Vickers Vildebeest MkIII 1/72 +++FINISHED+++

[Ray S]

Hello all.

 

Sometimes in this world, something happens which makes you feel very lucky and privileged indeed. Last Sunday, I was at an outing with my model club, when one of our members asked a colleague if he knew anyone who would like to build this - and produced the 1/72 Special Hobby Vickers Vildebeest MkIII. My colleague took one look at the box, and unerringly pointed in my direction, straight between my eyes! 'HIM!' he said. I had a look in the box, but I was already hooked! I had wanted to build one ever since I heard about the fact that Azur-Frrom had produced an injection-moulded one (I had toyed with the Contrail vacform idea but never got one). I first heard about it in a copy of SAMI from August 2011, and I still have the copy waiting for a re-read (which has now been done). Well, I had a natter with our club member (Paul) and found out that a friend of his wanted him to build it but it was not his speciality, so that is why he asked around. I hope to do a good job with this (Paul and his friend have said it is okay for me to do a WIP on here).

 

This is the boxing I have been given:

 

 

It contains a supply of nice injection moulded parts:

 

 

And some photo-etch and resin:

 

 

A good transfer sheet with an amended #13 transfer - the original was too big (a carry over from the Azur-Frrom issue):

 

 

And this is the markings I have been asked to do:

 

 

Paul's friend's father (if I remember correctly) flew these in Singapore in the silver finish. I am glad about that as my head still hurts after reading about three threads on camouflaged Vildebeests!

 

I popped a request for help in the 'Interwar' section in this Aviation Forum, and have been given some guidance and also some images which will help me out, including the fact that it does not seem to be an overall silver, but has some areas of Cerrux Grey, ala silver-doped Swordfish.

 

I am looking forward to this, but with a little trepidation as it is for such an important reason!

 

More in a mo,

 

Ray

Edited December 12, 2021 by Ray S
Edited Title

[Ray S]

Okay, back again.

 

The first thing I needed to do was a bit of prep work. The kit is quite nicely moulded, but this copy does have one or two little issues, but this is modelling, so should not be too difficult to sort out. The first problem is one I did not see for a day or two but then became very obvious:

 

 

Right behind that circle on the inside of the nose is an ejection pin! I checked out the rest of both halves of the fuselage, and there were five more marks like that, each one over a pin. Looks like a little cleaning up will be needed. I remember the fuss (justifiable) with the first issue of the Airfix Swift, thankfully this is not so bad. Secondly, some location holes were not quite what I would call right:

 

 

In this case, the location holes for the pilot seat framework is okay, on the other, well, not quite. This also carried over to the wings, one side was okay, the other had dimples rather than holes. A footstep up to the rear gunners cockpit is the same, one is nicely recessed, the other stands proud. All minor things mind, so I am still happy with this but something to watch out for. Getting onto modelling now, having read the SAMI article, I did not fall into the trap of not drilling out a window on the starboard upper front:

 

 

I could have easily missed that in the instructions, it is mentioned as clear as day, but I have history in that department. It allowed light to get to the instrument panel in real life.

 

One thing that came up in a number of reviews and builds (but not in the SAMI magazine article) was that the rear gunner station was incorrect for this mark of Vildebeest. The kit manufacturer supplied a WWI-era Scarff mount for the gun, rather than the type on the Swordfish (and others) which I think was called the Fairey High-Speed gun mount. It involved a different shape to the station opening, and a different way of mounting the gun. The Scarff mount was okay for MkI and II Vildebeests, but the later ones did not have it. Getting images of the proper area online was difficult, but @Patrik had a thread going a while ago which helped out:

 

 

There are some great photographs in there, and what a result Patrik produced too. From that, I marked out the area which looked right to cut out:

 

 

I scribed around the area and then went to it with drill, saw and file:

 

 

I then thinned down the sills aft to get them a little better (the kit plastic is quite thick) but I think I still need to clean up the cuts a bit more. Having done all that, I cracked out the paint and started the interior painting process. I usually brush paint, so I thinned some Humbrol 113 Rust for the red primer, and Humbrol 78 for the Interior Grey Green with ColourCoats' Naphtha Thinners. I was unsure about the rust colour, but it seems to be the rough colour used in most builds/reviews I have seen. Airfix, in their Swordfish kit, suggested 61 Flesh which seems to be because the primer was put on outside and that shade was what was visible inside. Anyway, the first coats are on, and they will have a second, while the framework will get Interior Grey Green later on. The Humbrol paints work really well with the naphtha thinner, it dries quickly and can be touched within an hour or so, and I have been able to successfully overpaint after a couple of hours as long as I do not brush too often at the time.

