Jump to content

Airfix 1/72 De Havilland Vampire T.11 WZ584


Recommended Posts

This has been a most enjoyable build of a surprisingly attractive little aircraft.  It took me just over a month to complete, during which time it overlapped four other builds.  I built her completely OOB, apart from the pitot head (for which I used some steel wire after I broke the kit's own one off during construction) and the decals.  Originally I baulked at using the kit's decals which looked like nothing but trouble, so I bought some an Xtradecal sheet which shows various schemes.  This decision came back to haunt me, as they were very thick, which made getting them to conform hard work, and at the same time very brittle.  In face, several of them refused to adhere and broke up during the decalling process, so I ended up having to adapt some of the kit decals to fit - you'll see that the day-glo is in two shades, unfortunately.  I used Humbrol enamels and they did the job surprisingly well, I'm pleased to report.

 

WZ584 was apparently built in 1953, and is depicted as she was when part of the Central Air Traffic Control School at RAF Shawbury in 1970.  Apparently she still exists, privately owned and broken down in storage at Binbrook, or at the owner's address near Grimsby, or sold to someone in Canada, depending on which source you choose to believe.  She is registered now as G-BZRC.  She got around a bit, so to speak, during her RAF days, and did many jobs in many training roles before being sold off at the very end of 1970.

 

Anyway, here she is:

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Any comments or criticisms welcome.

 

Thanks,

 

JRK

 

  • Like 37
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again, a lovely job on this nice-looking little craft, and the two-tone Day-Glo Orange is entirely believable as just resulting from (re-)applications at different times. Day-Glo Orange did have a remarkable ability to change colours depending on the age and weathering.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's lovely. What's not to like about a dayglo Vampire. Your hard work and perseverance have really paid off. I empathise with the dayglo stripes...had the same problem on mine when i mixed and matched from different sources. I do think the Xtradecal ones on mine are too pale compared to photos of the real aircraft... they should be more reddish on the CATCS Vampires as they seem to have been well looked after. I just say that my aircraft has badly faded in the sun! 😁

Edited by binbrook87
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

I love humbrol enamels and use them too. 

I too use Humbrol enamels and find that thinning with Testors enamel thinner works very well. I've tried using hardware store bought thinner and I learned the hard way that's NOT the way to go.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, SAT69 said:

I too use Humbrol enamels and find that thinning with Testors enamel thinner works very well. I've tried using hardware store bought thinner and I learned the hard way that's NOT the way to go.

 

I use Colourcoats enamels mainly (but happened to have the right colours only in Humbrols) and have found their naptha-based thinners to be excellent, both for their own paints and Humbrol's.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SAT69 said:

I too use Humbrol enamels and find that thinning with Testors enamel thinner works very well. I've tried using hardware store bought thinner and I learned the hard way that's NOT the way to go.

I use the Humbrol thinners,  but also have some Colourcoats enamels and thinners so might have to try what JRK mentioned too!!!

Chris

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks fantastic,..... I have this kit with these decals but the dayglow decals of the Jet Provost were a nightmare and I`m a little wary of trying these.

Cheers

           Tony

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Looks fantastic,..... I have this kit with these decals but the dayglow decals of the Jet Provost were a nightmare and I`m a little wary of trying these.

Cheers

           Tony

 

To be fair, I'd be much more confident with the kit decals now.  Go on, give them a shot!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...