Alan P Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 (edited) Hi all, Decided to risk my good standing in the community by sharing my build of this iconic, well-loved (!) and frankly awful kit that probably everyone has either in their stash or already built on their shelf 😄 Luckily there are loads of great builds already which I can shamelessly plagiarise and hopefully those in the know aren't too tired and jaded from coaxing and cajoling all the many other builders of this kit to chip in their wisdom to help me along the way. I'm planning a build of the Duxford airframe XJ824. It's a commission build for a work colleague who flew about 10 hours in the old bird, including its last flight into Duxford back in the 80s I believe. The build is planned to be mostly out of the box, with the exception of the Freightdog 201 engine nozzles and whatever scratchbuild detail is required to bring it up to standard. The very welcome news that Airfix are bringing out a new tooling of this hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for the build at all!!!😖 I must already thank some of the BM members for their help in sourcing the correct decals, most notably @Darth Vader who provided the serials and 101 Sqn badges 👍 Anyway - on with the build! Alan Edited November 24, 2019 by Alan P 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 First job, might as well get it over with - rescribing. First all the chunky raised panel lines are shaved and sanded off, along with the kit moulded nozzles. I haven't rescribed the new detail yet, I might just see what it looks like after assembly and puttying/priming and then see what surface detail would be the best way to reproduce the smooth surface of the aeroplane itself. Next horrible job - those awful intakes. I sanded down the mating surfaces as best I could, then glue, putty and sanding before filling the intakes with gloopy white emulsion house paint: Looks way better and nothing a bit more putty and primer can't fix. Alan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainpeden Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Let me know if you need any close up photos; I volunteer at Duxford and get there quite often. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 7 minutes ago, iainpeden said: Let me know if you need any close up photos; I volunteer at Duxford and get there quite often. Fantastic! Yes please: access ladder and landing gear / gear bays photos would be incredibly helpful if you could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 Had a little look at what I could do with the cockpit - to say it's sparse is overstating the tremendous lack of detail: I cut off the inboard edges of the seat locator tabs to increase the distance between them. Then added a centre pedestal which I'll detail a bit but not too much - the windows look pretty small and there's no rear cockpit section represented at all. Meanwhile, down in the access bay: Again, this part is designed to show the access ladder open but there's zero detail in there. The chunky ladder detail was sanded off and a new ladder made from plastic rod. Then I got carried away and built the whole interior detail around the access interior (roughly) I'm not a scratchbuilder like some of the geniuses on here, so this was all just stuff to add interest rather than any genuine attempt to recreate the interior 😄 Still, it's looking very promising - don't worry, i'm not going to attempt the bomb bay or anything properly impressive! Alan 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 13 minutes ago, Alan P said: Still, it's looking very promising - don't worry, i'm not going to attempt the bomb bay or anything properly impressive! That's what he says now Good scratch building Alan, it makes the interior look suitably "busy". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 15 minutes ago, Richard E said: That's what he says now Good scratch building Alan, it makes the interior look suitably "busy". Thanks Richard 👍 more to come tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmas Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 I have a thing about the Vulcan and I’d like to follow this if I may. I built this kit a couple of years ago as my first foray back into the hobby (after too many years I’d like to admit) and wish I’d thought of using emulsion paint on the intakes as it would have saved me hours of work! 😅 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainpeden Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 20 hours ago, Alan P said: Fantastic! Yes please: access ladder and landing gear / gear bays photos would be incredibly helpful if you could. Ok. Next there on the 5th so I will get what I can. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted November 24, 2019 Share Posted November 24, 2019 I’m going to follow this, have one of these kits that need a major refurb. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imp999 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 I'm just coming towards the end of this kit, Alan. I've balked at the squiggly all-over paint job(XH558). I found it OK. Take care lining up the top & bottom fuselage halves forward of the wings so you get a good cylinder. I attached the wing halves to their respective fuselage halves prior to bringing the top & bottom assys together. The Freightdog(?) resins fit well but the insert portions need a lot of shaping so the wings close nicely and the panel line looks good. Check your references for panel lines. Airfix's are a little inaccurate in places. Good luck! Mark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 28, 2019 Author Share Posted November 28, 2019 On 11/26/2019 at 9:50 PM, imp999 said: I attached the wing halves to their respective fuselage halves prior to bringing the top & bottom assys together. Good luck! Mark. Thanks Mark, I was going to do that too, so I'm glad it works 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back in the Saddle Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 I’m also in the process of finishing this kit, so will watch with interest. Looks great so far👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted November 30, 2019 Author Share Posted November 30, 2019 Made some more progress despite the freezing temperatures in my workshed: Detailed the woeful kit seats with some pads, belts and eject handles and added some detail to the centre pedestal Added the seats and instrument panel to the upper fuselage. Provides a bit more detail and interest to the cockpit, much of which won't be seen. Finished the homemade interior around the crew entry. Added some detail in the bomb-aimer's position as well, and used some polarised film for the window. Completed the entry area and attached to the lower fuselage. Looks so much better for relatively little effort. Next stage - attaching the wings! Alan 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainpeden Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 Duxford Vulcan details - if I can work the pics! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainpeden Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 https://flic.kr/p/2hVCFCN 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 Iain thank you so much, these are perfect 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin M Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 Looking great! I'm back posting stuff after nearly a year! Stuck some pics of my USN F-4 up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainpeden Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 2 hours ago, Alan P said: Iain thank you so much, these are perfect 👍 Alan If you're looking for real detail I'll check which of the lateral bomb bay frames has the 6 square inch splash of interior green with the word "crack" written above! Be a bit small in 1/72 though.😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 I'm going to skip on the bomb bay, bit too much for my scratchbuilding skills 🤔 Would make a good ref for anyone else though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 11, 2019 Author Share Posted December 11, 2019 Trying to fit in some progress on this bird despite extreme busyness at work and the freezing weather... Using Iain's pics as a reference I've added some interest in the nose gear well Also attached the wings to the top half of the fuselage, it should greatly improve the fit of the fuselage/wing attachment. It's a decent size in 1/72, but still very manageable! Cheers, Alan P 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted December 15, 2019 Author Share Posted December 15, 2019 There are some pretty depressing gaps around the bomb bay part. Eventually I decided to plug the worst ones (down each side) with plastic card: Then I sanded it all flush and puttied over what was left of the lip. That seems to have solved the problem. I also stuck some plastic card on the inside seam to reinforce it against the sanding. The intakes have come out well, which is one huge relief. Even more thankfully, once I'd smoothed out the intake lip from the various moulding deformities, the intakes actually are the best fitting part of this kit so far! While the fuselage was still in two halves I fitted the fin, enabling brute force seating of the part in its recess! This isn't exactly a fun build but it's getting there... Alan 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey-1980 Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 Looking superb so far! Especially your scratch building for the landing gear bays. Top work! Following with great interest 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 I am still working on this...three builds on the go is a lot for me, and usually one gets neglected a bit! The airframe is now assembled - I did my best to minimise the seams but 😮 Closer inspection of the gaps: This is the worst bit: I've used file, scraper and sanding blocks to get it almost flush. Hopefully the dissolved sprue goop will do most of the heavy lifting on these gaps! Alan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayprit Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 9 minutes ago, Alan P said: dissolved sprue goop On my Vulcan I just dribbled superglue into the cracks until the glue came level with both sides of the plastic, then dropped Talcum powder onto it...………..made it hard immediately and after a minute or so sanded it down 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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