 

 

I have also followed other builder's suggestions about using Krystal Klear for the small fuselage windows, so I have fitted a frame bar in the larger port side window.

 

 

I am sure I will work out how to mask the windows before I rattlecan spray the silver/aluminium main colour.

 

Anyway, that is where I am at at the moment, please feel free to give advice and guidance if it looks as though I am going to make an error. This is an important build for someone else, and I would like to do as good a job as I am capable of.

 

Thanks for dropping in,

 

Ray

[ckw]

45 minutes ago, Ray S said:

I am sure I will work out how to mask the windows before I rattlecan spray the silver/aluminium main colour.

If using Krystal Klear, I don't worry about it ... I just treat them as a mask then after painting cut them out and put in fresh KK

 

Cheers

 

Colin

[Ray S]

1 hour ago, ckw said:

If using Krystal Klear, I don't worry about it ... I just treat them as a mask then after painting cut them out and put in fresh KK

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

Now that is a good idea! Thanks for that!

 

Ray

[bigbadbadge]

Would love one of these too, what a great stroke of luck getting hold of it.  

Nice start.

Chris

[Patrik]

Lovely start. Will be following with interest. Building a Vincent here, some of the posts may help you in your build. However, please do not be distracted by my pedantic approach, build as you like.

 

[Ray S]

23 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Would love one of these too, what a great stroke of luck getting hold of it.  

Nice start.

Chris

 

Cheers Chris. I feel very lucky indeed to have been asked to build it.

 

@Patrik, thanks for the link, and your input in the Interwar section too.

 

I did not get much time for this today, but did get the framework painted inside. The guide suggested Interior Grey Green, so that is what I went with:

 

 

 

It was only afterwards that I found I had painted too much primer at the front end, as the guide suggested that at the extreme front the section inside the framework was IGG too, so I have corrected that. If this build was for myself, I would have left it. I am not sure how much would be seen in the end as there will be a control panel and seat in the way. I felt happier once I had done it though. While I was painting the missing IGG, I got the rest of the parts that needed it done too while they were still on the runners.

 

I know this is short and sweet today, but thanks for dropping in.

 

Ray

[Ray S]

I have not had as much time on this as I would have liked, but there has been some progress. I masked and repainted the errant Primer Red with Interior Grey Green, and started doing a little more to the interior of the Vildebeest itself.

 

 

There is a combination of photo-etch, resin and plastic in that lot. The photo-etch has some very nice, fine attachment pints and I was able to sand the small nub off easily too. I have put the seatbelts as best I could, but I think they could have been bent a little better than I managed. I am not sure if I got the control column the right way round or not, I know it would not come off this morning when I tried to remove it! Then I had some 'interesting' PE bending to do! -

 

 

This is the result after two bends in this bit of PE, for the throttle quadrant. Anyway, it went into place with my 'damp wooden toothpick' method which works well allowing you to pick up and place small PE precisely. 

 

 

I have also done part of the rear gunner's station, the gun cartridges and flooring:

 

 

That part needed just a little sanding to get the fuselage to close up. It has now had a remedial coat of IGG to tie it in with the rest of the interior. I now have to decide on whether to have the gunner's seat down so I can show off more belts, or stowed where I will not have to bend them! The question is, would the seat have been stowed when it is on the ground, unoccupied - logic tells me it would be, but logic is not always right!

 

I am toying with the idea of spraying the fuselage silver before adding the lower wing, the fit is very good indeed for the visible surfaces, and that would mean I could use blue-tack added from the inside to plug the windows and still get to it to remove it when the spraying is done. I will probably change my mind, I often do!

 

Anyway, thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[bigbadbadge]

The pilot seat assembly looks wonderful and the throttle quadrant, wow that is tiny. Great idea re the damp wooden cocktail stick for the PE. Thanks. 

