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S&M Viscount improvements


Viking

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Vickers Viscount 800

S&M Models

 

I've got a few of these kits in the stash and decided to have a go at building one. It has been criticised for being 'clunky' with heavy trailing edges and too blunt a nose among other things, so some improvements are in order. It actaully fits together quite well, and so for I've concluded that it isn't as a bad a little kit as has sometimes been made out.

Starting point was Skippies valauable post  on this site, for which I acknowledge his useful contribution and all round knowldge of airliners of this period.

 

First thing to do was sand down the wing halves of their inner surfaces to get finer trailing edges. It took about 20 minutes per part and was very easy to do, likewise the trailing edge of the rudder and fin on the fuselage halves. The tailpalnes are single mouldings per side, and have to be scraped with a blade and sanded.Basic and standard modelling skilss really.

 

Next up was the nose, which is too blunt. It would be awkward to just slap Milliput on and expect it to stay, so I razor sawed a cross cut into it, and glued in some strips of plasticard to give the milliput something to grab on to. Left for 24 hours, I then very approximately shaped the strips. I'm afraid I only have very poor photos, but you can see what I mean.

 

vis1_zpswauhxn62.jpg

 

vis2_zps4zayrdwk.jpg

 

It was then packed with Milliput and sanded to a better shape, using the reference photos linked  in Skippies post.

Unmodified kit on top, modified on lower. The cockpit 'bulge' is also too square and was rehaped to a more rounded profile by sanding.

 

vis4_zpszqajzhci.jpg

 

vis3_zpsc7s7xn5h.jpg

 

vis5_zps5nan2dbk.jpg

 

Props were also scraped thinner and reshaped

 

.vis6_zpsiokf7l60.jpg

 

And now in primer. I'll stop posting  now because photobucket is running at a snails pace and getting very frustrarting

 

vis8_zpseevvdsme.jpg

 

Thanks for looking

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The fairly straight forward extension to the nose makes all the difference, making it much more realistic.  These are basically good little kits and are readily available at reasonable cost.  I suspect there are many of us airliner modellers with more than a few lurking in the stash, so any tips on how to improve them are always welcome.

 

Looks really good now with your improvements, especially when compared to the original mouldings.

 

Love to see this one when finished ! Thanks for sharing.

 

Don

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Thanks chaps,

 

On 2/13/2017 at 7:52 AM, pinky coffeeboat said:

Any thoughts on colours?

 

Jeff 

 

Jeff, I ordered this from Ray at 26 Decals;

 

vis10_zpsdhdwwlac.jpg

 

It's a laser set, but very nice. I also got the 'Viscount Detail set', having seen how good it was on Neil's British Midland Viscount

 

On 2/13/2017 at 8:39 AM, woody37 said:

Looking forwards to this John, I've got one stalled at the same stage so this. Ignite be the inspiration to move it forwards. I think Chris may have a room full of builds at the same stage too 😂

 

Funny thing is, I don't think any of his kits came with wings. He's got an impressive collection of built up fuselages though.

I'll take some Red Bull over next time I see him. :P

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi John,

 

I have a Viscount on the go currently but wasn't aware of the nose and wings issues.  I'll follow along with you and hope to learn more on this kit. 

 

As to Chris' builds, at least mine have their wings attached!  Here is my 1:144 air park, all waiting in the wings (pun intended) for me get my act together or build the courage to try airbrushing.

DSCF3057_1024.JPG

 

With regards to decals, I don't worry about those, I don't seem to ever reach that phase!  :banghead:

 

Mike

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On 13/02/2017 at 8:39 AM, woody37 said:

 I think Chris may have a room full of builds at the same stage too 😂

 

2 hours ago, bootneck said:

Hi John,

As to Chris' builds, at least mine have their wings attached! 

Mike

Sod off the lot of ya.  :tease:

 

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11 hours ago, Viking said:

Thanks chaps,

 

 

Jeff, I ordered this from Ray at 26 Decals;

 

vis10_zpsdhdwwlac.jpg

 

It's a laser set, but very nice. I also got the 'Viscount Detail set', having seen how good it was on Neil's British Midland Viscount

 

Nice scheme.  I've often considered getting this sheet so seeing it on yours will make my mind up. One of the areas I've not been able to satisfactorily deal with are the exhausts, I want to create a "duct" look into the depths of the engine nacelle but am not really sure what to make it with. Maybe as it's on the underside it's not worth worrying about but it is one of those areas where improvement could be considered. 

Anyone any ideas?

 

And where do cuts need to be made to covert it to the 700 series?

 

 

Jeff 

Edited by pinky coffeeboat
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Watching with interest John as this kit was the subject of my very first BM post back in 2009 :

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/31632-air-rhodesia-vp-ync/

 

I'm afraid I didn't go the extra mile on the nose as I just resorted to slapping Milliput on before attacking it with 240 grit, and I never did get around to thinning the trailing edges. Having said that, I was lucky enough to get a detail set (including propeller blades) - I'm pretty sure they were sourced from Ray at the time ?

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3 hours ago, mitchem said:

 Having said that, I was lucky enough to get a detail set (including propeller blades) - I'm pretty sure they were sourced from Ray at the time ?

 

Yes, Ray did a photo-etch set, sadly no longer available.  I managed to get two sets, but unfortunately I have four kits.  Mind you, I'm occasionally tempted by the Hannants offer of a case of 40, working out at GBP1.25 each!

