Airfix De Havilland Vampire F.3 1:48

[Makem666]

Hi All

 

Haven't posted for a while but i thought this one would be fairly important as there's been a lot of fuss around this kit. As i'm sure were all aware this is a brand new design, not a re-mould of an old kit...just wanted to make a few points that Airfix could have taken the opportunity to address...

1. For a 1:48 there is not a lot of detail!

2. The plastic itself is fairly thin and can easily be bent, the nose was out of alignment

3. Difficult to add enough weight to the nose of the model, a supplied ball bearing would have been perfect!

4. Although this a brand new design, there are still a lot of the same fixtures and fittings we've seen from Airfix for last few decades, namely the landing gear, cockpit and the canopy are all fairly basic

5. The Vampire never had the most elaborate liveries, but the 3 on offer all more or less the same!

 

A few good points though:

1. The top/bottom design of the fuselage/wings does make for a better looking finish, even though the plastic is thin, once the internal structure is added it is fairly sturdy

2. The decals are bright and clear, you can tell they're new!

3. the overall fit and finish is actually pretty good, there was no need for filler and the seams mostly follow actual panels from the aircraft.

 

I had a few pointers from my Grandad, who used to work on planes during his national service in Burma! ive always had an affiliation with the Vampire!

Anyway let me know what you think

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[keith in the uk]

Is it as good as the Hobby craft kit ?  

[stever219]

22 minutes ago, keith in the uk said:

Is it as good as the Hobby craft kit ?  

That's like asking if finest tenderloin steak is better than a WendyMacWhopper burger.

 

Any resemblance between the Hobbycraft kit and a Vampure appears to be purely accidental; the Airfix kit appears to be accurate in dimensions and sections and hs better internal detail and transfers.  Also it's readily available to those of us who don't have to wait for them to be shipped halfway round the planet (or at least outside the People's Free Republic of Engerlandshire).

Edited December 10, 2021 by stever219

[Harold55]

This looks great!  Very nice job on the finish.  I appreciate the comment about the seams following actual panel lines, it sure help!!

[Remus389]

Good looking Vampire 👍

[Makem666]

2 hours ago, Harold55 said:

This looks great!  Very nice job on the finish.  I appreciate the comment about the seams following actual panel lines, it sure help!!

the join on the main fuselage is the seam you can see just below the "N" insignia, so it matches very well with the actual panels on the original aircraft, and to the rear next to the engine you cant tell where it joins, its quite impressive for Airfix. 

 

according to grandad the vampire was notorious for being held together with a million screws, would have liked to have seen those details along the seams...tamiya manage to do it!

[stever219]

2 minutes ago, Makem666 said:

according to grandad the vampire was notorious for being held together with a million screws, would have liked to have seen those details along the seams...tamiya manage to do it!

The Vampire front fuselage follows Mosquito practice, so moulded ply with a balsa core covered with doped Madapokam fabric.  You ain't gonna see no screws through that!

[Lord Riot]

Very nice indeed!

[Wlad]

8 hours ago, Makem666 said:

Hi All

 

Haven't posted for a while but i thought this one would be fairly important as there's been a lot of fuss around this kit. As i'm sure were all aware this is a brand new design, not a re-mould of an old kit...just wanted to make a few points that Airfix could have taken the opportunity to address...

1. For a 1:48 there is not a lot of detail!

2. The plastic itself is fairly thin and can easily be bent, the nose was out of alignment

3. Difficult to add enough weight to the nose of the model, a supplied ball bearing would have been perfect!

4. Although this a brand new design, there are still a lot of the same fixtures and fittings we've seen from Airfix for last few decades, namely the landing gear, cockpit and the canopy are all fairly basic

5. The Vampire never had the most elaborate liveries, but the 3 on offer all more or less the same!

 

Thank you for posting @Makem666, as I'm sure you answered quite a few questions for BMers. To a couple of your comments above:

3. I am not sure a metal ball bearing would add enough weight. The Vampire's nose is a tight space and build accounts of the Classic Airframes one state it's a tail sitter.

5. Yes, a Mexican "aguacate" would brighten up the selection for sure. I am pleased they included a RCAF one, even though I think the 442 Squadron's bat head is grotesque. They varied from aircraft to aircraft, by the way, in the amount of red in the nose, size and shape of ears and mouth. 

6. This is my comment, it would be great if the nose was molded in clear plastic as Special Hobby did with their 1/72 Vampire. It seems all Canadian Vampires, from around 1950 on, were outfitted with DF loops in the nose under a clear panel. I'm still figuring out how to do that on my kit when it arrives.

 

Cheers,

Wlad

[Spitfire31]

Sorry, can't see any pics, just a column of file names…

 

Mac OS, Firefox.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[Selwyn]

Did mine as a FB5, came out great, same problens with nose weight, loaded it aft of the cockpit but  ended up a tail sitter! One minor moan is that there is no provision for rocket rails on the moulds  so when it gets released as a FB5 don't expect rockets to be part of the issue!

 

Selwyn

[hopkp]

17 hours ago, Spitfire31 said:

Sorry, can't see any pics, just a column of file names…

 

Mac OS, Firefox.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

Same here.....