Great job

Chris

[Ray S]

@bigbadbadge, thanks for those very kind comments.

 

It just goes to show how popular this Forum is when I post something on a Monday, and by Thursday I have to go to page four to find it again! And what a range of builds there are going on too.

 

Anyway, I have made some progress. After reading a number of online build articles and consulting the images of the real Vildebeests, I have made my attempt at altering the rear gunner station. I had previously cut out the area from the kit plastic, and today I made the shelf which appears to be there either side of the cut out. this is my interpretation, hopefully it is somewhere close:

 

 

I made it out of some gash plastic card, but had fun and games trying to test-fit it. I have some blue tack which I used to hold it in place, but found that, like CA, the tack seemed to stick to my fingers, the cocktail stick or whatever it was I was using to press it onto the fuselage surface. There must be a knack somewhere out there! The test fit showed that everything still closes up when the interior is in:

 

 

 

I will add some other bits to the rear station when it is closed up, and then work out how to build the mount itself. That may well be some thin brass rod and a soldering iron job, I will see. Tomorrow will be a day of completing the interior proper, I hope.

 

Thanks for looking and for the 'likes' and comments.

 

Ray

[bigbadbadge]

Great work Ray, the shelf looks good as does the rest of the interior,  brings back memories of doing the interior for a frog Blackburn Shark  for the Frog Squad GB . Very pleasing work,  but definitely have the same issues with the CA😄.

Great work 

Chris 

[Ray S]

Thanks Chris!

 

Today has been a good day. The interior is just about done now. First I added a small circular etched part to the port side:

 

 

I don't know what it it is for, but I will use it as an anchor point for the seatbelt/lap belt for the rear gunner. The rest of the interior is in now, and fitted quite well:

 

 

 

I masked the windows from the inside:

 

 

I then did a trial 'mask removal' with the fuselage taped up to see if it would work. I had a mixed result if the wing was attached, but if I left it off, there was no problem. My thought is to dry-fit the wing, mask all the openings, spray it primer and silver, then remove the wing and interior masking before re-fitting the wing. The other option is to mask the windows with Krystal Klear and remove that and re-apply after spraying, but I have found it awkward to remove previously. Any advice will be appreciated!

 

This is how it looked dry-fitted:

 

 

I will need to drill holes for the undercarriage legs soon, they were not on the mouldings (nor in the instructions), and I must also remember to drill the actuating rod locations too - they are mentioned in the instructions. I am looking forward to buttoning up the fuselage soon.

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Ray

[socjo1]

Very unusual plane and model. And very good modelling-craftmanship. I am looking with interesting!

Best regards,

Michał.

[bigbadbadge]

That interior is looking wonderful Ray  great work and the dry fit looks good . 

Are there any kit transparencies? Just thinking they may be worth looking at for the larger windows,  would it be worth thinning them down and repolishing or using as template for thin clear acetate???

If you use a black sharpie around the edges of the clear parts their thickness does not show, sorry if teaching to suck eggs. 

Great work on this beauty 

Chris 

[Ray S]

9 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Are there any kit transparencies? Just thinking they may be worth looking at for the larger windows,  would it be worth thinning them down and repolishing or using as template for thin clear acetate???

If you use a black sharpie around the edges of the clear parts their thickness does not show, sorry if teaching to suck eggs.

 

Hi Chris, there are transparencies included, I will be going down the Krystal Klear route when the time comes. I have left the masking in for the two larger windows, but will use KK to mask the two circular ones. Thanks for the suggestions though.

 

The fuselage is closed up now. It went together well, but in the usual way, things did not align so well when glue was involved! All panel lines matched, the joins are pretty good except for the join from the front cockpit to the engine, where a ridge appeared and I could not get rid of it.

 

 

Then I started to deal with the underside of the lower wing. The undercarriage fits to that in six places. Unfortunately there are only two location holes moulded:

 

 

I used the undercarriage parts to deal with that, just like an intrepid modeller should, and soon had the requisite six holes.

 

 

A dry fit showed that the wing will attach well to the fuselage, with just a little filler to be needed at the fore and aft joints. I am letting the fuselage set well before doing anything else.

