Anigrand 1/72 VC-10

[Madhatter]

Greetings everyone

 

I am almost done with my Lazarev build and I had a really hard choice of what to build next: 1/48 SU-33, 1/48 Viggen, 1/72 TU-22 Blinder, 1/72 TU-160 Blackjack or 1/144 AN-22. Instead, the 1/72 VC-10 won out because of my recent experience with the Anigrand C-5 Galaxy. I thoroughly enjoyed making that, so I pulled this one out ready to go

 

Upon taking photos and an earlier exploration, I realised that this one is vastly different. It's no where near as good as the C-5 in terms of fit but the quality of the casting itself is brilliant. Very few bubbles and the ones that are there will never be seen

Now, no one can ever say that I wasn't warned about the challenges of building an Anigrand kit! This one will certainly have it's own ......issues to fix, as you will see in the below photos. I've only shown some of them - not all as I am sure I haven't found them all yet.

 

Good news is that they are all relatively minor and are fixable!

So, what do you get for your $260AU kit? Quite a bit of resin that's for sure but disappointingly, you don't get any bonus smaller kits. Which is a shame but not the end of the world

 

I will be using the 26 Decals for the 90th Anniversary scheme (VX-105) - the most attractive in my eyes. The only thing I am not happy about with the decals is that the black tail is literally a decal - I don't have the option to just paint the tail - which I find annoying. I just want the fancy logo and writing. I can paint black all on my lonesome thanks...

However, no one else to my knowledge produces said decals in 72nd, so I shall make do.

 

I have done a lot of internet searches for this kit and I have found only 3 of note - 2 of which allude to cutting the cockpit. Initially, I just thought that to be a bit...anal retentive, however, upon dry fitting the canopy - I can now see why said cuts are made - and it's not just to conform to a drawing. The fit of the canopy is f....well, let's just say it's never going to be a "perfect fit". In fact, it does it's very best to not fit at all. But again, it should be fixable. I am going to try and fix it without having to cut up the body.

 

So, enough talking, here are some pre-build photos to see what you get:

 

 

 

 

 

 

not the smoothest joint ever:

 

 

Some slight warping presumably making a not quite all together mating of the rear body halves:

 

 

 

the front end isn't much better:

 

 

the canopy fitting - or not as the case maybe:

 

 

 

the only air bubbles I found:

 

 

With the wings joined up, there is a distinctive step left on the leading edges - I forsee some major sanding coming up....

 

 

And last but not least, a shot of Anigrand's incredibly comprehensive instructions:

 

 

I will be making this one in-flight, so will not have to think up a way to display it on a stand of sorts. This should be fun!

 

I will be back later once i make a solid start on this. If you have any ideas or experiences with this kit, I would love to hear it

Till next time!

Simon

Edited November 24, 2016 by Madhatter

[WV908]

Hi Madhatter, 

  be warned, the cockpit shape of this kit is very wrong. There is a build somewhere that illustrates how to correct it. I've done it on mine but got no further. Essentially, the canopy piece needs to be dropped down and tilted up, with the nose cut in half horizontally and filled in. I kind of got deterred by the resin snapping and removing a few mm from the end of my thumb in the process (hence the halt in work on it ), but this is where my thread got to and shows the cut lines necessary; 

Cheers,

  WV908

Edited November 24, 2016 by WV908

[Madhatter]

thanks mate. Your's was one of the 2 WIP builds I had found online which alluded to the cutting of the cockpit section. Admittedly, I am not likely to go down that same route as I don't fancy trying to cut through the very thick resin walls. I'm going to look at building the base of the cockpit windows up a bit to eliminate the step at the top. The shape is not really that far out (according to the drawings - but I am not going to notice a difference of 2mm) It still looks like a VC-10 to me. 

My main concern is having to fill in the windows and use decals. It'll feel too much like a travel shop model if I do that, but if the information about the windows themselves is true, then I won't be left with much choice

[Madhatter]

hi everyone

 

I have made a start on this massive, beautiful bird because I just couldn't wait! I've been hanging to build this for ages.

In terms of pieces and the amount of them - well, there aren't many. Which is fine by me, but for $240.00 I would have hoped for a bit more of a parts count. This isn't a complaint by any stretch - it just doesn't feel like there is much to do. Well....so I thought. Then I started it and man - I have a LOT of work to do. But again - not a complaint. It's a challenge and I'm ready!!

In true Anigrand tradition, the body comes in 4 quarters. I have elected to glue front and rear sides together first then will join the 2 sides together later. I find it easier this way to get a better join in the middle. I did it this way with the C-5 and it worked well for me and so far, it's working well again. However, in test fitting, I found on the top front join there is a large gap where the 2 halve meet, so that will have to be a Milliput fill-in job I think. Normal putty won't do.

 

 

 

 

 

Also got the tails sorted. It was a bit warped, but some boiling water did the trick here. On some angles, the tail planes look like a bird....

 

 

 

 

 

The wings are also glued together and the step has been sanded away:

 

 

 

The engines are about to be started - although I have found that on 1 pair, the 2 halves don't meet properly:

 

 

this side not so bad

 

 

I have yet to find a model of an aircraft where the gear bay doors actually FIT the body when you want to display them closed:

 

 

I also discovered last night on a more exploratory look at the decals that there is no front cockpit window decal on the sheet - which has thrown my plans right out the door. This means I will have to work with the kit glazing and make the cockpit more realistic. I normally would never balk at that thought, but I am wondering how well the cockpit glazing it going to work. I may have to see if the boiling water trick will work to get it to the proper shape but it isn't the normal resin but that clear poly-urethane stuff and I don't know if that's OK to pour boiling water over without completely loosing it's shape. I shall ponder more, but - if you know of any 1/72 VC-10 cockpit window decals, please let me know. I really wish AA did some - that would be awesome!

