Dynavector 1/48 Dehavilland Sea Vixen FAW-2

[LorenSharp]

For my next build project, Dynavectors 1/48 Dehavilland Sea Vixen. Wanted to get away from another silver finish and since I wanted to do something different and  there didn't seem to be another VIxen being built, This came to the fore. If there is enough time left I may do another but we shall see. And as this will be the first completed build of 2021 and I have several Vacs in different stages of completion,(all on the Shelf of Shame) as a New Years resolution 2021 will be the year of the Vac. Let us begin shall we?

2

All kinds of lovely plastic to cut and sand. My biggest concern will be the decals. this kit is about as old as the last one I did and even with multiple coats of clear lacquer they still wanted to shatter. I had spares for that. This aircraft, I don't have much for Fleet Air and there is only  one set on the market at Hannants. But will be some weeks before I get that far to worry about.

[Col.]

Wonderful subject choice Loren 

If the decals do prove problematic I wonder if some of us can help with spares from the Airfix kit?

[LorenSharp]

First step, I outlined the white plastic with a fine tip permanent marker.

After a bit of trimming

and if wondering heres the pile of scrap..

Now for sanding, this may take a bit so talk amongst yourselves til I return.

[LorenSharp]

Thank you Col. I'm suprised there aren't more sets available for the vixen I could try evilbay but there you end up paying double the going rate and never know how the decals were cared for unless its from a hobbyshop.

[Col.]

Plenty spare plastic sheet for adding extra detail  

[LorenSharp]

True what I don't print out first which shouldn't be much.. I was going to do the Dynavector Gloster Javelin, I may still if there's time left, but for it I  wanted to do the flaps and undercarriage extras but printed, that's cheaper than getting the P/E sets and the bottom was.... Aluminum.  Didn't want to step into another bout of painting silver.🥴

[Col.]

You've got more printed extras planned for this one? Excellent  AS for avoiding the silver paint; I'm not sure white is much of a better alternative  

[LorenSharp]

White I can clear coat, a good portion  of the -103 was high shine polished colours. Not only didn't like clear coats, thoroughly detested masking tape. Had to make do with lots of post-it notes. Lotttts of Post-It note. Besides white is actually easier to weather. What I like aboutthis Sea Vixen is that it has  lots of interesting bits that have to come together properly to look right. And on the flipside can be a monumental pain in the backside if they get fiddly. I am impressed so far  at the ease in which the plastic separated and the level of detail is amazing for a vac. The detail is far superior to Bill Kosters

[CliffB]

15 hours ago, LorenSharp said:

My biggest concern will be the decals. this kit is about as old as the last one I did and even with multiple coats of clear lacquer they still wanted to shatter.

 

Have you tried Microscale Liquid Decal Film?  In my experience, the stuff is 100% effective 

[At Sea]

I have decided which version to build from my Airfix kit, which will be XS577 of 899 squadron (the box art version) so happy to spare squadron markings and codes for the others, but will need to retain the stencils I'm afraid.

 

PM me.

[LorenSharp]

Little bit of an update, I've managed to get the parts more or less trimmed and cleaned up. and Worked out how to I wanted to display the end result. I will be printing out more parts than originally intended as it will be easier in the long run. The cockpit will be fitted out more since I decided to open both canopies, landing gear lowered so new wheel wells, speed brake deployed, interior for that and a backside for the brake. Ailerons and rudder positioned. and flaps lowered. I thought long on this one because of its unique shape and deployment. A complicated removal cut but amazing, I got both off without messing them up. I will have to make new parts to replace missing areas.

And to top it off Shoveling/Smow Throwing 25-30cm of fresh, wet heavy snow.

Now back inside in the warmth, Start my design work. Until later, stay safe, stay healthy

 

[Mike]

I'm looking forward to seeing the progress, and jealous of your snow

[LorenSharp]

3 minutes ago, Mike said:

I'm looking forward to seeing the progress, and jealous of your snow

I would gladly give you ALL my snow Mike. My driveway is about 60m and its been bouncing around 0c or lower since yesterday morning.🥶 And it takes away from valuable build time!

[Col.]

35 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

...And to top it off Shoveling/Smow Throwing 25-30cm of fresh, wet heavy snow.

I thought that was all the plastic dust from sanding the kit parts  

[LorenSharp]

5 minutes ago, Col. said:

I thought that was all the plastic dust from sanding the kit parts  

Thats underneath the snow 

[exdraken]

A Vixen the hard way!

