Swiss Air Force Venom Mk.1 J-1577 from exercise PHOENIX

[Basilisk]

Definitely want to build another de Havilland aircraft in parallel to my Mosquito build. I do like the twin tail jets de Havilland designed so I decided to build a CMR Venom in Swiss colours.

 

The Swiss Air Force had some Venoms painted in some special colour schemes and the aircraft I decided to build is J-1577 which got painted in this striking scheme at Ambri in October 1979 as part of exercise PHOENIX.

 

 

 

How did it come to this scheme you may ask. Well, it is a long story. From 1976 onward the retirement of the first Venoms was foreseeable. However, some of the Venoms with high airframe hours should be used for some special training of the maintenance troops. In the autumn of 1978, the first exercise of a "war damage repair" was conducted during the annual Wiederholungskurs (Refreshing course - the pilots flying the Venoms flew the type only for five weeks in autumn and not all of them were pilots when not flying Venoms) under the official title PHOENIX.

 

The chosen Venom was fired on by 20mm canon and rifle ammunition and the resulting damage had to be repaired as quickly as possible by the maintenance troops under the supervision and assistance of the Air Force's technical service. The occasion was then used to paint the Venom in a very colourfull scheme before the presumably last flight of the aircraft after the repairs!

 

J-1577 was the chosen aircraft to go through the shooting and repair cycle for the third exercise PHOENIX and upon its completion received the scheme shown above for its last flight out of Ambri and got scrapped two days later.

 

It has to be mentioned that the painting of these Venoms happened without the permission of the Swiss Air Force high command and wasn't apparently appreciated But we modelers can now build some Venoms in very colorful schemes.

 

Not a cheap kit but there is everything in the box to make a very detailed model

 

Originally I wanted to build the Alley Cat 1/48 Vampire in Swiss markings. The kit looks great in the box, but after having a closer look, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed as it is a bit lacking in details. The following pictures illustrate why I was disappointed with the Alley Cat Vampire kit.

The front part of the fuselage is a bit undernourished. But the resulting gap can be corrected of course.

 

But what is more difficult to correct is the shape of the nose.

The kit below is the CMR Venom kit which has the same nose as the Swiss Vampire received the modified nose after the retirement of the Venom. It is a rather complex shape and the CMR representation is so much better.

 

The other issue is that the Vampire and Venom have the flaps extended when parked.

Unfortunately there is no option with the Alley Cat kit to have them extended. If CMR can do it in 1/72 scale it should be surely possible to do it in the larger scale too. So the Alley Cat Vampire is no back in its box.
 

As the GB commenced today, I spent some time on the Venom, removing parts from the casting blocks and see how thing fit.

It was a bit disappointing to see that the fuselage of the CMR Venom is a bit too narrow as well

 

But with a gap of 1mm it isn't too bad. I decided to glue a plastic strip of 0.5mm on each half. I then can glue the two half together like a normal plastic kit

 

Well, its a start and I will try hard to complete this kit in the time frame of this GB

Cheers, Peter

Edited February 20, 2017 by Basilisk

[Robert Stuart]

I do like that scheme Peter, even if Swiss High command didn't appreciate it.

[MickE]

I agree it is a very striking scheme.

Mick

[Basilisk]

Got some resin primer onto the internal parts.

This helps in showing the detail which is difficult to see with the cream coloured resin.

 

Then I added the PE parts followed by a black primer.

Just when I thought it is now ready for painting I ralized that I forgot to add some of the PE parts. Have to do that first before I can get the paintbrush in action.

 

Thanks for watching. Cheers, Peter

[Col.]

Stunning subject choice Peter and surely one of the mose colourful ones in the GB. Sorry to see both kits are presenting such issues but I see your talents have come to the fore once again and solved the problem.

[Basilisk]

Thanks Col. This scheme was actually the creation of popeye (Rolf Blattner) as he was a member of the maintenance troops at Ambri at the time - Not many modellers can say they painted the real thing! So this model is kind of an other tribute for popeye.

 

Got a bit more done over the weekend. Fitted the missing PE parts and did some detail painting.

 

The kit contains some digital printed PE parts from Eduard. But the colour of the IP was grey which isn't correct as it should be black. So I gave it a cote of black, trying to keep some of the printed stuff visible.

