New Tool Vulcan B2 - "rivet counted" build X2 - second build now active

[Adam Poultney]

6 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

This seems like a thread made in heaven - Airfix new tool Vulcan + Adam commentary!

 

Regards,

Adrian

Seems like a thread to drive any normal person insane.... 

 

31 minutes ago, WV908 said:

Watching this one very closely @Adam Poultney

 

Sorry if my reply in the rumourmonger thread seemed rude - I've just re-read it and it doesn't read well - doh! 

 

I did get to see 594 last weekend and my kit is currently sat at the DPD distribution centre in Rotherham so it's getting closer! Luckily my first build is going to be 594, but do you have any tips on correcting the canopy, or do we just wait until someone like Ali does a brand new one for us all? 

 

Cheers,

WV908

DW about the rumoumonger thread, seemed fine to me. 

Anyway, no idea when it comes to removing the outboard wipers. Messing with clear parts is something I tend to avoid wherever possible.

I'd start by looking at guitar wire as a possible material to use to build the middle one, I probably have some old strings of about the right thickness (I keep a few old strings of each size I use just for modelling proposes).

 

[bigbadbadge]

What a cracking thread Adam, I am unlikely to be able to fit one in the Mancave unfortunately. What a cracking looking model, congratulations to Airfix and you are the Vulcan Meister so this should be good.

Chris

 

[Martian]

3 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

 I am unlikely to be able to fit one in the Mancave unfortunately.

That's never stopped me. Store it somewhere else in the house. I have a ready use stash in the Martian cave, an overflow of the same in our bedroom and of course, the main stash in the loft.

 

As it happens, Mrs Martian looks upon my stash, especially the rarer kits, as an investment against her frail dotage. I have however, taken pains to make it absolutely clear that I have to be dead first and even then might decide to take some of my favourite kits with me.

 

Just look Mrs Bigbadbadge firmly in the eye, jut out your chin and say "I want one and I am going to get one. Oh look, here it is already."

 

Martian (Relationship councillor to the Galaxy.) 👽

[bigbadbadge]

8 minutes ago, Martian said:

That's never stopped me. Store it somewhere else in the house. I have a ready use stash in the Martian cave, an overflow of the same in our bedroom and of course, the main stash in the loft.

 

As it happens, Mrs Martian looks upon my stash, especially the rarer kits, as an investment against her frail dotage. I have however, taken pains to make it absolutely clear that I have to be dead first and even then might decide to take some of my favourite kits with me.

 

Just look Mrs Bigbadbadge firmly in the eye, jut out your chin and say "I want one and I am going to get one. Oh look, here it is already."

 

Martian (Relationship councillor to the Galaxy.) 👽

😄 yes I will!!! Err no I won't, I am not brave enough!!! No only jesting.  I have just bought her a new old car so have earned mega brownie points which I could cash in , although I have recently bought a Lukgraph 32 DH89 so might have to wait a while before a large box arrives.  

I too have the immediate stash in the mancave, and intermediate stash in the bedroom and the deep deep stash in the loftspace, I might drop some hints re the investment angle though.  I am lucky really she does allow me to indulge my hobbies. 

Thanks Martian 

Chris

[Adam Poultney]

Got two things this morning: 

Another new tool Vulcan and a Covid jab (at last!)

[sloegin57]

18 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

If you know anything about me, you would know I like Vulcans. A lot. In fact, in total I have 26 Vulcan models now including finished builds, stashed kits, WIPs and diecasts. 

When the new tool Vulcan was announced,(sorry, leaked the day before the announcement) you can imagine my excitement. I wasn't surprised as I knew beforehand that Airfix had been actively looking to scan various Vulcans in 2018, so I was expecting a new Vulcan B2 (one of the many reasons why I only built one old tool Vulcan).

