36 Sqn Vickers Vildebeest MkIII, Singapore 1936

[Ray S]

Hello all,

 

Back in October I was asked to build the Vickers Vildebeest by a friend at my local Model Club for his friend whose father had flown the Vildebeest in Singapore pre-WWII. He asked me to do the 36 Squadron machine, in the silver dope finish. I was a little hesitant at first (well, for about a second or so) before I said that I would have a go. 

 

I have built a few limited run kits, including some by Special Hobby, and plenty of vacform biplanes in the past so what could go wrong? Anyway, after asking for advice in the Inter War aviation section here, and having had a fair degree of help from the BM massif during the build here...

 

... it is now finished. There are one or two errors in the build, and I had to contend with an apparently warped trailing edge to the upper wing, but I think the end result is very much a Vildebeest. I hope the recipient likes it!

 

Here is the result:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I primed the model with Tamiya Light Grey primer, used that as the 'Cerrux Grey' and then resprayed with Tamiya Aluminium, both straight from the cans, followed by a brush coat (or two) of Humbrol enamel matt varnish. The torpedo yellow was brush painted with ColourCoats Yellow, thinned with their Naphtha thinner. The transfers behaved brilliantly. Rigging between the wings was InfiniModels Fine Rigging Thread (70 denier, 0.091mm) and the aerial wires were AmmoMig Rigging Thread, 0.02mm.

 

Thanks for looking, all the best,

 

Ray

[Maginot]

Magnificent result. I think the recipient will be very pleased.

[Graham T]

Nice.  The crews that flew those in combat against the Japanese must have been incredibly brave & so many were lost.

[cngaero]

That's a handsome looking beastie indeed. It's beautifully built and finished and very nicely rigged.

Well done.

[593jones]

That's very nice.  I'd love to do a Vildebeest, but I've had too much heartache trying to rig 1/48 aircraft, I think a 1/72 would be beyond my powers.

Edited December 12, 2021 by 593jones

[keith in the uk]

Very nice indeed , i am half way through the Sanger 1.48th kit at the moment , i hope mine turns out as nice as yours.  

[k5054nz]

Bravo Ray, bravo! It's been wonderful to see two of these underway on the forum at the same time and this is such a beautiful example. Well done!

[stevehnz]

That has come out superbly well Ray, a wonderful result. 👍

Steve.

[Brandy]

Very nicely done, I'm sure the recipient will be more than happy with it!

 

Ian

[Dunny]

Lovely build and finish Ray - congratulations! 

[Ray S]

Thank you all for the very kind comments, views and 'likes'.

 

It was a very enjoyable kit to build, I know I encountered a 'hitch' or two, some self-inflicted, but I really do like a challenge, and knew what was coming when I said 'yes' to building the kit. It was one I had wanted to do anyway since I saw a review in the SAMI magazine from 2011, so I finally satisfied that too.

 

Thanks again, all very much appreciated!

 

Ray

[Remus389]

This model biplane is a definite eye-catcher. 👍

[Epeeman]

Excellent build with great finish and rigging - well done!

 

Regards

 

Dave