panels. To aid Painting in the main. But also these are the most prominent lines to my mind on a Vulcan and crucial with early ones for their characterful Sinister almost "Wry smile"

Here is were the Airfix Kit lines are highlighted in red and not really getting the look right missing that little angle back.

... And for clarity here is some extended lines to try and help me sight were to mask with tape and re-scribe the lines.

Thanks very much Chrisrope.

Cheers Rob

Thanks for the clarification Rob .Ive just started to look at the lines on the Vulcan

I'm building now and couldn't quite get it to look right.This is very helpful.

[robvulcan]

Thanks for the clarification Rob .Ive just started to look at the lines on the Vulcan

I'm building now and couldn't quite get it to look right.This is very helpful.

Great stuff. Glad I could help. I hope I can get it to look right too seeing as I am scribing it. its not like I can repaint it if its wrong..

I like a challenge.

Morning Folks this time more work on the tiddler.

I painted the green on the forward part of the Intakes and Fuselage then masked them for the MSG with Bluetak.

Once that's dry I can pull off this Bluetak then glue the plane together and then fill in the intakes with Bluetak while I paint the white.

Then push it back a bit to reveal the green then paint the green uppers.

Then push back further when adding the rest of the Bluetak to mask off the green ready to accept the grey uppers and then what I have done in the intakes here will follow the lines of the camo back into the intakes but also protect the white insides of the deeper portion of the intake. Hopefully !

Cheers Rob

[chrisrope]

The Resin tail pipes for the 201/202s do add alot of weight.

Mine have also been a pig to fit. My spare modelling time this weekend has been spent getting the blighters to fit.

Kudos on the IFR probe, I may just have to steal your idea for mine

Chris

Edited March 17, 2014 by chrisrope

[robvulcan]

Mine have also been a pig to fit. My spare modelling time this weekend has been spent getting the blighters to fit.

Kudos on the IFR probe, I may just have to steal your idea for mine

Chris

Go for it, Cheers.

Yes them pipes were a PITA to fit on mine too the walls of the fuselage needed lots of thinning down which is really hard on the tail pipes. Instead I removed lots of resin IIRC

It depended what issue of the kit the Resin pipes were made to fit I guess. each Airfix Vulcan I have build has been a little or alot different in many subtle ways such as fit etc. Some ones from the recent times vary alot in that some are fab fits and others removed from the mold too quick and warped.

I really want to get hold of the original pre Airfix MPC boxing and see if its superior.

Cheers Rob

Edited March 17, 2014 by robvulcan

[chrisrope]

Yep, just what I've had to do. Remove plastic from the kit and resin from the pipes, lots more than I thought i'd have to. In fact they still don't fully fit but I needed a break.

Mine is the VTTS XH558 gift set, definitely coming from a getting worn mould, its got pretty frilly wheels I had a boxing just like your one and the quality was miles better. I had to sell one though and as i'd started the XH558 one, I kept it.

[robvulcan]

Yep, just what I've had to do. Remove plastic from the kit and resin from the pipes, lots more than I thought i'd have to. In fact they still don't fully fit but I needed a break.

Mine is the VTTS XH558 gift set, definitely coming from a getting worn mould, its got pretty frilly wheels I had a boxing just like your one and the quality was miles better. I had to sell one though and as i'd started the XH558 one, I kept it.

Yea the VTTS boxing is on the whole ok but I had a couple of bad eggs from the the time just before hornby took over. Had two sprues doubled up and one sprue missing. So essentially two half complete kits..

At least with flash you get more plastic for you money I suppose.. LOL.

Cheers Mate.

Right then update time. The tiddler moves forward I need some tubes for the big one so I am catching up with the little one XM595.

With the masks off I now have a MSG / GREEN forward intake.

Then the Intakes are fitted YAY I can close her up now

You can just make out the turbines down there One of my favourite things on a model is looking down the dark intake tunnels and seeing a turbine hiding down there. I see from Airfix's new lightning it has a nice feature made for this which is another reason I must pick one up soon.

Cheers Rob

[nimrod54]

Lovely job on those intakes Rob, I really am going to have to get one of these little beauties.

I will look forward to seeing your Buccaneer kit go together as well, once you have finished these of course.

[robvulcan]

Morning,, Rather afternoon. For me BM was down this morning but in the meantime I have been working on the tiddler XM595. I have had to back date her somewhat as I want her in the condition of 1964.

Here I have put some blue tak supports into the wheel wells to stop the doors falling in too deep so they will be flush.

I added the rear doors first then when they were set I added the forward doors. Also I have added both the ECM plates as XM595 had twin ECM bays in 1964.

I have reshaped the tail cone to the 2nd style of the 3 variants of ECM cone. These are different to the 2 types of smaller "bee sting" cone carried on the B1 and first B2s.

Here are the 3 shapes:

First up my B1A with the early short rounded tip that flows with the bulbous shape. These were on both B1A and B2

Then the second shape on this build of XM595 it is like the top one but the tip is more elongated and streamlined. These were seen on B1A and B2 Vulcans

Here is the more familiar type that was the final version seen on most Vulcans later on with the more squared off end and extra protrusions underneath this is what you get in the kit. This is seen mostly on B2's but may have been on some B1As

These Tips are different due to different types of Radar fitted on Vulcans.

Some more comparative shots

Here you can see I removed the two protrusions underneath

Cheers Folks Rob

[robvulcan]

Lovely job on those intakes Rob, I really am going to have to get one of these little beauties.

I will look forward to seeing your Buccaneer kit go together as well, once you have finished these of course.

Hi mate sorry I am late replying. Thank's and yes I am itching to do that buccaneer. I really wanted to do a wraparound machine however I think they all had the bulbous Bombay rather than the flush type in the kit.

It has 3 options but the D Type roundel RAF machine has caught my eye.

Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

On the big Vulcan I started scribing the various panels that I will pick out with paint. I am not sure if this is a good idea its not something I normally do but felt i would for this build.

I masked off with Tamiya and then gently went at it with a dental tool and a carving knife. once a fine line guide was achieved I took off the masks then I went at it free hand and kept alternating painting over it and flatting it back with micro-mesh till I was happy with it.

On to the Tiddler XM595 I have free hand cut in the original nose line to back date this Vulcan. The kit likes of the dragon are not quite right like airfix but I can live with it at this scale.

Cheers Rob

[canberra kid]

Top work Rob, she's looking the dog's bits!

John

[robvulcan]

Top work Rob, she's looking the dog's bits!

John

Cheers John. The little one is coming on fast but as for the big one I thought I had longer. Cosford is looming close about 3 weeks and I thought It was the end of April..... EEK. I hope I can get the big one done in time. I was hoping to get to hinkley this weekend but not sure If the time would be better spent on this.

Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

Hi andy your inbox is full (sorry chaps trting to get in touch with general melchett but his inbox is full, I seen him at the bottom of this page and thought I would try and raise him )

Edited March 18, 2014 by robvulcan

[John.R]

Excellent work Rob, Hoping to add one of these to the collection once I've got the Lancaster etc built!

[robvulcan]

Excellent work Rob, Hoping to add one of these to the collection once I've got the Lancaster etc built!

Cheers mate go for it there great. I really must build a Lanc soon. Will watch your build if its in WIP. Cheers Rob

[robvulcan]

Well after being sick in bed for the last week and loosing time on this bird for Cosford I best get cracking on these two. I am still not A1 but I am feeling a lot brighter today.

So today's task is air intakes, engine tunels, filling filing test fitting and a good dose of swearing likely... How many days off is the Cosford show.....