Swift, Silent, Styrene

[David H]

Thanks for the link to the photos; they pretty much confirmed i had the location of the sabre drains in the right place as well as the surge bleed holes on the left side.

I heard that G-ASGM got scrapped today. Very sad.

 

-d-

[David H]

We now return to the topic of the engine nacelles. Reluctantly.

I've already ranted about the staggering of the intake lips and mis-positioning of the engine pylons, so i won't flog the deceased equine on that..

 

Not much to say so far about the upper engine nacelles. Haven't added anything to the top surfaces...yet.

 i DID re-scribe a key panel line on all four engines delineating the front end of the cowling panels, and i guess it's also the bulkhead station that the inlets connect to. The panel lines on the kit nacelles are rather deep, or they're mis-located just enough to cause confusion if you want to add more of them.

There's much more one can add to the undersides; i added what i consider the most visible things. I like to call it "Low-Impact Super-Detailing", LOL

 

 

When i come back from next tour, i will probably be all set to paint these things.

Then it will be window time as well.

If i had known beforehand, i woulda used anything BUT Tamiya Putty for the windows. Oy.

I'd like to extend a note of thanks to General "Buccy Mad" Melchett, VC(10) and Bar (stool) for referring me to a stash of walkaround photos taken of the Iron Duck in various places.

As always, keep those letters and cards coming.

[David H]

Hey can anybody tell me exactly where the pivot point for the horizontal tailplane is? When i build the next one i want to build it up as a separate assembly from the vertical fin. I do know its not exactly the same arrangement as a Buccaneer or a Trident.

 

-d-

[David H]

Well, we got some initial colours on the engine nacelles now.

 

Locating the broad blue band on the engine nacelle is a challenge. Its actually set lower on the side than you would think. The bands may need to be adjusted (perhaps ever so slightly broader at the front end, or slightly sloped downward?), but at least we see generally what they're going to look like.

I ran out of light gull grey paint, and the heated brightwork on the inlets still needs to go on, but in retrospect i'm very glad i drilled out the holes on the nacelle undersides.

Having continued to study photos of the VC10, i've continued with the selective hole drilling in other parts of the plane; most notably the Cabin Outflow Valves on the left side, below and slightly behind the cockpit. (the recessed circles on the right side need to be filled in).

So, while i wait for more gull grey paint to arrive, i will patch up the isolated patches of seam rot, and perhaps drill a few more holes... mainly, fuel drain vents on the wing lower skins.

 

At some point i should probably start drilling mounting holes for the antennae, pitot, etc... but not just yet.

Thanks as always for the comments, suggestions, funny anecdotes and as ever...FLY NAVY!

 

[mark.au]

I’ve been following along on this WIP without comment so far, but not without awe in the meticulous approach you’ve taken.  I remember flying to Saudi Arabia several times on BOAC VC10s as a child (I still have somewhere my Junior BOAC Flight Log with each flight logged and signed by the Captain) and back then, as now, I think it’s one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built, and in this livery even more so.  
 

You’re doing such an excellent job, this build will be my go-to reference if/when I ever build my own BOAC VC10.

[David H]

3 hours ago, mark.au said:

 

You’re doing such an excellent job, this build will be my go-to reference if/when I ever build my own BOAC VC10.

That's the point. Many beautiful VC10 builds here at Britmodeller, but nobody did a WIP with the Roden kit, which frankly, really needs it.

 

-d-

[John_W]

Absoloutely stunning. Going to be indistinguishable from the real thing when she is done.

[Adam Poultney]

Looking great!

[David H]

A brief update from Vickers-Armstrongs (Washington) Ltd:

 

I received the BAC 1-11 windows from Authentic Airliners decals and applied them last nite.  They went onto the model fine, though i had to apply them in segments of 4-5 decals at a time. If you compare the pitch of the cabin widows to those on the kit fuselage, after about the 4th window the alignment starts to get off. End result is i had to apply the window decals in smaller groups in sort of a patchwork fashion.

 

Now, i used the regular 1-11 decals; not the ones intended for dark fuselages, since i'm told there was minimal contrasting framework around the cabin windows. The good news to this is the various configurations of occupants and window shades helps throw the eye off, so any errors in alignment don't seem so obvious. Part of me wonders if this was done on purpose for exactly that reason...

 

This morning, i overshot them with a coat of Clear, and i might carefully wet sand the edges of the decals once the clear coat is dry and apply another clear coat to blend them in better with the surrounding blue cheatline. Details to follow.

 

-d-

[David H]

Latest photos taken of the installed cabin windows...

 

[David H]

Well, i finally managed to get my hands on some more Gull Grey, so work resumed on the VC10.

 

Part of my time has been spent doing seam cleanup/ damage repair along the belly. The other part has been spent roughing-in the engine nacelles.

 

At first, when i sprayed Tamiya LP11 silver onto the inlets i thought they looked fine. Then, i had second thoughts about it and over sprayed 'em with Mr Color SM-204.

It might have been overkill, but i'm hoping the final clear coats will knock the shine back a bit.