[LorenSharp]

Yeah, come on.....baby need a new pair of shoes.... the hard way..... snakes eyes..... whoops, sorry. I forgot, this is the interceptor build not the Thud build.

[Colin W]

I built this kit back in 1999 and loved it so much that I went on to build all the Dynavector kits over the next couple of years. 

Enjoy 

 

Colin 

[LorenSharp]

Afternoon  and I hope everyone had an enjoyable and quiet New Years and Father Christmas was kind to all. Between the Holidays and the antics 100 klicks to my East, my progress has been slow but steady. Most of my time was spent  Measuring and printing out new detail parts for the underside of the Vixen. Namely the Speed Brake and interior, inner and outer flaps interior, nose and wheel bays and the main gear door interiors. Most went smoothly until I got to the main wheel bays. for whatever reason, I still can't fathom didn't want to print at the right size. no matter what the settings print didn't jib with the numbers entered Trial and error and many prints I got them to a close approximation of the right dimensions  I think it started when I did an update to Chitubox and something corrupted in either the uninstall or the install. I may have to go back and do a complete wipe down into the registry to fix, but we shall see. Anywho.. heres what I have so far,

Worked up an interior to the Speed Brake Bay along with pressure tanks and interior side to the speed Brake itself

Rather than printing out the wiring and cabling for the bay I went with bits of thin wire rod and thread This was not only easier but quicker too.

[LorenSharp]

Then I made the main gear bays and nose bay. This was where I had the most problems printing correctly. The first bay came out fine but its opposite with the same dimensions ended up being several mm's shy in both length and depth.

They're not exact copies of each other but close enough when installed you won't see the differences. I also need to finish the cabling on these parts as well.

 

[LorenSharp]

Then finally the interior to the inner and outer flaps and my intakes and exhaust piping with fans.

These will need to be tidied up some on the backsides ,thickness because of support placement and print angles were a bit too deep.

I know part of the problem was the FEP film had to be replaced it was getting a little long in the tooth , but the other I'll have to investigate further.

I was going to do the cockpit also but received notice that the cockpit detail set had been shipped out from Hannant's and should get early next week. Totally forgot I had even ordered them back before the end  of November

Not much to show but I am making progress. Until next time, stay safe, stay well!

[LorenSharp]

Finally picking up real speed, now that printing issues are dealt with,  Fine detailing on the bay parts commenced, I could have added all the piping and wiring when designing the parts but that is a real pain in pain backside  so a few bits of plastic rod, thread and beading wire later I came up with this:

 

Had to make a guess at the color of the bays, some references ,including Dynavectors directions, said white, others a light blue gray so I went with Aircraft gray ,it was the closest I had. once it dried a acrylic art paint wash to bring out the depth.

 

 

 

[LorenSharp]

I was going to print out the cockpit area, but in all the excitement of the holidays I had forgotten that I had ordered and Aires cockpit update set along with the small resin intakes from Hannants. there was a discussion on another thread about U.S> postage being so high, Irronically it is cheaper at times to order from U.K. with international tracking than to order from a hobby shop 2 states away. Go figure. but it can take longer which is why I forgot I had ordered it until it showed up. I'm glad I hadn't gotten very far on the cockpit  or printing it.

A coat of tire black with drybrushed aluminum to bring out the details and a little bit of yellow, red and blue to break things up some.

I did replace the P/E overhead ejection cord with some .3mm silver beading wire. thin enough to bend easily and stiff enough to hold shape afterwards. I happened uponthem at the local crafts shop while looking for something else looking for something else. A couple of bucks for 12m seemed like a good value and different thicknesses and colours so I have something new to use for wiring and plumbing.

[LorenSharp]

I cut out the various vents on the top of the fuselage ad used some ..010 thickness card stock to do the  vanes

The instructions said that nose weights weren't necessary, but since I changed the cockpit area and deleted other parts for printed parts, I've changed the CofG. after all this I don't want a tail sitter. Some kids modeling clad and bb's

gives the nose enough heft to prevent that from happening. the gear legs and wheels are still metal so they'll more than be able to handle the extra weight.

[Mike]

Very impressive I've still got one in my stash, and if you were UK based I'd be mithering you for a copy of the 3D parts   I really miss Dynavector