Left before and right after touching it up. I think it looks much better now.

 

The next step was to add a bit of wear. I kept it in limits as it can look odd in the small scale if over done.

 

Here some close-up of the rear cockpit and the MB-3 seat.

The seat isn't the best casting, but considering how small it is, I am pleased how it turned out.

 

I hope to get it all together next weekend. But back on the Mossie for now.

Cheers, Peter

 

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Basilisk

[CliffB]

Thank you for bringing this to the party Peter.  It's a stunning scheme, with an interesting history and you are executing it beautifully.

 

Cliff

[Basilisk]

It is a pleasure Cliff. I only hope I will do it justice.

 

Got a bit further with the cockpit.

The rear part is now fitted.

 

Next were the throttle quadrant push rods. I replaced the resin one with brass tubing which was a bit easier to handle.

Even though I widened the fuselage by 1 mm, the IP was still wider and I had to make some grooves to accommodate it.

 

Control stick and IP in place.

 

I won't place the rudder pedals as I prefer to ad more weight instead - and they won't be visible anyway when all is buttoned up.

 

Here the other side.

This little cockpit turned out looking very busy, just a shame that little will be seen in the finished model. Adding weight is next and then I can close her up.

 

Next few days will see the DH 88 Comet on my bench.

Cheers, Peter

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2017 by Basilisk

[DAG058]

The cockpit is looking very good.

[Basilisk]

Thanks DAG058. Did manage adding the weight.

I used Liquid Gravity together with epoxy resin to hold it in place - worked a treat.

 

To make sure I have enough wait in the nose I also added some lead behind the cockpit - the fuselage feels now rather heavy!

 

The fuselage is now ready to be closed, but unfortunately I came across this problem...

 

Cheers, Peter

[Robert Stuart]

Your build looks good, masses of lead though! Two starboard booms? Ouch

 

On 18/02/2017 at 11:40, Basilisk said:

 

 

 

Looking at that photo, I'm wondering if the green and grey, on the tip-tank, have been swapped over in the profile?

[nimrod54]

Looking at the amount of weight you have managed to squeeze in there Peter, there should be no danger of it being a tail sitter. Great detail and progress so far.

[Basilisk]

8 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Your build looks good, masses of lead though! Two starboard booms? Ouch

Thanks Robert. Yes the kit contained two starboard booms. Fortunately I have another CMR Venom Mk.1 kit in the stash I can borrow the port boom from.

 

This kind of mix-ups unfortunately are not unusual with CMR kits but they always send the correct parts after contacting them.

 

8 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Looking at that photo, I'm wondering if the green and grey, on the tip-tank, have been swapped over in the profile?

It does look that way. I actually haven't payed much attention to the painting of the model yet. I am still undecided if I should use the decals for the bird motive or if I shall painting it. Considering the size of the decals and all the little lumps and bumps they go over, painting is most likely the approach with a better looking result.

 

5 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

Looking at the amount of weight you have managed to squeeze in there Peter, there should be no danger of it being a tail sitter. Great detail and progress so far.

Yes it turned out heavier than expected - I only hope that the undercarriage legs are strong enough

 

Cheers, Peter

[MickE]

Great looking cockpit.

 

Mick

[Basilisk]

Thanks Mick.

 

Finally got the fuselage closed this week. The shims to widen the fuselage worked well as I could glue it together like a normal plastic kit

 

 

All sanded smooth and re-scribed the panel lines where the fuselage joined.

 

The cockpit looks sweet.

 

And it is rather small. The coin is 18.75 mm in diameter.

 

Wings need a bit of work first before they are ready to be attached to the fuselage.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Robert Stuart]

That is looking very good Peter

 

On 25/03/2017 at 11:36, Basilisk said:

And it is rather small. The coin is 18.75 mm in diameter.

For comparison, I gather a 1p coin is slightly larger, at 20.3 mm - which makes that 'pit very small indeed!

[Basilisk]

Thanks Robert. I managed to progress a bit further during the week.

 

The wings needed a bit of cleaning up and tidying up some imperfection in the casting.

The creamy colour of the resin makes it rather difficult to spot these imperfections.

