johnny_7713 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Hello everyone, welcome to my first WIP. This is also part of my long-term project to build an historical overview of the (South-)Rhodesia / Zimbabwe air force. At the moment I have 2 Vamps and 2 Hunters in the stash, with decals to match, but I'm planning on getting a Spit Mk 22 and a Chengdu J-7 in the not to distant future as well. This is the first build in the series, making the 1/72 Airfix Vampire FB5 in the colours of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force of the mid-50ies. High-speed silver and 3 assegais on the roundels. Rhodesia actually flew Vampire Mk 9s, but as far as I know the only difference is an air conditioning inlet somewhere. For now I'm still focussing on getting my fundamental skills up to par (cleaning up seams and gaps and such), so I'm going to ignore the Mk9 vs Mk5 difference. Enough intro, on with the pictures. Obligatory sprue shots (I started on this kit several years ago, before the hiatus I just came out of) Putting together the fuselage, it's quite obvious this is an older kit. Cleaning up the seams without sanding off all of the raised detail was quite a challenge. Fortunately no huge ditches like I've see in some threads. Humbrol No.1 from a rattle-can Xtracolor HIgh Speed Silver coming on in bits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Looking forward to a Rhodesian bird. I did a 1/48 FB9 in latter style markings some years ago but the Rhodesian ones look better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pauly Boy Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Look's great. Always interested in anything African, especially Rhodesian. Carry on and good modelling! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny_7713 Posted February 13, 2016 Author Share Posted February 13, 2016 Had some progress over the past week. Applied a complete coat of HSS and masked off the go-faster stripe, which took me a good hour. My model got to do its best Joker impression If I were writing a scientific paper I'd phrase this as: 'Upon removal of the masking tape it was noted that the cohesive strength of the paint was greater than the adhesive strength, resulting in a portion of the paint disbonding from the substrate'. I'll leave it up to you to guess what I actually said when this happened Fortunately the starboard side turned out better Today will touch up the stripe and apply a second coat of HSS, as daylight lighting showed that was needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny_7713 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Got a second coat of HSS on and touched up the stripe, which looks a lot better now At least, if you only look from one side.... Attempting to fix that will only make it worse, so will chalk that one up to experience and just 'tactically' position my model in the display case. Decals and canopy are on as well. Will give the micro set & sol until this evening to dry out. Then will apply a gloss coat and stick on the landing gear and elevator mass balances and Robert will be my mother's brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny_7713 Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Added all the remaining bits & bobs as well as an 'moldable adhesive moment rebalancer' a.k.a a blob of blue-tack on the nosewheel to keep the nose down. Despite all the lead I stuffed in the nose it still wants to tip up. Some Vallejo Wash to highlight the control surfaces and this little plane is done! Pics to follow in the RFI forum shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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