Avro Vulcan B Mk2 (XH558)

[Shelliecool]

Following on from my 1:72 Airfix Handley Page Victor, my next build is Airfix's 1:72 Avro Vulcan B Mk2. 

This is XH558, and the Vulcan to the sky gift set. Truth be told I have built this kit before, it was my first ever build and started me on my fantastic journey of model aircraft building. The Vulcan is my favourite aircraft of all time, hence the reason I was given the kit as a gift the first time. Because I have past experience with this kit (albeit novice at the time), I can remember how ill fitting the wings are, how much flash there is and all its many other challenges..... But I can't wait to start. This won't be a straight from the box build, as I intend to finish her in the anti-flash paintwork she left the factory in (my previous Vulcan is in full XH558 camo). 

To complete the paintwork I have purchased a set of decals suitable for the Cold War paint scheme. 

Aside from the scheme, the only changes I shall be making are the use of Vallejo acrylics in place of the suggested Humbrol. This is just personal preference and I find them much smoother to airbrush. So lets look inside the box. 

There is a very limited set of instructions, the original paint scheme diagram, and a tiny decal sheet. 

4 grey sprues, with varying amounts of flash and raised panel lines. And one small clear sprue. 

Thats about ot for now, I have given the huge sprues a wash and sprayed a coat of Vallejo primer on the limited interior pieces. Looking forward to starting once the primer is dry. 

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

Blimey you don’t let the grass grow! Looking for to see what you can do with this.

 

Iain

[Shelliecool]

2 minutes ago, (ex)Sgtrafman said:

Blimey you don’t let the grass grow! Looking for to see what you can do with this.

 

Iain

Ha ha, I like to be kept busy! 

Cheers, 

Michelle 

[Mutley]

Rock on! Looking forward to this one.

(How many stencils n this one?)

[LorenSharp]

This is going to be a Great build. Count me in! note taking has commenced.

[Mark4700]

Always enjoy a Vulcan build. 

[Shelliecool]

5 hours ago, Mutley said:

Rock on! Looking forward to this one.

(How many stencils n this one?)

Thankfully not as many as the Victor!!! 

[AliGauld]

You already know how much filling, sanding, filling, sanding on repeat this takes and you've decided to do even more. 

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress with this build. I know the end result will be well worth it.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Shelliecool]

8 hours ago, AliGauld said:

You already know how much filling, sanding, filling, sanding on repeat this takes and you've decided to do even more. 

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress with this build. I know the end result will be well worth it.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Glutton for punishment I am😁, just love the Vulcan though so its worth the torment! 

Thanks, 

Michelle 

[stever219]

Michelle you do know that the kit has (roughly) Olympus 301-style tailpipes whereas ‘558 has Olympus 201s.don’t you?  Thankfully Freightdog Models do some nice resin ‘201s for a very reasonable price.  They’re a doddle to fit and look so much better than Airfix's now nearly 40 year old efforts.  Do you intend to depict ‘558 as fresh from the factory or in her first unit’s colours?

 

(I can’t believe I was only about 23 when that kit was first issued and had been in paid employment for nearly 5 years by then!)

 

[Shelliecool]

15 hours ago, stever219 said:

Michelle you do know that the kit has (roughly) Olympus 301-style tailpipes whereas ‘558 has Olympus 201s.don’t you?  Thankfully Freightdog Models do some nice resin ‘201s for a very reasonable price.  They’re a doddle to fit and look so much better than Airfix's now nearly 40 year old efforts.  Do you intend to depict ‘558 as fresh from the factory or in her first unit’s colours?

 

(I can’t believe I was only about 23 when that kit was first issued and had been in paid employment for nearly 5 years by then!)

 

I have just purchased the correct tailpipes😁, thanks for the tip about Freightdog models, its a nice site 👍. 

 

I do indeed intend to depict 558 in the white coat she left the factory in, I have made the kit before in camo (straight from the box with the addition of tonnes of filler😂). Having just finished a Victor in anti-flash white, I thought having the same V Bomber theme on this Vulcan would look ace. 

 

Thanks, 

Michelle 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Shelliecool

[Shelliecool]

I have been progressing with the build slowly. Airbrushing the cockpit interior, cabin floor, instruments, seats and air intakes. Once dry, I began to add some details to the pilot and copilot's seats. I know practically none of the interior is visible when finished, but I wanted to liven them up a bit. 

I looked back at some photos I took in the interior of the cockpit of the nose section, of XM569 at the Jet age museum Gloucester, for a little inspiration. 

The air intakes had a lot of flash on the edges and several raised ejection marks. So I sanded these down and once smooth, primed and gave them a top coat of Vallejo White. 

I will fit them together once dry, fill any gaps, and blast some more white down the tubes. I have also built both wing sections, and the tail. All of which have flash in abundance, this is where patients and sanding skill come into action. 

[Shelliecool]

I have spent a few days waiting for the postman to deliver some essential parts for the build, which has stalled me slightly. While I waited, I did some more work on the air intakes. Joining them together, filling the gaps, sanding, priming and repainting. After a lot of work (they are tricky things to sand and not many sanding sticks fit down them, I eventually made my own to fit), they were done. Then the deliveries arrived, the first being a pair of resin tailpipes from Freightdog. 

