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"It was winter 1962, the worst of the Cuban Missile Crisis was just past, but everyone was still on edge. I was standing near the runway at RAF Scampton, home to the Vulcans of 617 Squadron amongst others, and I heard the unmistakeable howl of four Olympus engines at full power. A Vulcan had just taken off in a hurry, and as it passed I could see that it was carrying a Blue Steel nuclear missile - the training rounds were light blue, but this one was white, so I could tell it was live:

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It was taking off west, but as soon as it was airborne it began to swing around, trailing smoke from those massive engines:

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It banked around hard, and I could practically see into the cockpit, it was so low:

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It skimmed along low, and then suddenly pulled up into a steep climb which it continued until it was lost in the overcast:

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I realised it was now heading East, and my first thought was that the balloon had gone up and it was heading for Russia. I was a worried man until I saw it return later that day from what turned out to be a training flight. They were tense times..."

This is the CyberHobby 1/200 Vulcan B2 with the Blue Steel missile underneath. It was supposed to be a relaxing and quick build, but this one fought me all the way! Firstly work commitments took away most of my modelling time which meant it took me four months to finish this. The intakes were a right pain to eliminate the seams from, and it was putty sand repeat ad infinitum. Then there was a terrible gap between top and bottom halves which refused to disappear no matter what I did with it.The primer I was using was Halford's white primer, and for some reason it went on so thick that it obscured most of the detail on the underside, meaning that copious amounts of rescribing were needed to restore it. And then when I thought it was all over, the decals were on and the final satin coat was drying, it took a nose dive from it's stand and snapped the IFR probe off and fed it to the carpet monster, so I had to replace it with a scratchbuilt one. All in all, it didn't want to be built, but as I've never scrapped a model yet, I was determined and won out in the end. Yay me.

I put it on a stand with a picture of RAF Scampton on it, as this aircraft was based there in 1962. Hope you like it:

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Tiny little things, aren't they?

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Right, what's next...?

Dean

Edited by Deanflyer
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Really nice little model with a great set of photographs to go with it.

I was a young boy at the time of the Cuban missile crisis, and didn't know how serious it was.

But I do remember how concerned my parents were.

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Lovely looking model :)

The Vulcan is an awesome aeroplane, and I too have some great memories of seeing them when they were operational.

I'm too young for the Cuban Crisis, but I do remember cycling up near RAE Thurleigh to watch the Vulcans doing circuit and bumps while on dispersal there.

Thanks for the memories :)

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No matter what scheme the Vulcan is displayed in, it always looks like it means 'business!' I grew up in the village of Boothby Graffoe, on the flight path of Waddington and although I remember seeing these daily, one still had to stop and gaze in awe as it went over. Maybe thats why it is near the top of my top 10 aircraft.You have certainly captured this feeling in this model.

Whats next?.... simple ..... another Vulcan!

Mark

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tasty

Really?

Well, if you say so...

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It was a bit crunchy for me, but at least it came with it's own toothpick.

As for the story, that was a bit of fiction. I took a few photos against the sky, used the best ones, and wrote a "quote" which seemed to fit them.

Thanks for all the comments folks, it's appreciated.

Cheers,

Dean

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Good to see a proper British Vulcan sarnie, none o' your European brioche. Still, given there is a Blue Steel under there I guess you could say it was on a bed of rocket.

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Fantastic build. My father was chiefy of 617 during the Cuban Missile Crisis and way after the event he confirmed had the call to arms been given some of the squadron who had been training with Blue Steel, would have gone with the weapon although not quite certified for action such was the serious nature of the situation.

He also recalled the frustration of being held on base, which made them potentional sitting ducks to a surprise attack. I once asked him he would have done once he had sent the squadron on their merry way, his response was simple: "We were going back to the mess to have a p$ss up" full well knowing they in all likleyhood they would have not made it too te mess.

Marty..

Edited by marty_hopkirk
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