VC-10? No, it is just an Ilyushin +++FINISHED+++

[Ray S]

Hello all. This is just a place holder at the moment as I have a couple of other builds on the go at the moment.

 

Over the last few months (well, lockdown really!), I have got to like building 1/144 scale aircraft. Some time ago, I did a VC10 C.Mk1K (ish) where I selectively modified the Airfix tanker to a different version. I have always liked the VC-10, especially as I had been in one in 1970 on my return from Singapore.

 

I have known for a long time that a then Soviet aircraft was very much like a copy of the VC-10, so when Zvezda issued their IL-62M, I just had to have it. It has been in the stash since it was issued, and this gives me the ideal opportunity to build it.

 

It was boxed very nicely, a sleeve with the artwork and a very sturdy inner box with the goodies:

 

 

 

The transfer sheet was too big for the box, thankfully they did not fold it, but it is not far off!

 

 

I will be doing the one with the orange/blue cheatline  rather than the Aeroflot ones.

 

I am looking forward to this one starting in a week's time.

 

Good luck everyone, Ray

Edited July 5, 2021 by Ray S
Edited Title

[Brad]

Welcome, this is a nice looking jet.

[Fifer54]

VC-10ski!

[Ray S]

2 hours ago, Fifer54 said:

VC-10ski!

 

That was how I was going to label this build, but then I listened to my Imagination...

 

Yours cryptically,

 

Ray

[Adam Poultney]

Ah I love an Il62! I'll follow this

[Rob S]

Will be following this one with interest. 

 

[stevehnz]

Used to see these droning overhead when I stayed with friends in East Sheen back in 1984, they stood out from the endless procession of 747 747 747 DC-10, 747 747 747 747 Tristar 7474 747 Il-62 Woohoo.  In truth, there wasn't much Woohoo going on, they were pretty rare but I did see several in the time I was there & no, I didn't spend all my time gazing skywards. One plane about every 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Mind boggling to a boy from down under. I could be tempted by one of these, they're a good looking aircraft. I'll be keen to see it come together. 

I like the thread title, very clever.  

Steve.

[Ray S]

Thanks for the comments! This will be started soon, I have the Twin Otter and a vacform Felexstowe on the go at the moment, but I will get to it, I promise!

 

Cheers, Ray

[Robin]

Hi Ray.

Will look forward to your work on this kit.  In 1993 I attended the Moscow Air Show and we flew out on an Il-62 of Aeroflot from Heathrow, because the aircraft was fully booked, a number of us were put into First Class.  Unfortunately, the aircraft had seen a lot of wear and was showing its age, but it still was a comfortable flight.  The return flight was on one of the newer Russian airliners, not sure which, but it was very smooth.   Robin.  

[Ray S]

Righty-ho, I have now given myself the proverbial 'oi, you starting or what' chat and have finally got a move on!

 

I did have a bit of a wait for a couple of reasons - I had the Twin Otter to do (plus the Felixstowe vacform in the Anything but Injection GB), and I also had to work out what I was going to do with the glazing on this 'VC-10 Alike'. Now, apparently I am not a 'proper' airliner modeller because I am not really a fan of filling windows and using transfers to depict them. I looked at the kit and wondered if I could just leave them out and add Krystal Klear like I did with a real VC-10 model a while ago, but then I looked at the cockpit glazing and saw the myriad window panes which would be a pain to mask. Then I remembered there is a small shop called Hannants, so I had a look on their website thingy and found these:

 

 

I ordered them on Saturday just gone, and they arrived today, so that was pretty good going. They also delivered something which will be good for the 'Less than a Tenner GB' for when I have finished this (or the Felixstowe). I was very happy with this, as it meant I could then start building this Ilyushin, so, in complete disregard to the instructions, I started with the very well appointed cockpit area!

 

 

It is amazing the amount of detail they have put into this model. The photo shows some areas that need a retouch on the paintwork, but not a lot is going to be seen when it is all closed up. It all dry-fits into the fuselage well, and I have started adding the kit PAX glazing, so I can put those Montex Masks to the test.

 

There! I have started at last, and what a well moulded kit it seems. I hope I do it justice!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

The first thing I did today was dismantle some bits I had stuck together the other day:

 

 

There were a number of these very small glazing parts. I had a check on the Montex mask set, and found they did not include masks for these windows. I am not good enough to cut out circles that small, and I had no Maskol, so I pressed them out, and will block the holes with the ends of cocktail sticks, and glaze with Krystal Klear later.

