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Airfix Sea Vixen


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Here we have the Airfix Sea Vixen, which took me two days over 3 months to complete (not that I was working on it every day though!)

 

Having 3 of these in the stash, I had this idea to build them all in different poses; one parked up with wings folded, one coming in to land, and one in flight mode with everything up and clean. So this is the first one ticked off!

 

I had originally intended to do a nice colourful drone or target tug, but with the intention of building  the radar I didn't know if either of these would actually have one fitted, so I elected for a more conservative colour. Decals were from a Model Alliance sheet. The other major catalyst was an abundance of reference material online, so opening up engine and boom panels was quite easy. 

 

So apart from the kit, I utilised a Pavla cockpit set and speed brake, Aires wheel bays, Eduard etched interiors, flap bays, ladders and masks, Master wing probes, and some Flightpath FAA chocks. Paints were by Humbrol, Xtracolor and automotive sprays, sealed with Klear floor polish. Everything else I added from plastic card, strip, rod, tube, solder wire. The wing folds had pipes, cables and bits added to them, even the tail hook bay I put hydraulic tanks in though you can't see them!The nose cone I was going to model folded right back but I left it too late when I tackled it and realised only after I'd painted the main fuselage that I'd have to cut a notch out of the starboard side to replicate this properly. I didn't fancy that so it's just representative more than accurate. I also initially used a vacform canopy but didn't like my effort of putting the white paint on so I used the kit version (the separate frame is easier to spray before attaching the glass!). The other thing I did was having thinned the plastic down on the removed engine panels, I was so eager to finish the decalling I put the rest of the "for sale" marking on, then only realised I had forgotten to put the remaining red No Step lines on first. So I did those the hard way - lay over the For Sale paint, and trim around the overlapping red areas while the decal was still wet. 

 As ever, my biggest problem was deciding which pics looked best so please excuse the selection : some with a Coastal carrier base, some against blue paper background, and some on a shelf. As usual, Bruce appears in some for scale

 

My next project might be the prone pilot Meteor F.8, which I've had in the stash for a while, but I want to find some reference pics of Meteor 8's with fuselage panels removed so I can go "one step behind" like I did with this.  Sadly these are being elusive at the mo!

 

 

EDIT: this is a linky to the build log photos, hope it works

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1366255540058006.1073741840.100000207207287&type=1&l=d6499d4bbf

 

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Edited by jasman71
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7 minutes ago, cathasatail said:

There we are :D What a stunning build! I especially love the detail you've put into the engine bay

 Thankyou. Here's a pic I took right at the start. It was sheet plastic wrapped around something to form a tube. The rings at the left end are layers of strip wound around it and glued

 

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Then later was boxed in like this

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And ended up like this..

 

85BE5F03-DF02-45AE-9772-EDE5A32FAE10_zps

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2 minutes ago, DAG058 said:

Excellent, I like your add ons! How did u make the Intake Covers? 

The main ones come with the Eduard set, but I made six more of the small triangular ones (as they only provide four) from very thin sheet and strip. 

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1 minute ago, ejboyd5 said:

Looks like Bruce can loosen his flight suit - he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I keep pulling him away from his Lightning and I don't think he's best pleased!

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18 minutes ago, Tbolt said:

Impressive build and great detail, really looks the part.

 

How was the Palva cockpit, was there a lot of thinning to get it to fit?

Thankyou, I think the only thinning I did with it was underneath where it impeded the airbrake bay and wheel bay 

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1 hour ago, jasman71 said:

Thankyou, I think the only thinning I did with it was underneath where it impeded the airbrake bay and wheel bay 

 

 

 

 

 

Great thanks for the info.

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1 hour ago, Tbolt said:

 

Great thanks for the info.

No worries. Cone to think of it the airbrake bay needed no trimming at all, it just dropped straight in, though I think ever the pedant I thinned some of the plastic that would be seen to more a scale thickness, for aesthetics rather than  necessity 

 

1078AC78-1B76-4E3F-A6E4-D30FEE4FF15E_zps

 

See the difference? :)

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9 hours ago, aurora-7 said:

Great looking build! Sea Vixens are perhaps the most exotic aircraft ever to grace the flight deck of any character.

I always thought they wouldn't have looked out of place in a Thunderbirds episode 

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What a superb build, with really well researched and executed extra detail.   Great markings choice as well.

 

I just love this kit, and knocking two OOB examples up as we speak, probably Airfixs' finest hour.

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4 minutes ago, Alpha Delta 210 said:

Without doubt, this is the best Sea Vixen model that I have seen on BM - a real show winner!

Thankyou 😊

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