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Trumpeter 1:48 Scale RA-5C Vigilante


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Hello friends! 🤝

 

Just looked at the @Alan P‘s resurrected thread and decided to post some pictures of my Vigilante. I bought this kit some time ago for my friend and feel no rush to build it - just putting some bits together from time to time...

 

The box is large and sturdy:

31882908437_2e5b2f1cc4_k.jpg

 

And all the details are well-packed there:

39859103183_1ab3fbfb66_k.jpg

 

The Runner A contains the two fuselage halves (very big, I must say):

46771834472_e7dcc120a1_k.jpg

 

The wings and protected intakes are on a Runner B:

46099123574_53418e716a_k.jpg

 

The Runner C with control surfaces:

39859105333_d1fb5897c5_k.jpg

 

And D with a pylons:

45909285725_c127d5691b_k.jpg

 

The Runner E contains wheel wells and the cockpit details:

32948598548_7089bf3505_k.jpg

 

And the two Runners G is for the engines and some other parts:

32948598478_1c2471627b_k.jpg

 

The clear Runner H, the tail and ventral canoe are packed in a separate plastic bags within a separate cardboard box:

45909285735_44ada095f7_k.jpg

 

An instruction and the painting sheets with a protected decals is also here:

31882910167_5a3a610365_k.jpg

 

The top box cover is already employed by my Wool Companion:

46771835002_8e3182ba19_k.jpg

 

And some parts are off the trees:

32948598358_5fe21283c8_k.jpg

 

I want to make as much little subassemblies as possible to speed up the build... As you can see, the seats are already glued and wheels already dry-fitted:

31882910277_fc23a27404_k.jpg

 

The plastic is very good and the fit is well, too.

 

Thanks for looking! 🙂

 

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2 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Ah, excellent! It's about time we saw one of these being built up!

Sooner or later!

 

3 minutes ago, Alan P said:

I am pulling up my chair, opening the popcorn and ready to watch!

Thanks for an interest, Alan! OK, some closer look:

32948597458_2ae42d5c10_k.jpg

 

The flash pods’ halves assembled:

46032669875_da4173ebae_k.jpg

 

Cheers! 😎

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5 minutes ago, sinnerboy said:

Lovely looking plane, watching with interest as have one in the stash.

Thanks @sinnerboy🤝

 

5 minutes ago, sinnerboy said:

now wouldn't that be some thing in 32nd scale  🤤

I think that even the 72nd is enough for this large bird! 😄 But the 48th is better, my fingers says...

 

Cheers! 🙃

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13 minutes ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Thanks @sinnerboy🤝

 

I think that even the 72nd is enough for this large bird! 😄 But the 48th is better, my fingers says...

 

Cheers! 🙃

Nah Nikolay

 

Big is beautiful, gotta love 'em big....big.....big.....bigger

😊

 

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51 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Nice project!

Thanks friend! 🤝

 

51 minutes ago, exdraken said:

In the "Specialists" GB another one was jusr started as well!

Oh, I need to check it - thanks again!

 

52 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Great time for the Vigilante ahead here on BM!

Yeah, these birds are not so popular; I hope this thread with all of you make the process interesting and enjoyable.

 

Cheers! 😎

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Hello guys! 👋

 

Some work with the wheel wells, flash pods and an engines done:

46032669935_6e92a53dd4_k.jpg

 

These J79-GE-8 engines looks not so bad OOB, but I’m not decided yet to paint them or not:

32074710357_9d56180102_k.jpg

 

Thanks for looking! 🙃

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Hello friends,

 

the cockpit parts are cleaned off and ready for the further assembly:

33499527098_1d74129434_k.jpg

 

Dry-fitting shows the good results, but I have no idea why the Trumpeter engineers provide the IPs in the clear plastic:

33499527188_cf31a1ad3b_k.jpg

 

Cheers! 😎

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Hello guys! 🤝

 

The next step was a nose gear strut. All the details were prepared, the cylindrical actuator was placed on its correct position (as on the photos) and I leave an excessive plastic (for ejector pins) for some experiment:

32074710377_d043ab3f0b_k.jpg

 

The Vigilante has some noticeable wiring on the struts, so I decided to imitate it with a black fishing line. I drilled the holes and now the strut is ready for painting:

46144471495_4fd14f899f_k.jpg

 

I performed the same steps for the main gear struts and now it looks like this:

46144472525_bddd3f5d79_k.jpg

 

The bad thing is that I ordered the fishing line with a ø0.6 diameter, but received the ø0.21 and the wiring now looks a bit off-scale. The good thing is that I can drill only the ø0.3 holes, because of a small size of the parts.

 

Thanks for looking! 😺

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A word of caution: If you glue the upper and lower wing halves together before you install the leading edge droops and the trailing edge flaps... you will discover the wing cross section is too thin to accommodate the high lift devices. You have two choices: Thicken the wing cross section with plastic sheet, or sand down the mating surfaces of the leading edge droops and flaps, to reduce their respective cross sections. Test fit the parts together without glue and you will see what i mean. Vigilantes were seldom if ever parked or shut down with the leading edge droops and flaps down.

 

-d-

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5 hours ago, David H said:

You have two choices: Thicken the wing cross section with plastic sheet, or sand down the mating surfaces of the leading edge droops and flaps, to reduce their respective cross sections.

Thanks, David! Looks like this kit have some «secrets», not discovered by me yet... The truth is that the wings is on their sprues. 😂

 

5 hours ago, David H said:

Vigilantes were seldom if ever parked or shut down with the leading edge droops and flaps down.

It’s a great advice and information. 🤝 My friend’s is wish to build the wings in folded position and the rudder is in unfolded. The rudder assembly is tricky, too.

 

Also, I glued an engines without a painting - no, thanks!

 

Cheers! 😎

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6 hours ago, quangster said:

Great start, Nikolay! Looking forward to seeing some color on the parts 😉

Thanks, Quang! Actually, I painted the cockpit and some undercarriage details, so I’ll post an images when the cockpit assembly will complete.

 

6 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

How big is that thing?

475 mm as the information on the box says.

 

6 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Definitely got my attention!

Thank you!

 

4 hours ago, feifeitim said:

I'm also pulling up seat, this looks like it could be a great build! Very nice start so far Nikolay!

Thanks! But I think it’ll be not so fast build...

 

Thank you, guys! 🤝

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Another great subject, and great-looking build!

 

I was thinking of getting the Nautilus laser-cut internal wooden frame for mine, but it passed me by. Think plastic card bulkheads would avoid the fuselage assembly being too "springy". Shamefully, mine has stayed mostly unbuilt for fourteen years.

 

Tony 

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2 hours ago, tony.t said:

Another great subject, and great-looking build!

Thanks, Tony!

 

2 hours ago, tony.t said:

I was thinking of getting the Nautilus laser-cut internal wooden frame for mine, but it passed me by. Think plastic card bulkheads would avoid the fuselage assembly being too "springy".

I skipped that option to avoid spending additional money... But I made my own construction inside the fuselage:

46548352075_4c8a5fc395_k.jpg

 

2 hours ago, tony.t said:

Shamefully, mine has stayed mostly unbuilt for fourteen years.

I’m not surprised! I’m already thinking about to put this in the garbage can.

 

Also, I installed the main undercarriage bays:

46548351725_1a6959a76c_k.jpg

 

Cheers! 🙂

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5 hours ago, basket said:

Keep on !

Thanks, @basket👍

 

5 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Good game !!

Thanks, CC!

 

5 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

A vigilante, I'll follow if you Don't mind it.

Sure thing, you’re welcome!

 

Thank you, guys! 🤝

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12 hours ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

I’m not surprised! I’m already thinking about to put this in the garbage can.

Nooooo! 😱 Keep going, it's worth it in the end!

 

I added the Nautilus brace on mine, but at the time postage costs from the USA weren't at the ridiculous levels they are now. 

 

Alan

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