During the early days of Covid, I started building a lot of Vulcans in all sorts of scales, and as I built more and more I researched more and more. And wow was that quite a rabbit hole to explore. First, get the engines right, get the ECM plates right, but now I'm looking at the blisters, which style of aerial each airframe had, and what tiny little changes were made when. I really enjoy this, but I prefer to keep it only to Vulcans; if I want to build without worrying about rivets I'll build a ww2 plane of some sort. This build will be one I try to make as accurately as my modelling abilities allow. Yes, I'm rivet counting this one. 

 

Comparing to the Victor K2 decals, you can see they've fixed the undersized roundels both Airfix Victor kits suffer from. These actually look like 84" roundels in 1/72 scale.

 

For reference for any mentions later in the thread and for anyone else building this kit:

 

Adam - are there any flashed over holes outboard of the Skybolt blisters [both sides] plus one or two outboard the port main u/c door for the air sampling pods and the mk.12 sensor head [port only] ?

 

Dennis

[Martian]

3 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

😄 yes I will!!! Err no I won't, I am not brave enough!!! No only jesting.  I have just bought her a new old car so have earned mega brownie points which I could cash in , although I have recently bought a Lukgraph 32 DH89 so might have to wait a while before a large box arrives.  

I too have the immediate stash in the mancave, and intermediate stash in the bedroom and the deep deep stash in the loftspace, I might drop some hints re the investment angle though.  I am lucky really she does allow me to indulge my hobbies. 

Thanks Martian 

Chris

Do it anyway. By my reckoning, a replacement car is equal to more than a slightly pricy resin kit.

 

Martian (Stirring the proverbial since star date 13.12.1961.) 👽

[avro683]

3 hours ago, Martian said:

That's never stopped me. Store it somewhere else in the house. I have a ready use stash in the Martian cave, an overflow of the same in our bedroom and of course, the main stash in the loft.

 

As it happens, Mrs Martian looks upon my stash, especially the rarer kits, as an investment against her frail dotage. I have however, taken pains to make it absolutely clear that I have to be dead first and even then might decide to take some of my favourite kits with me.

 

Just look Mrs Bigbadbadge firmly in the eye, jut out your chin and say "I want one and I am going to get one. Oh look, here it is already."

 

Martian (Relationship councillor to the Galaxy.) 👽

Mrs Avro has a similar view to my stash (and on occasion has been known to actively encourage it!). I appreciate that I am in an incredibly fortunate position and will never do anything to jeopardise it.

[Adam Poultney]

So, the schemes as requested by @Rabbit Leader

 

Scheme A - XM594 in 1966

Reference photos for this one are somewhat hard to come by, but there are a few.

This image (scroll down) is by far the most useful that I have found. First of all, with only the last digit of the serial visible (4), how can I know that this is XM594? 

First, this is clearly a twin ECM plate Vulcan, which narrows it to 24 Vulcans. Blue Steel is redundant as it was only some of the 34 Blue Steel Vulcans which received the second ECM Plate. Second, the engine type. These are clearly Olympus 301 engines as the jetpipes are short and of a roughly constant diameter. 44 Vulcans were equipped with 301s, but by seeing which Vulcans had both two ECM plates and Olympus 301s, I can further narrow this down to 11 airframes. Of these, only two have a last digit of 4 in the serial: XL384, XM594.

Next, to determine which Vulcan this is I check the Skybolt blisters, I know XM594 only has the coolant blister which is consistent with what I see here, XL384 had no blisters so is ruled out. There is a certain degree of uncertainty here due to the resolution of the image. 

To eliminate uncertainty, I found an image of XL384 from a similar time period and compared the style of camouflage, which had variations depending on where and when it was applied. 384 has a sweeping curve in the green to avoid the radome, this would have been applied at Woodford by the manufacturer during an ongoing refit programme. XM594 as a younger Vulcan was one of quite a number which were to receive camouflaged upper surfaces at an earlier time, outside of the refit programme, as it was near the back of the refit queue. Vulcans camouflaged outside the refit programme had the radome removed and painted seperately, resulting in the green being taken right to the edge of where the radome would be creating a hard 'stepped' edge. XM594 underwent her refit in 1966 at St Athen, and had a similar pattern reapplied with the same stepped radome. This Vulcan has that hard stepped edge and therefore leaves XM594 as our only suitable candidate.