 

Then I built up the main undercarriage bay which fitted very well indeed. Most of it will be hidden when fully built:

 

 

The cockpit interior fitted well too:

 

 

The majority of the mating surfaces on this kit are quite thin, so I added some plastic strip to aid alignment. Oddly, the area at the underside aft was very thick indeed, so I did not reinforce that:

 

 

The wings closed up very well, I glued the central section first (a lovely positive click was heard when I did that!), and then I gradually closed the wings up with quick setting Tamiya cement:

 

 

There are one or two areas where I used the side cutters a little too close to the wing's leading edge which need tidying up, otherwise everything was fabulous again. Then, as usual, the inner child came to the fore and I had to see what this looked like dry-fitted to the fuselage:

 

 

Although the wing/fuselage join may look a little ropey in this photo, it was actually very good (again), and I will not have a think and see if I should paint the fuselage and the wings separately - it would be a lot easier for masking. I think I will do the same with the engine pods and the tail planes.

 

So far, so good. This is a really enjoyable build so far, and that is great!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Adam Poultney]

Definitely looking like a V-Ski-10 now. 

 

[Ray S]

Hello all. I have been able to get a bit more done to this aircraft today. I have looked at (and attended to) the fuselage seams, and only needed a little filler above the rear of the cockpit area:

 

 

It was only when I looked at the photo on the computy screen that I saw that I also need a little filler on that door seam! I have also added the control surfaces to the wings, they fitted very well indeed again, but some of the hinges moulded into the wing were rather fragile and had bent or fallen off. When I added the rudder to the tail fin, I could not work out how to fit it without breaking off the hinges again moulded in. They were angled down towards the rear, and the shape of the rudder prevented it from just sliding into place. Maybe it was just me, I have not seen that mentioned anywhere else (but I expect there are lots of builds of this kit I have not seen).

 

Then it was 'let's see what it looks like' time again, wings and tailplanes are just dry-fitted, and again it makes me think that I will paintit and get the transfers on before putting the wings, engines and tailplanes on.

 

 

There is some curious discolouration on this port side about the middle of the second batch of cabin windows - I must give this a good clean before spraying it and see if it goes.

 

That is it for now, more soon with luck.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Back in the Saddle]

Looking great Ray!

 

52 minutes ago, Ray S said:

it makes me think that I will paintit and get the transfers on before putting the wings, engines and tailplanes on.

If you can build it like that it makes things much easier - much more manageable/accessible.

[Ray S]

This morning, I decided to get the cockpit glazing fitted. It did not fit! There was a shocking gap at the front, and I thought 'never read about that before!' Then I realised it was 'user error' and I cannot even blame not reading the instructions! Here is what I started with:

 

 

Apart from the rubbish paintwork, I had followed the instructions with reference to the instrument panel coaming - or had I? When I had another look at them, it seemed like I had, but a slight adjustment to said coaming...

 

 

... and putting it in front of the IP rather than on top (which is how the guide showed it), and the glazing fitted...

 

 

... and then there was just a small gap which will need a little filling (which I had read about!). That will set now and I will Perfect Plastic Putty it when it is dry and solid, then start adding all the glazing masks.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Today has been a day of two halves, one good, one not so.

 

First, the good. I used Perfect Plastic Putty to seal up the glazing for the cockpit, there was a long line under the lower port side of the glazing, and a very small gap on the starboard vertical seam. It still need another layer, but it is getting there:

 

 

That glazing is incredibly thin, and it flexes quite a bit. I am really glad I bought the masks for it!

 

Now, the not so good. Guess why!

 

 

Okay, time is up. Somebody forgot to add the internal tail wheel bay! It will only fit inside, but I have a cunning plan. I cannot believe that this is the second instruction guide reading error I have made, and I have hardly started yet. One positive thing is that the tail wheel slides in to the part that I should have fitted so it will be easy enough to fix. Personally, I blame the designers of the aircraft, fancy making a tricycle undercarriage aircraft and adding a balancing wheel at the back - if they had not have done that, I would have put a lump of lead in the front and would not have to worry about the fourth wheel. That is my excuse, and I am sticking with it!

 

Ah well, as D:Ream sang, 'things can only get better'!

 

More (better) soon, with luck,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Today, work on this was confined to just producing a replacement rear wheel bay box:

 

 

I made this rather tall so I could hold onto the box while I fitted it to the gaping hole. Thankfully it went in okay and I kept hold of the part, before taking it back out. I then ran plenty of Revell Contacta cement in and re-positioned the part before adding further Tamiya Quick Setting glue around it too. The part is deliberately too high, I will sand it down when it has set fully. As you cannot see it, I will let you know that if you shake your phone/tablet/laptop/desktop you will hear a gentle rattling. That is not your device, it is the first box I made and was a little too eager to let go of the tweezers and it fell inside! This build is turning into a comedy of errors...