 

The wings are a butt joint to the fuselage with the help of a recess at the rear and two raised parts at the front of the fuselage. I decided to give epoxy glue a go as I was a bit concerned that CA glue will will be difficult to apply at this large area.

The 15 minute epoxy glue worked surprisingly well, giving plenty of time to "tune" the placement. In addition, any glue which oozed out at the joint was easily removed with thinner before it hardened.

 

securing the second wing until the glue set was a bit of a challenge.

The fit of the wings was remarkably good.

 

Unfortunately this wasn't the case with the air intake inserts.

 

They will need a fair amount of filler and contouring to blend them into the wing.

This will be the task for next week.

 

Cheers, Peter

Edited March 31, 2017 by Basilisk

[DaveyGair]

The cockpit looks great and gives me a lot of guidance for my CMR FB 1 build, heh heh.

 

Am now wondering about the narrow fuselage, mmmm........

 

 

Davey.

[Basilisk]

1 hour ago, DaveyGair said:

The cockpit looks great and gives me a lot of guidance for my CMR FB 1 build, heh heh.

 

Am now wondering about the narrow fuselage, mmmm........

 

 

Davey.

 

Thanks Davey. The cockpit is indeed very detailed and I was very pleased how it turned out.

 

In regards to the width of the fuselage, the drawing which comes with the kit is a good guide as it is  in 1/72 scale. An other easy check it the shape of the hole for the jet engine in the rear. If it is not circular, the fuselage needs to be corrected. The kit has tons of detail, but needs a bit of work to make it shine.

 

I wish you a successful build of your Venom.

Cheers, Peter

[DAG058]

@Basilisk have you managed any more with this one? I'm looking forward to seeing the paint go on.

[Basilisk]

1 hour ago, DAG058 said:

@Basilisk have you managed any more with this one? I'm looking forward to seeing the paint go on.

Thanks for asking. I did, but progress was slower than I was hoping for due to this.

 

I wasn't impressed when I noticed this

 

First I thought I glued the wing crooked to the fuselage, but the distortion is outside the air intake region, so the wings are at the correct place attached to the fuselage.

 

The next challenge was getting the booms aligned in all the axes. I needed three goes at it

 

It didn't help that the grey boom was 1mm too short

I had to fabricate a spacer to correct this.

 

Then it was time correcting all the distortions in the wing with the help of hot water.

Better now, but still a bit of an uneven wing on the right - I guess the pilot pulled a few too many Gs

 

And finally with the horizontal stabilizer in place.

 

 

Not perfect, but the wing tip tanks are now equal distance over the ground and the horizontal stabilizer is horizontal too.

But the G force damage is now a permanent feature

 

Still needs a bit of filler here and there before I can spray the primer on. I am sure there will be some rework in order as imperfections are very difficult to see on this beige coloured resin.

 

Will I ever get some paint on this model? Lets hope so.

Cheers, Peter

 

[Grandboof]

Getting there Looking good 

Martin H

[nimrod54]

Blimey Peter, well done on resolving some of those issues. I would probably have sent this on a test flight by now, but you have been able to square things up nicely and the 'G Force Damage' is barely noticeable.

[DAG058]

Nice recovery on the wings and boom, they look pretty perfect to me! 

 

[Basilisk]

On 15/05/2017 at 0:51 AM, Grandboof said:

Getting there Looking good 

Martin H

Thanks Martin. Getting there - Yes. Looking good - I am not so sure

 

On 15/05/2017 at 3:44 AM, nimrod54 said:

Blimey Peter, well done on resolving some of those issues. I would probably have sent this on a test flight by now, but you have been able to square things up nicely and the 'G Force Damage' is barely noticeable.

Sending the model on a "test flight" did cross my mind sever times I bent the wings with lots of force in hot water and I was surprised that the epoxy glue did stay put!

 

On 15/05/2017 at 6:19 AM, DAG058 said:

Nice recovery on the wings and boom, they look pretty perfect to me! 

 

Thanks Dag. Wouldn't call it perfect, but fortunately the warpage is only noticeable looking from straight on. And I think with paint on the model it will be less noticeable even more.

 

And after all, this aircraft underwent battle damage repair

 

Cheers, Peter