+++Finished+++ Airfix 1/72 De Havilland Vampire T.11 MIB GB

[Phil Lewis]

Ok, I know I'm a latecomer to this but I'll try to get at least one build done in time

I've chosen the Airfix 1/72 DH Vampire T.11.

Made a quick start cleaning up some mould seams with parts still on the sprue and a base coat of Tamiya Rubber Black on the relevant areas (interior etc.)

I reckon a drybrush of Nato Black should pop the detail out.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Phil Lewis

[PhantomBigStu]

Good luck, should have more than enough time for this, very straightforward kit

[Phil Lewis]

Good luck, should have more than enough time for this, very straightforward kit

As long as I don't decide to 'improve' it

[Col.]

Welcome to the GB Phil. I'm keen to see what you can achieve in the 19 days remaining for this GB.

[Rob G]

About the only thing that's really necessary Phil, is to make that front tyre look right ie put a groove in it instead of the raised lump. You could get silly and add resin seats, but that's just... silly.

[CliffB]

Go for it Phil!

Cliff

[Phil Lewis]

Just a quick update. Painted faces on crew. Looking quite dour I think

Don't really like the cartoonish instrument panel decal so I printed out a panel I found on google on glossy photo paper and will try fixing that to the IP part.

Although they looked too dark so I tried again. I think the bottom one looks best.

You know, if I proof read the post before posting I wouldn't have to do so many edits

Edited April 7, 2016 by Phil Lewis

[Phil Lewis]

Crew now painted up.

Time to get something sensible to eat

[Phil Lewis]

Painted up the ejector seats and added the ejection handles (?) from a bit of spare resistor lead ( well it's spare now ).

Fun and games painting the black and yellow spiral. Next time I may try to paint the wire whilst it's straight, clear coat it and then cut and bend to shape (carefully of course).

Picked out some of the cockpit detail and gave it a light drybrush of Flat Aluminium

Now to tackle that instrument panel....

[Phil Lewis]

Cut out the printed IP only to find it was a fraction too large.

Dropped the width a couple of mm and reprinted.

Cut it out and attached to the kit part using Xtracrylix acrylic gloss varnish. Touched up the edges with Tamiya Rubber Black and here is the result compared with the kit decal.

That should look ok under a closed canopy.

[CliffB]

I agree with you, I think that the new IP is an improvement over the original.

Cliff

[Phil Lewis]

Cockpit assembly er... assembled, chaps sitting comfortably once I had ground off the seat cushions so they could sit down properly.

Also had to reattach the grab handles as they got knocked off in the process.

Touched up the paint here and there after scraping the mould seam off the edges of the parts (the tolerances on the new Airfix kits can be very tight and fit issues may ensue if they aren't cleaned up).

And a view of the instrument panel

Additional detail painted on sidewalls and (trim?) wheel added to port side

Not sure how much of this will be visible when everythings fixed in place

Intakes and ducts cleaned up and sprayed Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminium

I thought I'd cleaned up the ejector pin marks properly but they showed up under the silver. Probably won't show when all closed up though.

When painting up the clear HUD parts I spotted what I thought were scratches on the canopy parts.

The most prominent one is the curved line on the front screen. Closer inspection revealed they are in the moulding as if the plastic from each gate had cooled too quickly forming discrete sections.

If you look closely you can see fine lines on all the parts .

Called Airfix and got a recorded message saying they are currently restructuring and will not be available until Monday

I suppose the only thing to do is continue as far as possible and see how long it will take for the parts to be replaced.

My past experience with Airfix has been very good and parts usually arrive very quickly.

[PhantomBigStu]

Oh no, hope airfix do come good

[Davek72]

Looking good Phil. I agree Airfix are usually quite good at getting parts out so hopefully you will be able to get it all sorted.

Dave

[Phil Lewis]

Kind of got carried away and before I knew it, the cockpit was in the fuselage, the fuselage was together, the intake trunking was in and the top wing was added.

Fabulous fit, minimal sanding of the seam and just a tiny smidgen of Mr Dissolved Putty where the gaps were a bit wide and to fix a few small blemishes where the sprue gates were.

I may even tackle the wingtip nav lights

[The Spadgent]

Wow that's fast and very impressive work. I always wanted to make one of these. I shall follow with great interest.

[Col.]

Impressive paintwork on the pilots and I get the feeling a few of us will be appropriating your idea of printing out the instrument panel for future use

[Phil Lewis]

Impressive paintwork on the pilots and I get the feeling a few of us will be appropriating your idea of printing out the instrument panel for future use

Thank you Col. I would suggest using the thinner photo paper and maybe using matt paper rather than glossy finish. The only stuff I had available was some Tesco Photo card stock which was really too thick and glossy.

In hindsight using thinner matt finish photo paper would enable you to get it more flush to the kit part and also a dab of gloss varnish on the dials would liven it up a bit.

Of course this is only an alternative if you don't have the facility to print your own decals.

[Phil Lewis]

Bought the starter set boxing of this kit today thinking that I'd use the transparencies from it so I could continue right on with the build rather than waiting for the replacements from Airfix.

Opened the box in anticipation and... they suffer from the same issue!

Looks like it may be an issue with this kit in general.

I've dipped the new transparencies in Klear (yes I still have about 1/4 bottle of the original stuff ) and we'll see how it goes.

[Phil Lewis]

Not a massive update

I'll be replacing the solid wingtip nav lights with clear sprue.

Cut some clear sprue square across, sanded smooth and the cut as close down the centre as possible.

Cut off the two sections and then drilled into the ends with 0.35mm micro drill.

I have applied the Tamiya green and red clear.

I've set them aside to dry fully and will cut out the solid sections on the wing tips once the bottom wing halves are in place (on previous builds I wasn't patient and the red paint bled into the glued joint).

[Phil Lewis]

Boom, boom! (sorry, couldn't resist)

Looking like a vampire

Just needed a little filler in the underside wing-fuselage joints and around the gun trough insert under the nose.

In case you think I've made a mistake not including the undercarriage struts, this will be displayed in a flying pose. Just need to source some 5mm clear acrylic rod.

Next step... sand down the filler and cut out the nav lights.

See you soon now, where did I put my tea.....

[Col.]

Taking shape rapidly and well

[Phil Lewis]

In case you're wondering which tea delivery system I use, here it is.

Appropriate eh?

Bought for me by my eldest when on holiday this year. It is now my favourite mug

On with the build.

I have sanded down the (minimal) filler and cut out the wingtip nav lights.

Glued the clear inserts in place and will now let them set fully so I don't knock them loose when sanding to shape.

More to come soon.

Thanks for looking and thanks for all the positive comments

[Phil Lewis]

Wingtip nav lights shaped and wet sanded smooth with progressive grades of micromesh cloths up to 12000 grit.

Starboard light

and port

Undercarriage doors added, I also cut off the bottom section of the main undercarriage legs just at the mounting point and glued it in place as I noted on photographs of the real aircraft in flight that there is some structure visible in the gap not covered by the u/c door.

I also lifted the front end of the nose gear door while the plastic was still soft from the glue to get it to sit flush as it has a tendency to sit in too far. Anyone wanting to do a wheels up version may want to pack the front of the nose gear bay to make the doors fit correctly.

Drilled out the gun ports in the nose insert.

I may fit the original canopy as it seems to be the clearest and, having looked at other builds, it seems the moulding issue is on all of them.

Thanks for looking, time for more tea

[Rob G]

Looking pretty good there Phil.

Airfix canopies have become renowned for suffering from flow lines, I think that most of us have given up trying to get them replaced, as the replacements are usually just as bad. Shame really, given the generally good quality of the rest of the kits.