 

As always, thanks for looking

Si

 

[WV908]

Hi Madhatter,

   Nice progress so far on the filler monster, glad to see you've had more success with reforming than I did! I'm using window decals from 26 decals, but I had a custom set done for ZD241. I think he did some cockpit window decals for me too that I don't need. I'll have a look in my stash tomorrow to see if I can find them. The only other thing is that I don't know where you bought your kit from, but I got mine brand new from Hannants at the equivalent of 184AUD, so there's something up there. The canopy you got in your kit is somehow too wide too. I've checked mine and it matches the fuselage shape where if should. If I were you I'd fire a message off to Anigrand for a new canopy and send a message to whoever you bought it from asking why you've been charged that much, if of course the extra charge isn't due to postage.

 

Cheers,

  WV908

Edited November 27, 2016 by WV908

[snapper_city]

Interesting project. Watching with interest. 

[Madhatter]

12 minutes ago, WV908 said:

I don't know where you bought your kit from, but I got mine brand new from Hannants

 

I bought it directly from Anigrand...

I'll email them later about the canopy though - I thought that was standard across all of them

If you do have the window decals, please do let me know as I would happily buy them from you

[WV908]

3 hours ago, Madhatter said:

 

I bought it directly from Anigrand...

I'll email them later about the canopy though - I thought that was standard across all of them

If you do have the window decals, please do let me know as I would happily buy them from you

 

Hi Madhatter,

   It's probably the US Import tax that's hit you then, but I'd definitely email them about that new canopy. Saying that though, the price at Hannants has since gone up by £30 so it's not as big a hit as I first thought. I'll let you know when I find the decals,

 

Cheers,

   WV908

Edited November 27, 2016 by WV908

[Madhatter]

Quick update. I have decided to have a go at fixing the cockpit up a bit and using the clear parts for their intended use

I have made up some instrument panels and whilst they are not an exact replica of the original (especially the main console) it doesn't matter too much as you wont see much of it anyway

 

 

 

 

 

Now I just need to make 2 control yokes as they were not included in this kit.  I should be able to come up with something that looks OK

Thanks for looking

Si

[Madhatter]

some colour:

 

 

 

 

 

those seats are woefully under-scaled..... nothing I can do about it now anyways.

[kev67]

The other thing that will need some correcting is the engine fan blades as they are in the wrong place and should be further back if you look at phoros

[Madhatter]

Thanks Kev - that's one thing I am onto as I type

 

In the mean time - the fuselage halves are together and ready for copious amounts of filler. I think I'll use Milliput for this job

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some big 'ol gaps there to fill but nothing unfixable

Thanks for looking

]Si

[Procopius]

On 12/6/2016 at 4:52 AM, Madhatter said:

 

For one hideous second, I thought that lump of...whatever it is...was your severed fingertip.

[Alpha Delta 210]

Great start Si. I look forward to seeing the next instalment.

[Madhatter]

last update before the Christmas holidays and I disappear for 2 weeks. I have glued most of the main extremities on (except the tail) and it now has a layer of primer on it to check for deficiencies - which it has a couple of, but surprisingly, not too many. I am happy with how it's come out so far.

I even got the cockpit glazing to sit on there without too much trouble. I filled in the spaces with Milliput and it's worked out nicely. The wing roots were also a cause for concern, but again, Milliput to the rescue. I love this stuff as a filler so easy to work with and it doesn't shrink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

who doesn't like a size comparison?

 

The the engines have been modified as well

 

 

As always, thanks for looking and have a safe and enjoyable Christmas

Si

 

[woody37]

Wow, you don't hang around, looks stunning already.

[kev67]

I recently sold my Anigrand VC10 to one of our club members for £75, don't think I could bear building another VC10, but what you have done is looking very good, are you having wheels up or down

[Madhatter]

I was going to have it wheels up, but I don't have a stand big or strong enough to support it. It weighs a LOT! So it'll have to be wheels down. 

[Madhatter]

hi all

 

I have been slowly plugging away at this and the base painting is all but done - there are a few bits to tidy up before the gloss coat goes on and the decals are applied

Base coated in Mr Color black Surface Primer and then sprayed with Tamiya XF-19. Metallics are Alclad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the part I am REALLY unhappy with - that tail. The decals were not designed to fit the Anigrand kit at all and what I didn't realise was that the tail had to be base painted white underneath so the colours would come out. I thought the coloured parts were already white underneath but they aren't and not knowing this, I had painted the tail black and cut out the wording and pictures from the decal to go over the top. Thanks goodness I only did the one side and not both! So, out with the white primer and over spray the ail again and then place said decals back on the tail. This led to white spots around where I had cut out the words etc so I tried to spray back around them carefully to get rid of the white. Needless to say, this has not worked out at all well and so I have written to F-Dcal to see if I can get their set for 1/144 scaled up to 1/72. If they agree to do this, I will strip the tail back and redo it

 

 

 

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll hear back from F-Dcal soon

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

Paint is looking good Si 

 

Did the decal instructions mention anything about base coats for the tail decal? Unfortunate you had this issue so close to the end!

[Madhatter]

thanks Ray

No, there are no instructions what so ever - not even a placement guide. Pretty pants for such an expensive set of decals!