 

When it comes to fitting the tail wheel/support, the part itself is one long rod of constant diameter, so it should be easy enough to get it levelled with the main wheels especially if I remember to add glue to the location hole (which still need drilling) first. He says hopefully.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Righty-ho, I am back. I have finished the Felixstowe now, so I can concentrate on this illusion. I did wonder if I was concentrating enough after those issues I had, and this kit is so good (at the moment anyway) it deserves attention.

 

The first thing I did today was sort out the wreckage that I left for the tail prop wheel location. I cut out the final bay wall from some thin card and filled the large gap forward, and then sanded the lot down and filled the small gaps that were left.

 

 

This job of course would not have been needed if I had looked at the instructions properly and fitted the kit-supplied part before joining the fuselage...

 

I then got a move on with the engine pods. These are made up of multiple parts, and the moulding on them looks top notch. There was a little flash here and there, but nothing to write home about. The colour call-outs were for Humbrol Metalcote Polished Steel. I have a tin of that, so I thought 'great, I will use that'. I gave it a good ol' stir, and then did it again for luck, and brushed it onto the plastic, and my heart sank! The pigments were very thin, and coverage was chronic and I wondered if my luck was about to change with this model. I know I wanted to do a good job with it because it was a Christmas present from my wife a few years ago, and, after all the self-inflicted issues earlier, now this!

 

However, we modellers are made of stern stuff, so, after about ten minutes, the paint was dry and ready to be buffed to a shine. Out came the cotton buds, furious work was done polishing the bits, and wow! what a difference!

 

 

The pod on the left is what caused my worries, the one on the right solved them! For some reason, the Metalcote polished up very nicely even when the pigment was so patchy, but it was a very nice surprise. The patchy colour on the polished one is not so noticeable on the part as it is in the picture. Now, the question in my mind is, can I get the same result brush-painting the Metalcote on a larger area, as the wing leading edges are called out in that colour, or do I just use a tin of Tamiya Bare Metal Silver spray instead? (Rhetorical question). I have got some spare flaps from this kit so I can experiment with them and see if the brush-painting works.

 

I have also started painting the engine detail parts which will soon be buried in the pods:

 

 

The moulding on these bits is exquisite. 

 

That is it for now, but I am glad to be back doing this kit.

 

All the best, Ray

[PeterB]

Hi Ray,

 

Besides stirring the Metalcote you have to give it a really good shaking to get the "metal" flakes distributed evenly in the "suspension" or so I have read, and it seemed to work for me more than once.  I give it a good stir with a broad spatula to loosen up any clots, put the lid back on making sure is on tight or you can get the ruddy stuff everywhere and give it real old shake, and then another quick stir. I have used both polished aluminium and polished steel and they worked well - the gunmetal was not as useful for me as you cannot really polish 1/72 mg barrels with a cloth!

 

Pete

[Ray S]

8 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Ray,

 

Besides stirring the Metalcote you have to give it a really good shaking to get the "metal" flakes distributed evenly in the "suspension" or so I have read, and it seemed to work for me more than once.  I give it a good stir with a broad spatula to loosen up any clots, put the lid back on making sure is on tight or you can get the ruddy stuff everywhere and give it real old shake, and then another quick stir. I have used both polished aluminium and polished steel and they worked well - the gunmetal was not as useful for me as you cannot really polish 1/72 mg barrels with a cloth!

 

Pete

 

Thanks for that @PeterB , I will give it a try later. I remembered after I had posted that I also have Mr Metal Colour too, which I find works wonderfully, but can be a little 'toy like, as can be seen from this Sword Lightning T.4 I did a few years ago:

 

 

 

 

That was all brush-painted too, but it came out too shiny in 1/72, I think it would be too much in 1/144 scale. Maybe if I leave the slight 'texture' there is in the surface of the Il-62 it will dull it down a little.

 

Today is going to be an experiment day. I will use the spare parts for testing Metalcote and the Mr Metal with and without primer, and see how it goes.

 

I do my 1/72 gun barrels with Metalcote Gun Metal, but then polish with a cotton bud, that highlights the raised bits, and leaves any engraved/lower detailing dull so accents the details.

 

All the best, Ray

[theplasticsurgeon]

Looking good Ray, and good save with that tail-wheel.  It's just a retractable prop with a a castor on the end. 

Still,  saves an embarrasing incident - as happened to a VC-10 at Brize.

 

I saw an IL-62 at Malta, Luqa once.   Waiting for return flight, an IL-62 out on the apron.  It taxied out to the other end of the active runway,

then took off in the opposite direction to all the other flights.  Most strange.