The second a set of stick on wheel weights for car wheels, this being the easiest way to add weight to the tiny gap in the nose cavity. 

So work began on the cosmetic surgery to the tail of the kit. I carefully followed the instructions provided with the resin and using my plastic saw cut away the existing tail pipes. 

I then donned my mask, went outside and began sanding the resin to fit as snuggly as possible. It took a while but eventually it was a good enough fit. 

As the resin adds extra weight to the rear of the aircraft (and the kit is already a tail sitter), the instructions with the resin aak you to add another 15gms to the 30 already needed. So I pilled up the wheel weights and stuck them in place. 

Then I glued the air intakes in place, slotted the new tailpipes in and glued the halves together. Leaving them overnight for the glue to set. 

[Shelliecool]

Sincey last post I have been very busy........... Sanding! I carefully glued the fuselage halves together and left the glue to set. The join was fairly good, so merely a seam to sand away, except for where the new tail pipes were. The joins here needed filling, many times, then a lot of sanding (wearing a mask because of the resin particles). 

After several layers of perfect plastic putty, and Mr. Surfacer I was happy with the join. So I moved on to attaching the tail. This had an appalling fit, massive gaps in places and hardly fitting in the gap in others. With a lot of sanding I finally got the fit good enough to pass, and glued it into place. 

Once dry I filled the gaps with perfect plastic putty and left the beast to dry. 

[SAT69]

Very nice progress thus far. This is going to be fun to watch. Will you be buying the new tool Airfix Vulcan when it's released?

[Col Walter E Kurtz]

On 02/07/2020 at 13:30, Shelliecool said:

I have just purchased the correct tailpipes😁, thanks for the tip about Freightdog models, its a nice site 👍. 

 

I do indeed intend to depict 558 in the white coat she left the factory in, I have made the kit before in camo (straight from the box with the addition of tonnes of filler😂). Having just finished a Victor in anti-flash white, I thought having the same V Bomber theme on this Vulcan would look ace. 

 

Thanks, 

Michelle 

Just wondering which Anti Flash White paint you favour? I have a Revell victor in my stash and would like to paint the underside AFW with the 1960s top Cammo scheme... Hataka do a set for this I noticed.. 

[Hamden]

 

Missed the start of this but caught up now!

You have made good progress with this so far and it looks like your almost ready for paint

 

            Roger

[Shelliecool]

6 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Very nice progress thus far. This is going to be fun to watch. Will you be buying the new tool Airfix Vulcan when it's released?

Thank you, yes I am really looking forward to the new tool....... The prospect of building a Vulcan with less filler is very exciting. 

Thanks again, 

Michelle 

[Shelliecool]

6 hours ago, Col Walter E Kurtz said:

Just wondering which Anti Flash White paint you favour? I have a Revell victor in my stash and would like to paint the underside AFW with the 1960s top Cammo scheme... Hataka do a set for this I noticed.. 

When I built my Victor in AFW I used Vallejo White 71.0001, as it was the best match to the Humbrol white Airfix suggest. 

Thanks, 

Michelle 

[Mikey-1980]

Love a Vulcan build.

 

I have this very kit in the stash too....though with the spare room/workbench room turning into a nursery soon, I will need to earn some serious brownie points to build this.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress

[Shelliecool]

Since my last post I have spent time attaching the section underneath the tail. This wasnt a great fit anywhere and needed a lot of filler, once safely in place and smoothed back a little the time came to fit the wings. I remember these from last time being an awful fit, and its safe to say nothing had changed! After several dry fits I threw caution to the wind and stuck them in place. When I removed the tape in the morning there were indeed gaps along most of the wing. So I set to work with the Perfect plastic putty, filling, wiping back, filling, wiping back, building up layers of filler. Its safe to say it is getting there slowly, 

...... And definitely looks more like a Vulcan! 

Couldn't resist sitting my 2 current builds side by side. The size difference is immense! 

[Chaotic Mike]

Well, it certainly looks more like a Vulcan than your No. 2 build! 🙃

[Ruskin Air Services]

In 2006/07 during a lunch break while reading Flypast I rang the Vulcan To The Sky Trust to ask how the work to get XH558 back in the air. The guy I was talking to said it was going fine but looking forward the only hurdle was funding and in the conversation I mentioned that it would be a nice if you could tie up with Airfix and re-release their Vulcan kit with XH558's current markings and as the Vulcan is a extremely popular and much loved it could appeal to a lot of fans of the Vulcan, he agreed it could be a good idea. Two  years later and what lands in the hobby stores this very kit! 

[Shelliecool]

With the wings nicely sanded I turned my attention to the aft counterpoise plate and splitter, these were easy to fit, but as with most pieces on this kit needed sanding! I then turned my attention to the nose, on delivery from the factory XH558 did not have the terrain following radar antenna fittes nor the flight refueling probe. The latter was easy to resolve, I simply filled it in. Removing the antenna and reshaping the nose was slightly more daunting. I carefully cut it off and began sanding (something this kit gives you plenty of practice with). Finally, a lot of sanding later I am happy enough with the result. 

I have also been building the bomb, there are no instructions for this, however it is pretty self explanatory. 

I am almost ready to begin priming! 

[Hamden]

 

Nice progress with this one, a small light at the end of the tunnel

 

         Roger