FROG RA-5C Vigilante

[Andre B]

Oh, I forgot that the Hasegawa Vigilante was a Frog origin!

 

I has one somewhere in the stash too, intended to be built as an SEA-camouflaged Vigilante. I also have the Airfix Vigi and "backdated" it to an A-3A (blame an well knewn FSM-editor). There is also an Trumpeter RA-5C in the stash. Maybe someday they will be built...

 

Following your build with great interest!

 

Cheers / André

[JOCKNEY]

Great to see this one return to the workbench. I'm sure the work you are doing now will make all the difference when it's completed 

 

Cheers Pat

[Retired Bob]

On 22/08/2019 at 04:13, Andre B said:

Oh, I forgot that the Hasegawa Vigilante was a Frog origin!

Andre, the FROG kit is made by Hasegawa, there was an exchange of kits between the two companies back in the late 60s.

I have assembled all the main parts, filled and sanded it is just about ready for a coat of primer.  With all the sanding I have lost the ejection seat firing handle and the instrument panel has come loose, but they can be easily fixed before fitting the canopy, usually I would not fit the ejection seat until I was ready to fit the canopy, but luckily I checked and it would not fit with the fuselage glued together.

 

[PeterB]

Bob,

 

That is one good looking plane. As I said before it just looks better than the Airfix one which seems a bit angular and slab sided by comparison.

 

Pete

[Retired Bob]

1 minute ago, PeterB said:

That is one good looking plane. As I said before it just looks better than the Airfix one which seems a bit angular and slab sided by comparison.

I never had the Airfix Vigilante, I remember the box art, I agree it is a good looking plane, but I do not know how I ended up owning this FROG one, it's not the thing I usually build, century series fighters, yes WW2 yes, WW2 tanks yes, but a big recce jet?  perhaps that's why it was still in my stash after all that time.

[Rabbit Leader]

The thing that annoys me about GB's is that I often see kit subjects that I've never contemplated building ... then see something like this and want to build one! This Big 'Vig' is looking lovely. 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Bob

Can we have another instalment of the Vigilante please, lots of us are eager for an update.

cheers Pat

[Retired Bob]

On 07/09/2019 at 18:44, JOCKNEY said:

Can we have another instalment of the Vigilante please, lots of us are eager for an update.

Sorry for the delay, usual problems, fill, sand repeat, then when I applied some primer, trapped wind, or I should say air bubbles in the sprue gloop.  I had the same problem with the other FROG kits, that's why there has been no updates, not much to photo when you are just filling, sanding and re-scribing.  I'm getting over the hump now and getting some paint on, though the high humidity of late has made spraying a pain, and drying time has been extended.  So here I am with the underside painted white and the first of the light gull grey  applied.  I have fettled the canopy and made it fit better, so a final polish and I will fit it, I found some better main wheels in the spares box, the kit ones are too skinny with spurious  hub detail.  Here's how it stands.

The white wing leading edges will be painted in coroguard "silver".  If everything goes right I will post more pictures soon.

[TonyW]

There's something about the grey and white '60's scheme that really appeals to me. Add that to a great big beautiful beast of a plane and you have a proper winning combination. I can't wait to see yours finished.

Are you keeping it clean, or adding fuel tanks? Both would look the part and I would be hard put to decide.

[Johnson]

10 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

usual problems, fill, sand repeat,

Worth it in the end! Impressive plane, and build. I'm sure it's going to look very impressive!

[Retired Bob]

15 hours ago, TonyW said:

Are you keeping it clean, or adding fuel tanks? Both would look the part and I would be hard put to decide.

Most sorties flown by Vigilantes were clean winged, because the linear weapons bay between the engines was utilised for fuel tanks, however to make this aircraft look even better I am putting a couple of drop tanks on the inboard pylons.  Applied a second coat of gray today, so far no problems, markings are going to be RVAH-1, Smoking Tigers.

[Retired Bob]

The fortunes of modelling, over the weekend I applied some of the decals to check how they have stood the test of time, somewhere around 45 years old they worked perfectly.

The tail surfaces have had the raised panel lines replaced with scribed ones, painting completed and decals applied and are now finished, apart from some light weathering.

The canopy was rubbed down to remove any scratches and then polished. however as can be seen, stress fractures have appeared, I dipped it into future but it's not improved the appearance.

 

[Johnson]

That’s a great shame about the canopy. But it’s a pretty simple shape. Have you ever tried ‘slam moulding’ a canopy?

 

Nice decals! I had the same experience with my Harrier decals earlier in this GB. They’d been in an unheated loft for 40 years, worked fine.

