zebra Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 I've got several builds in mind for this GB, most of which probably won't happen, but I'll start with a British classic in French colours - a Vickers Viscount in the colours of the French domestic airline Air Inter, using the 1/144 Eastern Express kit and decals from F-DCAL. Here's the shot of the sprues and decals: It looks like quite a nice kit, so I'm surprised I haven't seen more of them built on BM. There's a cockpit interior, which won't be visible on my model as I'll be using window decals, and I'm a little surprised that they've given us clear parts for the cabin windows rather than decals. I've made a start by filling in the cabin windows, since I'm using window decals, but not got further than that yet. more soon Julian 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Nice one, the first aircraft I ever flew on was a Viscount, that Air Inter scheme is quite attractive too. Welcome to the GB and good luck with your build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 7 hours ago, Wez said: the first aircraft I ever flew on was a Viscount Same here - until I was 7 the only aircraft I'd flown on were British Airways Viscounts, we flew on them a couple of times a year to visit my grandparents in the Isle of Man, and later on got to fly in them again with Manx Airlines. One of my favourite aircraft - not just a good looker, I'll never forget the sound they made. If this kit was an 800 I'd be saving it to build in Manx or BA colours but as it's a 700 Air Inter can have it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Ooo, lovely :). This brings back memories 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted August 10, 2021 Share Posted August 10, 2021 Will be watching . Still remember those oval windows . Looks like a good kit Martin H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 14, 2021 Author Share Posted August 14, 2021 Windows filled in, nose undercarriage attached and fuselage assembled. Everything fits fairly well, it needs to be treated as a short run kit (no locating pins) but no real problems so far. I've also assembled the fin (why do these Russian and Ukrainian manufacturers insist on splitting fins, wings etc down the middle of the rudder/aileron/elevator???) and started on the engine nacelles. Apart from the locating pins, the other difference between this and a more mainstream kit is the number of sub-assemblies that would be one part in a mainstream kit and are 3 or 4 in this one! The nacelles are a good example - two halves and a front part. But it all seems to go together ok. Here's where I'm up to - I've slapped a lot of Mr Surfacer 500 on it but it's not as bad as that looks! thanks for looking Julian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skodadriver Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Following with interest Julian. I suspect one reason why you haven't seen more builds is the UK price. I don't know what the kit costs in Australia but Hannants in the UK sell it for £46.70. F-RSIN's very nice Viscount 700 is £18.99, less than half the price. Dave G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 2 hours ago, Skodadriver said: I suspect one reason why you haven't seen more builds is the UK price. I don't know what the kit costs in Australia but Hannants in the UK sell it for £46.70. F-RSIN's very nice Viscount 700 is £18.99, less than half the price. This was actually one of the Ray's 26 reboxes. I can't remember what I paid for it but it was certainly a lot less than the Hannants price. Postage to Australia was pretty reasonable too. UK prices for EE kits are crazy, pretty much the same in Australia. I occasionally buy them direct from Russia - prices on the PAS website are much lower. More progress today: Fuselage seams cleaned up, fin fitted and blended in, and wings assembled. The wings needed some minor fettling to go together, but seem to have aligned quite nicely. Some cleaning up of seams needed, and I'll fit the engines before I fit the wing to the fuselage, but I couldn't resist dry-fitting the wings: There's a pretty huge gap at the wing root, but it also looks like there isn't enough dihedral and fixing that will close (or at least reduce) the gap. The centre section aligns to the fuselage very nicely indeed - blending it in to the fuselage is going to be straightforward. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Excellent, progress 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Very nice work so far Julian, a great aircraft and a very smart scheme for it too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 Engines on and wings attached. I attached the engines to the wings before attaching the wings to the fuselage - I thought it would be easier to align them with each other and to clean up the joints, particularly for the inboard engines, without the fuselage in the way. Engines went on ok, but needed a bit of filler. I dealt with the wings by only gluing the belly section at first. I then gave it a bit of time to set before pulling the wingtips up and holding them in place with masking tape while I glued the rest of the joint, and left it to set for a while. This made it look disconcertingly like it was going to have far too much dihedral, but once I removed the tape and released the tension it settled down to something looking like the right dihedral, and also narrowed the huge gaps in the wing roots. I've filled the remaining gaps with Mr Surfacer, next job will be to clean that up, then it's tailplanes and undercarriage and into the paint shop. cheers Julian 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted August 22, 2021 Share Posted August 22, 2021 Taking shape very nicely Julian. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted August 28, 2021 Author Share Posted August 28, 2021 On 8/23/2021 at 3:46 AM, modelling minion said: Taking shape very nicely Julian. Thanks Craig! It's grown a pair of tailplanes and has had a coat of Mr Surfacer. It's in the garage drying right now - forgot to photograph it. All being well I'll start painting tomorrow. cheers Julian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 The white and aluminium coats are done: A little bit of detail painting to do then it'll be time for the decals. thanks for looking Julian 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted September 18, 2021 Author Share Posted September 18, 2021 Decals on. The F-DCAL decals are nice but presumably were designed for the F-RSIN kit, and they aren't a perfect fit for this one - I couldn't get the door outlines to sit perfectly over the engraved door outlines. It won't be noticeable unless you're up close. cheers Julian 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 Looking really good Julian, the paint looks lovely and smooth and the decals add a nice splash of colour. Getting very close to the finish line now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 Undercarriage and wheels on. I interpreted the instructions as allowing the main undercarriage to be added after the wings are assembled - I was wrong! - but after a bit of trimming of a couple of parts it worked out ok. Undercarriage doors and props left to do. The props are very fragile - I've broken four blades off already - so I've decided I'm not going to mask and paint the blade tips, that's just a recipe for disaster! I'm going to use a Molotow chrome pen for the spinners and leave the blades grey (already painted) and that will do. thanks for looking Julian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Esposito Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Beautiful Viscount. Just pulled the trigger on the EE kit. Mostly inspired from your great build. What are the horizontal lines on the rear cockpit windows? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 11, 2021 Author Share Posted October 11, 2021 4 hours ago, Mike Esposito said: Beautiful Viscount. Just pulled the trigger on the EE kit. Mostly inspired from your great build. What are the horizontal lines on the rear cockpit windows? Thanks Mike. The lines on the rear windows are the window frames which broke the window up into smaller panels on the early Viscount 700s, replaced by a single clear panel on later versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 Oo yes …. Lovely Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 Finished! The props were a bit problematic - as well as the fragility, one of them pinged off into the distance and was consumed by the carpet monster - so drastic action was needed and I made new ones on the 3D printer. These seem to be much more robust - certainly easier to handle - than the kit props. Anyway here's one photo, more will be in the gallery shortly: thanks for looking Julian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 That's beautiful as always Julian. Congratulations! Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjoo Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 That is just lovely little propliner! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now