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On 14/02/2017 at 6:50 PM, Viking said:

Funny thing is, I don't think any of his kits came with wings. He's got an impressive collection of built up fuselages though.

I'll take some Red Bull over next time I see him. :P

 

John

 

No point in finishing any as some bugger keeps coming over and pinching my decals.  :tease:

19 hours ago, pinky coffeeboat said:

 

One of the areas I've not been able to satisfactorily deal with are the exhausts, I want to create a "duct" look into the depths of the engine nacelle but am not really sure what to make it with.

 

Jeff 

Jeff.

Have a look at some thin wall aluminium tubing, about 3 or 4mm diameter.  It can be bent with care and shaped quite easily to the oval required for the Dart engines.

I made a set for a 1/144 scale Fokker F27 They were really easy to make and looked far better than the kit offerings. Unfortunately, some bugger went away with those as well.  :shrug:

One of these days I really will get something finished  I promise.

 

Chris.

Edited by stringbag
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On 2/14/2017 at 7:53 PM, bootneck said:

As to Chris' builds, at least mine have their wings attached! 

 

Mike

 

Nice collection Mike, some interesting looking aircraft in there. The Sea Vixen & Javelin especially.

 

On 2/15/2017 at 6:06 AM, pinky coffeeboat said:

 

 One of the areas I've not been able to satisfactorily deal with are the exhausts, I want to create a "duct" look into the depths of the engine nacelle but am not really sure what to make it with. Maybe as it's on the underside it's not worth worrying about but it is one of those areas where improvement could be considered. 

Anyone any ideas?

 

Jeff 

 

Jeff, I had similar thought, and used a bit of tubing pushed in and trimmed off. I took a photo but forgot to include it in my initial post.

This was after they were trimmed flush, but before I reamed them out a bit more. It probably would have been better to fit the tubing in before cementing the wings togther.

 

vis7_zpsahp2mnce.jpg

 

Now I'm not saying that Chris keeps starting too many kits, and then another, and another....

But I nipped around to his house the other day, and the computer tower was holding this lot;

 

vis11_zpszjuthf5w.jpg

 

We could have a game of 'spot the kit'. I'll start with an Airfix Trident in there, 2nd from left. :rofl:

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

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Hi John,

Interesting to see the canopies attached before priming.  I like the big thingy with the fuselage inserts. I suppose being without wings does mean Chris can get more models in the display cabinet!

 

I'm building myself up to doing my first practice airbrushing, before I let myself loose on the Viscount, and thought I would try a 1:72 scale kit first.  It's mahoosive  :o (good job I didn't go for a 1:48 scale) so I shouldn't miss with the spray on that one!

20140103.jpg

 

Mike

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Nice idea with the tubing, I'll give it a shot on my next build.

 

I reckon from left to right: 

707 (Minicraft?)

Trident 3 (F-rsin)

DC-7 (Roden?)

Britannia  (Roden)

BAC 1-11 (Authentic Airliners)

DC-9 (Fly? AA?)

F-27 (Doyusha)

727 (Airfix with flight deck transparency from Daco)

737 (Minicraft)

737 (Skyline)

737 (?)

A319 (Revell)

737-800 (Revell but it's grey plastic...could be 737-400 from Skyline)

L1011 TriStar (Eastern Express)

777 (Minicraft)

 

Quite a nice line up.

 

Edited by pinky coffeeboat
Enjoying looking at the picture
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Very interesting thread John.  I've built the S&M Viscount twice in BEA red square and Aer Lingus liveries.  Both builds were more or less OOB and it's interesting to see it in expert hands.  The one thing I never bothered with was trying to improve the props - both models were fitted with Aeroclub white metal ones - but you've certainly done a good job on them.  

 

On 15/02/2017 at 11:37 PM, gazza l said:

Looking good so far, love the Viscount, shame nobody has done a really decent kit of it yet,  particularly in 1/72.

 

gazza l 

 

The F-RSIN Viscounts are quite good although like all F-RSIN kits they need a bit of work.  As well as the choice of the 700 and 800, F-RSIN give you alternative noses and engines. 

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1 hour ago, stringbag said:

Bloody camera phones. :rofl:

Try again Jeff.. Some are correct but you have a few wrong guesses. Nine correct that time.

Chris

 

 

 

OK, I'll change the DC-7 for a Minicarft DC-6

the Doyusha F-27 for Welsh Models vacform

Second and possibly third 737 are from Airfix (maybe Eastern Express)

the grey primed model at the right is either Authentic Airliners A300 or Braz A300 (but unless you've corrected the nose, it doesn't look like it).

 

Sorry for the thread drift, I love seeing other people's in progress models!

 

Jeff

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You're getting colder Jeff.

Spot on with No. 1 and 2

The 3rd from the left is the Minicraft DC-7 which I'm converting to a freighter.

No. 4,6,8,10,11,12 and 14 are correct.

You are correct with the Welsh Models F-27 and close with the A300 which is the Airfix kit which has been fully re-scribed.

 

I'll confirm them all later.

No need to apologise for hijacking John's thread seeing as he started the drift and I'm sure Woody will be along soon to add some sage remarks :tease:

 

 

Catch you later

 

Chris

 

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