 

Imagination,  Just an Ilyushin - nice ear-bug from the 80s.  Thanks Ray!

[Ray S]

Today has been an 'experiment' day. I was unsure about how to deal with the leading edges of the wings and tailplanes, and also of the back halves of the engine pods, which are all called out as Metalcote 27003 Polished Steel.

 

I decided to use the four extended flaps that Zvezda supply as options as my test beds, so I masked off the underside, and sprayed the top surface with Tamiya Grey Primer. I let that dry for an hour or so, and then masked the leading edge on the top surface, and removed all the masking from the underside. I then followed @PeterB's advice and stirred and shook the Metalcote paint (in fact, I did it twice for luck!) and added that to the top and bottom surfaces of two of the flaps. For the Mr Metal paint, I used their Stainless, and for that I shook the bottle like crazy for a minute or so, then removed the lid, and then, using an old, stiff brush I use only for this series of paint, I used the paint from the LID rather than the bottle, and 'scrubbed' it onto the upper and lower surfaces.

 

The Metalcoat was still very odd to brush paint, but I found that if I brushed it fore to aft, and then side to side, it gave a reasonable coverage. I left that for about half an hour, and then buffed it was a fresh cotton bud. The Metalcote left a lot of residue marks like there was grit in the paint, but it may well have been the way I applied it. The Mr Colour Stainless went on a lot smoother, and I buffed that with a fresh cotton bud after about a minute.

 

These are the results. First, the undersides which had no primer, so it was just paint onto plastic:

 

 

The Metalcote (on the right) is quite a bit darker, and you can see the 'grittiness' on the surface. The Mr Metal Colour is a lot smoother, and has a lighter, slightly yellower finish.

 

On the upper surfaces, which was over the Tamiya primer I got:

 

 

Both seem to have gone down very well and polished up to a nice sheen and I would be happy with either. I will leave these for a day or two and see if the paints react with the primer, but I think I am tempted to go with the Mr Metal Stainless due to the leading edges on the wings being a fairly large area. I am hoping that the primer stays unblemished as it will be a lot easier to prime the whole wing/tailplane/engine pods and then just mask off the bits that need this colour.

 

I am tempted to find a passenger airliner which has a natural metal fuselage and use this on that too.

 

I hope you did not mind me going through that lot, it may help somebody in the future!

 

All the best,

 

Ray

 

PS 

4 hours ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

Imagination,  Just an Ilyushin - nice ear-bug from the 80s.  Thanks Ray!

 

Tim, I had just been listening to them before I started this thread and it was too good an opportunity to miss it! I was going to call this thread VC-10ski but I am afraid the pun won!

[theplasticsurgeon]

51 minutes ago, Ray S said:

Tim, I had just been listening to them before I started this thread and it was too good an opportunity to miss it! I was going to call this thread VC-10ski but I am afraid the pun won

I remember a work colleague, who lent me that LP to tape - great sounds, great times!

[Ray S]

Hello all!

 

Well, there has been no reaction between the Tamiya Primer and the Metalcote/Mr Metal Colour paints, even though there was not much time between spraying the primer and adding the others. Today, I took some time to add the glazing masking (Montex) and popped some Krystal Klear into the smaller windows which did not have masks. It took me 1 CD worth of music to add those, 71 minutes for 90 portholes and 18 for the cockpit glazing. Goodness knows how long it would have taken if I were making my own masks. I am also always amazed at the amount of framing there is on Russian aircraft cockpits/noses. I have now sprayed the fuselage and wings (separately) with the Light Grey Primer, and that will be my airframe colour for this. I will let that set, and then if I get time tomorrow, I will mask the fuselage and spray the white upper section. I have photocopied the transfer sheet, and that should give me a guide as to where to mask.

 

That is it for now, more soon!

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Things took a different turn to what I expected, and I did a bit of scratch-building shelves to fit into my storage boxes I use to house my built kits. I had very rapidly run out of space, and making a shelf to fit inside doubled the space I had, and now I have plenty of room for more built kits!

 

I have actually done something to the Ilyushin, namely masking the wingtips and painting them red, and then gloss varnishing the wings prior to painting the leading edges.

 

 

The wingtip sections were about one millimetre wide, so they will be fun to mask when I do the leading edges. I did not want to paint the leading edges then mask for the red, as Metalcote and Mr Metal Colour have not liked masking tape from my experience. I have sanded/polished the wings surface now, and removed some of that visible debris.

 

I hope this starts to progress a bit more rapidly now.

 

Thanks for looking, Ray