[Rabbit Leader]

Yeah Bob, some good and bad news here. The decals look great, however that canopy is a bit of a shame. Hopefully you can find a replacement somewhere if these stress marks are a big problem. Perhaps the photo is overemphasising things a bit. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[TonyW]

That tail is coming together really well. The very neat colour demarcation between the white and grey is especially nice.

 

The canopy issue is unfortunate. Depending on how it looks on the final model I guess it could be left as is. It seems to be on one side more than the other. Displaying the model to hide that should work.

If the cracks are too glaring it might be worth considering a solid colour finish? Checking the internet for Vigilante pictures shows the canopy appearing a solid black when viewed from above, maybe that would look the part? A bit left of field I know, but a possible way out of trouble. I finished a Hunter canopy with a chrome Molotow pen when that one cracked on me. It looks OK, if a little 'Desktop Model' I think I got away with that one as the plane is sat on a stand and the overall look balances out.

 

Tony.

[stevehnz]

I've been following this keenly as the Vigilante is one aircraft that has appealed since I was very young & read a Nat geo article about the US (I think) 7th Fleet. I have the Airfix one tucked away. Re the canopy, if I'm reading this right, this is the same kit as the Hasegawa one & if so, Falcon do a canopy for it, it might be worth asking in the wanted area to see if someone has one in the set they won't be using.

Steve.

[Retired Bob]

11 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Re the canopy, if I'm reading this right, this is the same kit as the Hasegawa one & if so, Falcon do a canopy for it, it might be worth asking in the wanted area to see if someone has one in the set they won't be using.

Thanks Steve,

I know about the Falcon set, when I started this build I checked what AM there was for the Vigilante, I was looking for some more accurate wheels, but no one makes them.  Hannants seem to be the only source for the Falcon set at £12.99, I am considering it.  The stress fractures originate from the sprue attachment point, and they do stand out as bad as the photo, so I have considered, painting the canopy black, having a go at making a replacement or buying the Falcon set, I do have some other models that are on that set so it would be useful.  Three options, I think painting it black will be the last, I have even tried buying another Hasegawa Vigilante, but no luck on ebay, it might have been the quickest solution.  Perhaps I will be lucky this weekend at the Keighley Show. 

Edited September 17, 2019 by Retired Bob

[Retired Bob]

Just to let anyone interested know, the Falcon canopy set is on it's way from Hannants, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. 

[Johnson]

14 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Just to let anyone interested know, the Falcon canopy set is on it's way from Hannants,

Excellent! Falcon do a Sea Fury canopy, so it will be interesting to see what yours is like. Hopefully it will be good.

[Retired Bob]

The Falcon canopies arrived today, looking very nice.  I had hoped to carry out the spraying of the coroguard leading edges on the wings and the exhaust cans, but the weather was pretty bad with humidity at 77% it was not worth ruining it at the last hurdle.  Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow, that or I break out the dehumidifier.

 

[AdrianMF]

It is looking very smart. I'm sure the Falcon canopy will be much better than the kit part. I've been very impressed whenever I've used them, although it pays to take time and care in cutting.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Retired Bob]

3 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I'm sure the Falcon canopy will be much better than the kit part. I've been very impressed whenever I've used them, although it pays to take time and care in cutting.

Trimmed the canopy off the sheet, I thought about using the kit canopy as a guide to assist with the cutting, so I put the kit canopy inside the vac-form one, it fit, too easily.  Either I polished a lot off the kit one or the vac-form canopy might be slightly oversize.  I did hear of a tip when trimming vac-form canopies, fill the inside with blu tack to keep it rigid.  I have very limited experience with this part of modelling, does anyone have any good tips before I start the final trimming, also is it best to mask and paint the canopy on or off the model, I have visions of pulling off the masking tape and the canopy, because of the thin smooth edge that glues it to the fuselage. 

[Johnson]

As Adrian says, it really pays to take your time.

 

A brand new blade, of whatever type you use, is essential. I find the hardest thing about cutting a vacform canopy (being clear) is actually seeing what I'm doing! Filling it with blue tac may help there. And, as with any cutting, err on the side of caution, once cut off, you can't put it back!

 

I always mask and paint off the model, much easier to deal with. Final fitting with a white water based PVA adhesive is very safe (won't cloud or harm the canopy and can be wiped off, dries clear)

 

Apologies if I'm teaching you how to suck eggs, and you've probably finished by now!

[Jinxman]

When I use Falcon canopies I put masking tape on first just in case - not exactly but gives something to hold onto and reduces the fear of damaging it. I don't use blu-tack anymore as I have always spent more time trying to get the residue off than I saved by using it.

 

If the kit canopy had a layer of tape on it would it be a more useful fit?

[PeterB]

I have said this before elsewhere, but White Tac might be better as it is supposed to be non greasy, unlike Blu Tac. These days I always use the white version to hold canopies so that I can paint them.

 

Pete