 

edit: better version from Amos B

 

 

 

 

This one is a bit easier to identify as the serial is clearly visible. It's from 1964, a bit earlier and doesn't have the IFR probe. This is very similar to the much better photographed XM595 if anyone wants to build this configuration.

source

 

Anyway, now that we have those points out of the way, onto the actual configuration.

As mentioned above, XM594 is 301 powered, has 2 ECM plates and only the Skybolt coolant blister. You must remove the twin blisters, which are situated just behind the coolant blister, and also the rear mounting blister. To save scrolling back in the thread, here's all the blisters again:

 

 

In the 1964 configuration, XM594 does not have the TFR mod, you should use the smooth nose peice. In the 1966 configuration I do not know. The modifications necessary to fit TFR were began in late 1966 and ran through to 1968, obviously the TFR blister isn't equipped but the circular plate might be if XM594 was an early recipient of this mod. I will do further research and get back to this point.

 

You will need to add the air oil separator pipes as per the instructions, the recessed lamps in the nose are ok, the instruction not to add the X Band jammer is correct. Earlier UHF aerials should be used, as indicated in the instructions and the aerial on the nose gear doors should be used.

 

The square shaped Doppler Radar was introduced well after 1966 and needs to go. The decal for its position is incorrect as it should be black, not tan.

 

The red anti collision light covers were introduced in 1966, so may have been equipped to XM594, the photograph is not clear enough to tell.

 

In terms of the paint, as mentioned earlier it was applied outside of the refit programme so should have the stepped green around the radome edge. Pre 1966 refit, XM594 would have had the upper surface of the jetpipes painted in green, but from the 1966 refit onwards this was no longer the case. 

All camouflage applied before April 1967 was soft edged so it should be painted freehand with an airbrush, or use putty masking with a bit of a gap underneath, not firmly pressed down. This camouflage as noted in the painting guide was gloss, but faded quickly. Often the grey of the rear part of the radome was a different shade to the rest, I believe it used different paints which would weather differently. In XM594's case it appears to be slightly lighter than the rest of the grey.

 

That took over an hour to research and write up so I'll do XM602 later

Edited July 13, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[Adam Poultney]

1 hour ago, sloegin57 said:

Adam - are there any flashed over holes outboard of the Skybolt blisters [both sides] plus one or two outboard the port main u/c door for the air sampling pods and the mk.12 sensor head [port only] ?

 

Dennis

Yeah there's one further out on each wing but they don't look like they're in the right place for B2MRRs. Anyway, they'd need to include holes to drill for blisters as they didn't carry the pods at all times. Anyway, only XH serial MRRs carried the pods, and only 3 of those had wide intakes.

No provisions for adding the white aerials on the nose either that would be needed for a B2.MRR

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

This is great. I approve of such attention to detail. It's very refreshing to see such attention to detail given the hostility one often sees against people who actually know anything by people who prefer not to.

 

I'll follow along and try to learn a bit about Vulcans

[Adam Poultney]

1 minute ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

This is great. I approve of such attention to detail. It's very refreshing to see such attention to detail given the hostility one often sees against people who actually know anything by people who prefer not to.

 

I'll follow along and try to learn a bit about Vulcans

I love this level of research in an aircraft I'm interested in. Being pedantic over someone else's build where it isn't welcome or asked for isn't great, but where someone is wanting to get the best model they can I see no problem with checking every last detail.

On this thread, every detail will be checked and double checked to the limits of my modelling abilities (let's be real, that's the limiting factor here), and if I miss something... I want to know about it. 

[Adam Poultney]

 

Now here's a scheme I like. XJ781, an Olympus 201 Vulcan in 12 Sqn markings, pretty nice I think. 

 

[Terry1954]

I'll join this thread too Adam if I may.

