Dual Squadron 1/72 Vampire FB.5

[Acklington]

Following on from last month's Revell 1/72 Vampire FB.5, I carried on and have just finished a second one. Mainly because I don't like Vampires, or models of them, so the sooner it was out of the way the better! For this model I used one of the decal options from the Modeldecal Vampire sheet.

VZ305, RLS, 607 & 608 Sqdns, Ouston, 1954-5 (11) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VZ305, RLS, 607 & 608 Sqdns, Ouston, 1954-5 (14) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VZ305, RLS, 607 & 608 Sqdns, Ouston, 1954-5 (15) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VZ305, RLS, 607 & 608 Sqdns, Ouston, 1954-5 (17) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VZ305, RLS, 607 & 608 Sqdns, Ouston, 1954-5 (10) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

VZ305, RLS, 607 & 608 Sqdns, Ouston, 1954-5 (8) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr

This is a DH Vampire FB.5, VZ305, of 607 Squadron at RAF Ouston, Northumberland in 1954-55. It was flown by Wing Commander R.L.Smith, and Wing Commanders were allowed to use their initials in place of normal code letters, thus 'RLS'. He was also in charge of 608 Squadron at RAF Thornaby-on-Tees, so their colours were painted on the starboard side, and the aircraft was further embellished with painted rudders. The aircraft was also unusual in having PRU blue undersides, which would normally indicate that it had previously seen service with the 2nd TAF in Germany. However VZ305 only ever served with UK based squadrons, so perhaps at some point it had been earmarked for Germany, but never made it?

There is a Vampire "VZ305" flying today - the airworthy Norwegian example - but it carries spurious marks and the original VZ305 was scrapped after RAF service.

Thanks again for looking.

[adey m]

Hard to believe that this Vampire used to accelerate through what is probably the ladys lingerie aisle in W Boyes store in Thornaby new town built on the site of the airfield.

 

I really like that, very interesting colour scheme too. Love the backgrounds. It is definately my favourite Vampire model of all the ones I've seen.

 

regards, adey

Edited April 30, 2020 by adey m

[ForestFan]

Very nice build and markings. It's like not being sure which option to choose from the decal sheet so choosing one for each side!

Cheers

[F-32]

Lovely shiny build, really nice

[keith in the uk]

Lovely job   that's one sweet little Vampire. 

[Aces High]

You've made a very nice job of it considering it's not a favorite! Also, love the runway, how did you make it?

[RMCS]

Superb 

[Acklington]

22 hours ago, Aces High said:

You've made a very nice job of it considering it's not a favorite! Also, love the runway, how did you make it?

Many thanks to all for the comments. The 'runway' was some left over 'wallpaper' from a dolls house, which I stuck on a board. The 'grass' was from a roll of stick-on grass, probably for a railway layout. The airfield markings I added myself. It is all starting to fade in the sunlight, which wasn't too bad for my 'winter' photos, but now that Spring is here I ought to green up the grass! 😄

 

And as for "adey m"s comment above, I'll never look at the Vampire the same again! 😜

[Vulcanicity]

Well I wouldn't have guessed that you weren't a fan of the subject - a neat little model, and interesting choice of markings