Revell 1/72 DH Vampire FB.5

[Acklington]

Finished yesterday, this is the Revell kit boxed as a Vampire F.3 but containing the necessary parts for a FB.5 or FB.9. The kits sprues show that it originated as an MPM kit. Goes together nicely although I had to remove some of the interior to create room for a large lump of lead. There are Modeldecal and Xtradecal sets of Vampire decals available, so a wide range of different RAF Vampires can be modelled.

VV617, A, 607 Sqdn, Ouston, c 1955 (14) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VV617, A, 607 Sqdn, Ouston, c 1955 (12) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VV617, A, 607 Sqdn, Ouston, c 1955 (8) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

I chose FB.5 VV617 'A' of 607 Squadron RAuxAF at RAF Ouston, Northumberland, circa 1955. Which is when the problems started because 607's colours were 'Stone' and 'Mauve', the 'stone' being a sort of sandy colour, not yellow. But yellow is what you get on the decal sheet, so I've had to live with that. Photos of 607's Vampires are very thin on the ground, and the very few black & white images show markings variations that don't coincide with the decal sheet or various drawings on the internet. The photos show that the squadron badge was placed on a shield, colour unknown. Also one photo shows painted tips to the external fuel tanks, colour unknown. Various sources say that the nosewheel door was painted, either mauve, or stone, but can't agree. The very few photos seem to show silver nosewheel doors, but that could have changed over the years. What does seem to be the case is that 607 were fond of using their mauve and stone paint, probably also for the letter 'A', rather than yellow. So when in doubt I've gone for mauve for the details, which I had to mix myself.

Thanks for looking.

[canberraman]

A lovely rendition of the Vampire and a colourful set of sqn markings too.

 

Mark

[bigbadbadge]

Very nice indeed, I like that a lot, great work.  It's a lovely kit, I have built the F3 from Special Hobby which is the same kit I think. Yours is a lovely scheme.

All the best

Chris

[mackem01]

Loving your work. Nice to see one of the unsung squadrons getting some limelight.

Great job.

[RMCS]

Fantastic 

[SAT69]

Marvelous work! That's the way to do it!

[cngaero]

Great job with the Vampire. I get a real kick out of seeing your "Royal Northumbrian Air Force" aircraft and this one certainly doesn't disappoint. This one even ties in with the year I was born. 

Great work once again Philip. Keep them coming. 

[albamac]

A very nice model of some of the lesser known RAuxAF squadrons. I well remember the "other one" up the road from them in Edinburgh, 603 Sqn City of Edinburgh Squadron.  Their Vampires were quite a common sight "whistling" overhead our house. The ground crews took great pride in keeping the aircraft well cleaned and polished. Overall an excellent effort and thanks for the trip down my memory lane. A sad day when the RAuxAF flying squadrons were disbanded in 1957 . Best wishes

albamac

[trickydicky210]

Lovely vampire

 

cheers Rich