 

Back in 1968, at the tender age of 14, I attended my first annual camp as an Air Cadet. RAF Scampton, which then had three squadrons of these beauties. All week we watched these beauties take off and land, got to sit inside one, got to go inside the Blue Steel servicing facility, and got to watch a four aircraft QRA scramble from the grass beside the taxiway. I even had the privilege of seeing the base from the air, with Vulcans scattered all around, when I had an AEF Chipmunk flight from the main runway. Needless to say I thought I'd gone to heaven! I still have the old camp photo somewhere. Around 20 plus cadets, as I recall, all arranged proudly in front of a Vulcan. I'll post a copy if I can dig it out!

 

I've loved the aircraft ever since. Built an odd scale one many years ago (can't recall who made it), and am gearing myself, my wallet, my space and my wife up for getting at least one of these beauties. 

 

Your attention to detail is admirable, and I will follow your build keenly.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Terry

[motogpMatt]

1 hour ago, Adam Poultney said:

I love this level of research in an aircraft I'm interested in. Being pedantic over someone else's build where it isn't welcome or asked for isn't great, but where someone is wanting to get the best model they can I see no problem with checking every last detail.

On this thread, every detail will be checked and double checked to the limits of my modelling abilities (let's be real, that's the limiting factor here), and if I miss something... I want to know about it. 

Thank you for doing this bud, looking forward to making a bit of room on the bench, and investing in a hanger to put the thing in once done lol

 

Matt

[Ruskin Air Services]

I think also that parts G15 & G16 on the main undercarriage bogies are for preserved airframes not operational ones

[Adam Poultney]

12 minutes ago, Ruskin Air Services said:

I think also that parts G15 & G16 on the main undercarriage bogies are for preserved airframes not operational ones

Yes there's certainly an issue with the undercarriage, but I'll get to that later in the build.

 

Cockpits going together, Airfix have included a casing for 40g of nose weight, you could probably fit a lot more in there easily. I'm going to assemble as much as possible before I need to start applying paint. 

 

 

 

[Biggles87]

Wow, Vulcans by a Vulcanologist! I will definitely be watching this.

When I get mine ( prospective birthday present, if not I’ll have to buy one myself ) it will be anti-flash white with Blue Steel because I’m of that generation. I still have some Modeldecals sheets for the Vulcan but they might be beyond their ‘sell by’ dates by now.

Stay safe.

 

John

[cherry268]

2 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

Now here's a scheme I like. XJ781, an Olympus 201 Vulcan in 12 Sqn markings, pretty nice I think. 

I think I have a picture of 602 that looks exactly like that, I'll try and post it later, black and white unfortunately 

 

Thanks for all the details, your level of research is brilliant

[cherry268]

Here you go

 

[Back in the Saddle]

Great thread Adam, thank you! 👍

[DaveJL]

Your passion for Vulcans is clear to see in this thread! Nice work mate!

 

My kit arrived this morning and I’m itching to get it started (though it’s not on my build planner for the year!)

 

I’ll be tapping into your knowledge whenever I come to build mine. I’ll probably get aftermarket decals for either a 9 or 12 Sqn machine.

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Once again Adam, excellent work and I’m almost ashamed to say that many of us will be freely benefiting from your numerous hours of thorough Vulcan research. I’m sure many more WIP’s will occur once this beautiful kit gets distributed worldwide. The Scheme A hints and tips are most welcomed, now awaiting your notes on the Anti-Flash white scheme B. 

Cheers and many thanks.. Dave 
 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Now although this great kit hasn’t quite hit the Australian Hobby store shelves as yet, it’s led me to pull down my new tool Airfix Blue Steel Victor from the stash cupboard. I’m now wondering what other minor differences may exist between some of the kits ‘let’s call them’ generic parts to what may have been fitted for a particular serial when in active service. A similar Victor thread just like this would be most helpful, unfortunately I’m not clued up enough on the subject to attempt to go there.. has this been done before / any takers? 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Harrier/ViperFan]

I have the Victor and missed out on the Valant, i totally forgot that the Vulcan was coming out as a new tool. Looks like it need a lot of work due to errors i might have to pass i think.