 

More soon with luck,

 

Ray

[bigbadbadge]

52 minutes ago, Ray S said:

Hi Chris, there are transparencies included, I will be going down the Krystal Klear route when the time comes. I have left the masking in for the two larger windows, but will use KK to mask the two circular ones. Thanks for the suggestions though.

No worries Ray, glad to see the fuselage halves joined, it's good to know about the wing to fuselage joints too.  Great work fella 

Chris 

[Jonners]

Looking great so far, Ray, and I'll be following your progress with interest. I went into battle with the Contrail vacform kit a couple of years ago and ran a WiP thread that provided some useful tips from fellow BM'ers, especially @Patrik's timely point about the gunner's setup:

 

I chose to portray the metal panels in silver/natural metal, but the originals may well have been Cerrux grey as discussed in your other thread.

Jon

[mackem01]

Excellent job on what appears to be an awkward kit. Love your thought processes.

I love these lumbering old biplane and can't help thinking that model companies are missing a trick here. As I only do 48th would anyone recommend the Sanger kit?

[Ray S]

Thanks for the comments! @Jonners, yours was one of the builds I read about, what a result from a vacform! At the moment, I am still undecided as to how to portray this, but the panels do look to be different in tone to the silver dope in the Vildebeests from Singapore.

 

Over the last couple of days I have been trying to deal with the joins. I popped tape down either side of each section of join, and slathered on Perfect Plastic Putty. I had some slight steps near the nose (upper and lower) and some snicks where I had cut a little too close to the part when removing from the runners.

 

 

I had thought about using Revell's Plasto, and may still do that if the PPP does not do its job very well, one advantage of a water-cleanable filler. I will have to see how well it 'feathers' when it is sanded down.

 

I gave the filler some sanding attention while the tape was still on, then removed the tape and tidied it up afterwards, before polishing with various grades of micro-mesh pads. Then it was time to make this into something looking more like an aircraft - I added the lower wing and horizontal tail surfaces:

 

 

That is now setting, so hopefully I will be able to get it masked up and some primer added in the very near future. That is it for now, thanks for looking and for the likes and comments.

 

All the best,

 

Ray

[Ray S]

Hello all! I thought I had better wait to do the masking and priming, as I had not added the support struts for fuselage/wing, so I sorted that out over the last few days. It was not hard work, but life (and casual jobs) that got in the way. The struts had quite significant mould seams, but they cleaned up very easily. The only snag was that the manufacturer had forgotten to add the location holes on the wings to match the location pips they had moulded onto the struts. That caused me an issue or two aligning them properly, and my magnifier did not help, distorting perspective as they do! Anyway, they are now on, and I have used some Krystal Klear for the round windows as a mask, and here is where the 'beest sits now:

 

 

 

I will get the rest masked over the next day or so and get the primer on, and then see what those fuselage seams are like.

 

That is it for now, thanks for looking.

 

Ray

[Pinback]

Hi - This is coming along nicely!

 

PB

[bigbadbadge]

It's great to see this together and ready for paint , looking forward to seeing the paint go on.

Chris

[k5054nz]

I've been thoroughly enjoying this! I know a bloke with a Vincent and the thing's huge. You really can't appreciate it until you're stood next to one.

[Ray S]

@Pinback and @bigbadbadge, thanks for the comments!

 

@k5054nz, it seems even lager than a Swordfish, which I always thought was pretty big. I would love to stand beside the one in NZ (or, even better, get inside!)

 

Today I masked the various larger openings with some foam, then sprayed the fuselage seams with grey primer. All looked okay to me, so I gave the whole structure a couple of coats of Light Grey primer. This will act as Cerrux Grey for the metal parts of the fuselage, and hopefully get masked off tomorrow when the grey has hardened off properly.

 

 

 

 

There are one or two areas where the seam is visible, but it is better than any other aircraft I have built where I needed filler, so I have quit while I was ahead, I am concerned that I could muck this up if I tried to get it any better, and as I am doing this for someone else, I did not want to take the risk. I hope they will understand!

 

That is it for now, hopefully it will look a bit silvery tomorrow at some point. Thanks again for the looks, 'likes' and comments.

 

Ray

[bigbadbadge]

Looking great in the primer Ray very tidy indeed. Great job .

Chris