Another discovery is Tamiya Royal Blue acrylic somehow reacts to Tamiya Tape if you mask over it. I honestly thought it was dry enough but i guess i was wrong. After i applied a clear coat of Super Clear UVCut, no further problems. It seems the Tamiya Acrylics and Lacquers make more time to outgas and harden up than seems apparent. I am not having the same problems with Mr Color.

Another thing i learned is its easier to mask and spray each intake lip individually, rather than doing 2 at once. It makes for a more tedious masking job, but its already tedious because you need to use the Mk I eyeball to accurately mask around the lip to keep the lip equidistant all the way around. There are no conveniently located panel lines to help you here.

There will be a little bit more elaborate masking required for the bare metal parts on the fairing between the tailpipes but i don't think it will be nearly so bad. Really the hardest part of all is getting the blue stripe accurately located and painted. The upward crank of the engine pylon coupled with the engines angle of incidence results in the blue stripe going on in a weird way and looking sort of catty-wampus. I'll probably mask off and re paint select parts of the upper nacelle to give a little bit more visual interest.

The nacelles will be pulled off and weathered separately, then put aside until the end game.

Stay Tuned...

[David H]

Okay the painting and decaling of the engine nacelles is more or less done, and we're ready to move on with weathering.

Tomorrow: dirtying up the engine nacelles, and more windows.

[John_W]

Looking good.

Those cabin window decals are amazing. It really does look like you did a full interior with passengers.

[Markh-75]

Been following this with great interest! Quite excellent work being done; you must have super-reserves of patience started in childhood! Amazing detail.👍

[David H]

4 hours ago, Markh-75 said:

Been following this with great interest! Quite excellent work being done; you must have super-reserves of patience started in childhood! Amazing detail.👍

Full disclosure: i was expelled from Catholic School. I think the patience came later....

[David H]

9 hours ago, John_W said:

Looking good.

Those cabin window decals are amazing. It really does look like you did a full interior with passengers.

The cabin windows would "pop" a bit more on a lighter coloured cheatline, but considering how much of a hot mess filling the cabin windows tuned out to be, i'm relying heavily on them to distract the eye away from some pretty egregious filling mistakes.

 

The one thing i wish i could do, is apply the individual Montex masks to each cabin window when i apply the semi gloss but i've been advised against it for being too risky.

9 hours ago, John_W said:

Looking good.

Those cabin window decals are amazing. It really does look like you did a full interior with passengers.

They *do* help.

[David H]

Well, i'm done with the weathering. At some point i'll need to put on some clear semigloss, but for right now is about as far as i can go with these things, until they go on the model.

 

[David H]

Brief Update:

Shooting clear semigloss over the engine nacelles once the panel line work is done helps a lot.

[KLP Publishing]

Blown away by this build, pure and simple.

 

Kev

[phildagreek]

My word you’ve put some love & effort into this, but, it looks stunning, really smart. Good effort!

[David H]

Latest update. That first pic should read, "May 18, 2022".

Up next (in no particular order) the black "Boot" on the radome, touch-up painting of the wing fences, FOD covers for the engines, and then nacelle installation.

 

As always, keep those letters and cards coming!

[David H]

Allright, i'm not exactly chuffed about these NH photo-etched FOD covers.....

[kev67]

 

One thing I did not know is that the tail assembly was made in France by Sud-Aviation

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKayqKmyGes

 

 

[David H]

13 hours ago, kev67 said:

 

One thing I did not know is that the tail assembly was made in France by Sud-Aviation

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKayqKmyGes

 

 

Yeah, i learned this when i saw this newsreel footage. I'm actually starting to like these hybrid Vickers/BOAC prototype colours. Just no Meat Axes, please...

[David H]

We have reached the point where we can say By God, now THATS a VC10!

Over the course of the last 24 hours or so, the engines have been mounted to the fuselage.

For the last time.

All of the effort spent on tailoring the fit of the engine pylons to the fuselage sides paid off. I used Mig acrylic glue to mount them, and the glue angst and the fettling all worked out pretty much exactly as planned. The left hand engines were self locating. The right hand ones went okay, with a little help from gravity by turning the model upside down while the glue dried. The only caveat being that you need to promptly rinse and wipe away the excess acrylic glue. Its very difficult to remove once its started to set up. A wooden toothpick can help at removing the excess....if it hasn't hardened TOO much.

Another thing i had to do was paint on the anti erosion "boot" on the nose. This may be slightly too small, but the technique is basically a one-shot deal and its better to settle for something close and not risk ruining the front end trying to make it perfect.

Not sure how well this photo shows the joint, but when the excess glue was removed and the joint hardened up, i think i got as close to a perfect joint as one could hope for.

And now....the weather...ing.

I know some about the VC10 flight control system, but exactly what leaked, and where remains educated guesswork for me. So, i weathered one wing, just to see if my techniques worked as hoped, and also to solicit some feedback as to whether it's too much, or just right. I leave it to you to decide.

I'll wait for some feedback to roll in, before i continue the weathering evolution. I want it to look like a scale model, and not a marketing prop in a travel agency window.

 

Fly Navy!!

 

-d-

Edited May 21, 2022 by David H
Replaced "Nipple" with "Anti-Erosion Boot"