George Aldrich Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 So, with the Nimrod project I've been chugging away with awaiting supplies, time to divert attentions to something new! What do we have in store? Ahh, something of the twin-boomed variety... And she will be built representing...this! I was fortunate enough to capture her departing at the weekend, for another local sortie. The kit scheme (and coincidentally the subject I will be modeling) is the well-covered WZ507/G-VTII of the Vampire Preservation Group. Being now based from my local airfield at Coventry and regularly flying, this model is in appreciation and dedication to those who maintain and fly her today, not least the pilot Mark, and a good friend, Tatiana. The aim is to have mini WZ507 finished with the eventual hope that she might see her full-size counterpart one day! So, on with the kit. Arrived yesterday and today, work began! The Eduard set comes with some very nice and refined details both for the cockpit and for the exterior. Airfix's Vampire has been well documented already and with very little issues, there is not much to say. A well fitting kit, grab one (or several) already! Here, the basic cockpit parts have been made up and Eduard's metal rudder pedals ready to be folded. And with all the metal bits on! Only the metal needing paint is attached first. Eduard needs you to remove one electrical box from the rear cockpit and some throttle box detail from the sidewall needs to be thinned down. All in all, rather therapeutic after a day at work! Yes, even the fiddly little rudder pedals that threaten to pop off the tweezers in a milisecond! Speaking of negatives, here's one... mis-formed transparencies. Crack in the canopy panes, and the plastic seems to have met in the mould when cooling and created some wonderful swirly lines in the otherwise exquisite frames. An inquiry has been sent to Airfix, hoping they will have a sprue that can be sent...please!! Cockpit bits primed and painted. Black undercoat and a dusting of dark grey for the cockpit tub. The flash has exaggerated the grey colour of the Eduard panel, but the cockpit matches it more, at least. Tomorrow will be weathering and attaching details. George 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Fast work with all that tiny PE to be attached. Shame about the canopy, but it's looking good otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 I will watch with interest. I have a couple in the stash and plan to build one as a Royal Navy machine. Great work so far. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 (edited) 17 hours ago, George Aldrich said: And she will be built representing...this! I was fortunate enough to capture her departing at the weekend, for another local sortie. George, Having pulled up a seat in the front row for this one, I am curious- in the photo you posted, I only see one clear position/nav light on the LH tailboom; is the RH one missing, or did the T11 just have the one? Looking good so far- I have this kit but haven't decided upon scheme/markings, but gotta be silver with yellow bands. Mike Whoops- just answered my own question! Did some photo searching on the 'ne,t and it appears that the tail nav light was only fitted on the port tailboom of the T11! Well, I'll be! Mike Edited September 20, 2018 by 72modeler added text 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Aldrich Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 9 hours ago, bigbadbadge said: I will watch with interest. I have a couple in the stash and plan to build one as a Royal Navy machine. Great work so far. All the best Chris Thanks Chris. Sounds like a cracking build you'll have! I'd love to build some more of these. The 'Admiral's Barge' appeals, as does some Swiss T55s! 1 hour ago, 72modeler said: George, Having pulled up a seat in the front row for this one, I am curious- in the photo you posted, I only see one clear position/nav light on the LH tailboom; is the RH one missing, or did the T11 just have the one? Looking good so far- I have this kit but haven't decided upon scheme/markings, but gotta be silver with yellow bands. Mike Whoops- just answered my own question! Did some photo searching on the 'ne,t and it appears that the tail nav light was only fitted on the port tailboom of the T11! Well, I'll be! Mike Thanks Mike! Sorry I didn't see this earlier to respond, I was away. An interesting detail, that now you mention it, I can't unsee! Crawling over the real jet post-sortie gathered a few reference images I can use to help the build along. Update due soon... George 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Aldrich Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 (edited) Today the painted PE parts were applied, the panel is especially convincing I think with the layered plates giving that depth to the gauges. I might add some varnish or clear-coat gloss to these dials to give the effect of glass. Or conversely I might just not. 😝 The whole shabang was given a flat coat and weathering added with an old friend - a pencil! Chipping bits of graphite on the edges of details and wiring on the cockpit walls, and giving the black a slightly broken patina. Probably little will be seen once the tub is put together, but as I plan to pose the canopy open, there stands a good chance it can be viewed. So far, so good! As I type the fuselage has been glued together and a start on the flaps has been made. I'm away at Duxford tomorrow, so while the wings and booms are drying now, filler will be applied tonight. More soon... George Edited September 21, 2018 by George Aldrich Removed image 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Very nice work, George. I'll also be at Duxford, hoping that I'll get to see the Vampires and MiG-15 do more than taxi down a wet runway this year! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Looking good! Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Aldrich Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 On 9/21/2018 at 11:39 PM, amblypygid said: Very nice work, George. I'll also be at Duxford, hoping that I'll get to see the Vampires and MiG-15 do more than taxi down a wet runway this year! Thanks! Looks like we had a fair day of flying given the conditions. Wx was very touch-and-go at times. Think seeing Jeff Bell's JP T5 in the RAF100 livery has to be a favourite from the day for me! On 9/21/2018 at 11:44 PM, Martian Hale said: Looking good! Martian 👽 Thanks Martian 😁 An update. Time to pick up the pace! The new tube of filler (putty) arrived! Vallejo's wondrous stuff. A new one for me, not being used to not having to sand to death Miliput and Humbrol fillers just to find lots of lost detail. Yes, the filler might not be able to fill big dents and holes that the other two products will still be useful for, but for little jobs, it's a dream! Smooths with a wet finger, or water applied by cottonbuds or a small paintbrush very easily, removing excess. Not sure why I didn't buy this years back. Good stuff! I should gather that Perfect Plastic Putty is very similar. Above you can see the tub has been closed together once plenty of metal offcuts were shoved into the nose. Bits of cruddy white metal I have had no use for, or no wish to fill the imperfections in (bits from the interesting 1/72 Esoteric Bell 47, if you may need to know). Boy, that was a challenge of a kit. No such evil surprises with the ole Vampire! All was swiftly enclosed, and for once, the fuselage fitted perfectly when every other one I've done, has left huge gaps because the panel and tub forced the halves apart. Bliss! Wing upper was attached to the filled and scribed booms, and the tailplane lined up neatly, so a testament to Airfix's engineering. Some unusual gaps between the booms and tailplane and stub joins, which a tiny bit of putty should set right. Once the intakes have been made up, and painted (with the intricate, somewhat invisible, but very pleasing full-length tunnels and Goblin compressor face) they slot in nicely into the fuselage pod. And then, the marriage of wings to fuselage! I found here it was best to join the centre engine access panels, to the fuselage with glue, and once set, work on one wing and set it with glue in the right location. And then once set, pull the other wing down into place and glue. This allows time to make sure the parts edges, which fall on panel lines, are neat and do not need to be filled so much. There was much chafing of the upper wing and intake mouths, which needed a touch of a blade to thin down. Some gentle persuasion from the folks at Tamiya to get one such wing to sit properly! You can see the cutouts in the wing Eduard wants you to make, to fit the PE flaps. Also the sink marks in the flap and middle wing area which will be addressed. As I write her flaps bays have been fitted and work commences on the PE exterior panels, before priming soon. George 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Shaping up nicely. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Nice work, George. I thought the flying was good yesterday given the constant rain. Highlights for me were the Vampires, the Typhoon display, the first sight for me of the A400M and F-35, and the sound of 19 Spitfires starting up while the Red Arrows display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Coming on nicely George. Gluing of the wings/fuselage sounds interesting. I will have to remember that when doing mine. Keep up the good work. All the best Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmouredSprue Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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