Just bought a vacform kit, what have I let myself in for

[AltcarBoB]

I have built resin kits, short run injection kits and I have scratchbuilt parts for kits to bash the kit into something else but I have never tried a vacform kit. I wanted to try a vacform to expand my model skills and build up to maybe one day scratchbuild an entire aircraft.

 

What have I let myself in for will I die of Styrene and Milliput dust inhalation or will social services cart me away sobbing and clutching a selection of emery boards and files. I really dont have any idea what to look forward to maybe I should have done a bit more research before splashing my paypal cash on ebay.

 

Its a 1/72 Rareplanes Blackburn Firebrand kit. Its not particulary a model I wanted to build but at least its not the 1/72 Vickers Windsor I was looking at the other week that would be a beast to build.

[Richard E]

I'm not familiar with the Firebrand but most of Rareplane's vacforms are quite straightforward once you have removed the parts from their backing.

 

There are some very good WIP threads which should give you help you with the basics and, no doubt, the Britmodeller collective will offer you (delete as appropriate) advice, hot sweet tea, a shoulder to cry on during your journey

[Britman]

Go for it, I am no expert in this field but I have built one or two over the years . In fact the Rareplanes 72nd Vulcan was my first! It went well but now days I would have scratched the undercarriage. Have fun. 

 

Keith

[dromia]

Vacuum formed models are my absolute favourite kits, I almost make them exclusively. I just love the whole building process, sanding, fitting, detailing the whole modelling works is involved in their realisation.

 

I would scratch build models more but the time taken to acquire sufficient information to develop the detailed plans required is just a task to much for me as I prefer my time to be spent actually building, so vacuum formed kits are the perfect half way house for me.

 

Once the parts are removed from the backing sheet then just look at it as a limited run model kit needing much the same skills in construction, so don't be daunted.

 

The Rareplane kits are some of the best of the type and the Firebrand is a good example for a first build, scratch building and the spares box can help with things like engines, propellers and undercarriages, although I often use the vacuum parts provided again because of the work involved in making them.

 

John Adams ex Aeroclub produced good how to sheets on vacuum formed kit building and I seem to recall there is an electronic version on this site somewhere .

 

Building and Improving Vacuum-Formed Model Aircraft by E Richard Staszak, Kalmbach Books is another very helpful resource but I suspect hard to get nowadays as being long out of print.

 

Get stuck in and you will have lots of fun, its just a sheet of plastic after all

[Richard E]

33 minutes ago, dromia said:

John Adams ex Aeroclub produced good how to sheets on vacuum formed kit building and I seem to recall there is an electronic version on this site somewhere .

@dromia jogged my memory: John Adam's Vac Form Building Guide

[Jonners]

8 hours ago, AltcarBoB said:

What have I let myself in for

Based on my limited vacform-building experience the answer will probably be a combination of enjoyment, challenge, learning, occasional frustration, satisfaction at having overcome the frustrations, an exercise in patience and a right old mess of dust and plastic trimmings on your workbench. Oh, and very possibly mild surprise at where all the time disappears to, an unhealthy interest in looking at other vacform kits for sale online and utter astonishment at some of the prices asked for the larger and rarer kits. Go for it! 

Jon

[Paul Thompson]

    One of the best bits of advice re vacs was from John Adams during one of his vacform demos at Scalemodelworld, probably repeated in his guide - there is no reason, after a bit of practice, that it should take ages to get the parts out of the sheets. Obviously you want to be carefully and start on something inexpensive just in case, but outlkining the parts and snapping them out after scoring right where part meets backing is half of it, and ripping trailing edges down by scraping with knife before finally smoothing off with block mounted paper or sanding sticks can save years of time, especially if you build biplanes which tend to have single surface wings etc. As virtually everyone else said, Rareplanes are usually nearly as good as regards fit as an injection moulded kit, the main difference being you need to scratchbuild or source from spares small parts like undercarriage legs. Even then, later Rareplanes kits had added white metal parts to cater for that sort of thing.

 

    One word of advice - unless you've started already, the Rareplane Fairey Fulmer is a well fitting kit that for some reason is probably the commonest to find on Ebay, so can be had cheap.  It has a passable interior, but if you want to jazz it up there's a PE one from Airwaves (meant for the old Pegasus kit). Aeroclub also did a prop and wheel set for it which can still be found occasionally. It was my first vac, back when it was released, and is quite forgiving. The Firebrand is also very nice, but can cost a lot more, so maybe worth making your second vac.

 

Paul.

[mackem01]

Happiness, hours of unbridled happiness..........

[Ray S]

On 5/1/2020 at 10:36 AM, Paul Thompson said:

 

 

    One word of advice - unless you've started already, the Rareplane Fairey Fulmer is a well fitting kit that for some reason is probably the commonest to find on Ebay, so can be had cheap.  It has a passable interior, but if you want to jazz it up there's a PE one from Airwaves (meant for the old Pegasus kit). Aeroclub also did a prop and wheel set for it which can still be found occasionally. It was my first vac, back when it was released, and is quite forgiving. The Firebrand is also very nice, but can cost a lot more, so maybe worth making your second vac.

 

Paul.

The Rareplanes Fulmar was my first vacform too, and it was a beauty to build, and it meant I never looked back. I have lost count of how many I have built, and there has never been anyone in a white coat waiting for me, no shoulder needed drying, but regular perusals of Kingkit (other dealers also available) for there vacforms cetainly ensued.

 

Go for it, have fun, and as was also mentioned, once the bits are off the carrier sheet, it is just like another model where you need to put a bit of work in!

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[Seahawk]

Or your story could take the course of my Rareplane Meteor F.8 build: stalled with 2 fuselage halves and one wing half extracted from backing sheet.

 

Either way, you've given yourself the best possible chance of success by choosing a Rareplane: top of the tree for both buildability and accuracy - some of their subjects are still the most accurate on the market.

 

Last year some helpful soul on this site recommended this:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Proops-Wood-Cabinet-Carbon-Steel-Kidney-Scraper-180mm-4-5-Woodworking-W3340-/292218002405

 

I bought one but haven't had a chance to use it yet.  It looks just the job for thinning down trailing edges.

 

Good luck!

[Shalako]

Perhaps the worst part of vacformed kits are the clear parts. I have a Golden Wings T-2C (25%-ish build) and the clear parts have developed a "yellowish" tint that I might not be able to remove at this point.

 

My proposal: spray the clear parts with Mr Color super clear UV. It will create a protective coat that will minimise the effect I have mentioned.