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Airfix 1/48 Vampire with a twist


gingerbob

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I, too, am having ‘fun’ with this kit - I started mine today.

 

I have a question. Everywhere I’ve looked tells me the wingspan (in real!) is 38 feet; Airfix state 40 feet. Help, groan . . . who’s correct? 

 

Nick

PS I’m doing an F1 using Wellsprop’s conversion sets - so wingspan dimension for that specific mark would be useful to confirm also.

 

Thanks

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12 hours ago, Nick Belbin said:

I, too, am having ‘fun’ with this kit - I started mine today.

 

I have a question. Everywhere I’ve looked tells me the wingspan (in real!) is 38 feet; Airfix state 40 feet. Help, groan . . . who’s correct? 

 

Nick

PS I’m doing an F1 using Wellsprop’s conversion sets - so wingspan dimension for that specific mark would be useful to confirm also.

 

Thanks

u82RPp.jpg

John

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Oh dear, I have two of these just recently bought and am not sure if I’m looking forward to them now. They are on hold at the moment ‘cause one had a short shot boom (around the fin, and some of the middle was missing!) and the other had no clear parts. Airfix have very promptly told me that replacements are on the way, but as I am on the other side of the planet, I’d say they are coming surface mail given the exorbitant cost of airmail post these days.

 

Good luck with the build(s) gentlemen, following with interest.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have just received this kit and luckily, no twisting is visible in the pods. One question I do have is that the undercarriage legs appear to be very anemic compared to both the Aeroclub kit and the CA kit! Do any of you have dimensions for the main u/c legs?

 

Cheers, Pete M.

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Sorry, I don't have dimensions Pete but comparing them to the metal legs in all my built Alley Cat models they look pretty similar.  

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I'm just about to join the upper and lower wing/fuselage assemblies, taping them together suggests a clear "X" wing look, but clamping the two parts it seems to all go together without any problems. 

 

One thing no one has mentioned is nose weight: Airfix state 17gms is needed: where did you all pack it? 

I used lead flashing sheet and put two layers behind the bulkhead.  

 

Ill post a photo when it is all together! 

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I did the same as you. I originally added some lead shot from an old dive weight under the floor but it interfered with the fit so I used epoxy to glue 3 flat pieces of roofing flashing to the rear of the bulkhead.  A test suggests that's going to be enough, had I though in advance I would have added a few shot to the front of the underwing tanks as security.

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I have now got the two halves together, talk about essential clamps, this is for one wing. The nose is heavily taped. 

 

Clamed-Vampire.jpg

 

The other wing is now clamped up, I got the forward fuselage perfectly joined, but the rear, round the jet pipe, will need filling as will the upper boom/wing joints. The lowers are perfect! 

 

So far my opinion is that this is not an easy kit to put together, but with a level of experience the builder is capable of a good result. I feel Arfix's designers tried a little too hard: the surface and other detail is wonderful, it is just the upper and lower surface jining that offers the largest challenge. 

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I had a similar experience with the boom joints. In one case the two halves moved slightly when being glued which caused an unnecessary step to be rectified ( self inflicted- frustrating when clamped and taped parts still move when you walk away- I can't afford the time to sit and watch while glue dries!) .  I think however the issue of the gaps in the booms was caused by the rear spar. It has clear locating lugs in the centre section but no obvious locating lugs on the wings, and since they are quite flexible in that area, if they move even a fraction of a mm within the wing, it pushes the alignment of the lugs on the boom out. I managed to reduce the effect by sanding the appropriate area on the front of the boom, which removed most of the gap but I still needed a little Milliput to clean up the joint.  I agree with your view that the more experienced modeller can find ways to produce an excellent result, but I think some elements are designed to be overly " clever" in their engineering which in practice make for a more complicated build than necessary.  I feel sure that separate sidewalls and a forward fuselage clamshell would have been an better route.  I think if I was to build a 3rd example I would be pre warned and find it much easier with experience. For example I would add tabs to hold the rear spar exactly where it needed to sit to perfect the fit of the booms.

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The completed hull, filled ready for sanding and priming. 

For a modern kit too much filler is needed. 

spacer.png

 

Next is prime and then spray silver... 

I have a second Airfix kit, the lessons learned here will help make it a less fraught process, and it will not be silver! Instead it will have the wing tips clipped to make an FB5 and finished as TG 348, RAL - from 605 County of Warwick Squadron in 1959, painted in medium sea grey U/S and PRU Blue under. 

I also have the F1 in the same scale from Hobby Craft, this will be a dark sea grey/dark green over medium sea grey underside, exactly as the kit. 

 

More as it evolves!  

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Mine was quite similar Peter. Same sink marks and shrinkage around the jet pipe area. I was lucky enough to be forewarned from another review to fettle the intakes and booms such that I needed just a little Mr Surfacer rather than any deep filler there.  I've used the shortered wing tips and they fitted quite well. The plastic is quite soft so I found that if I got the fit as best as I cold by filing, a good squeeze with liquid glue applied would fill some small gaps with molten plastic.  Once dried I could then re scribe any joint line that should be there with my JLC razor saw.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is a kit where the designers have allowed themselves to go too far for a 1/48th kit. 

The U/C and flaps are nicely detailed, but Airfix has added additional detail which is the very devil to fix in place. Why? the location points are fine and after spraying too small for most of the little parts to fit, so lots of filing and drilling is needed. 

With hindsight all if these details should have been assembled and ten painted. Too late now. 

 

This is where I am.... 

 

spacer.png

 

The underside boom joint is still visible, but enough is enough. 

I'll brush paint the internal detail and oil wash to hide the gnarley bits! 

 

The front leg fitting is simply weird it seems to me that in a drive to make the model look as authentic as possible the designer forgot about making the model enjoyable to build, or am I missing the point?  

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On 10/03/2022 at 17:59, 224 Peter said:

I also have the F1 in the same scale from Hobby Craft,

A kit noted for just about looking like a Vampire in a dim light.   You may find it looking odd next to the Airfix kit,  though there has been a 3D printed tail plane F1  conversion made for the Airfix kit by @wellsprop 

Ah... when trying to refresh my memory as to the problems,  I find this thread by yourself...   and an awareness of the problems.   

 

Linked as maybe of use/interest to others.     

 

Neat work

 

cheers

T

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On 18/02/2022 at 20:48, Nick Belbin said:

I, too, am having ‘fun’ with this kit - I started mine today.

 

I have a question. Everywhere I’ve looked tells me the wingspan (in real!) is 38 feet; Airfix state 40 feet. Help, groan . . . who’s correct? 

 

Nick

PS I’m doing an F1 using Wellsprop’s conversion sets - so wingspan dimension for that specific mark would be useful to confirm also.

 

Thanks

 

Standby, I think I have some very good references with dimensions... 

 

On 02/03/2022 at 02:14, Pete M. said:

I have just received this kit and luckily, no twisting is visible in the pods. One question I do have is that the undercarriage legs appear to be very anemic compared to both the Aeroclub kit and the CA kit! Do any of you have dimensions for the main u/c legs?

 

Cheers, Pete M.

 

If it's anything like the CA Sea Venom, the undercarriage are a bit vague and not necessarily accurate. 

 

12 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

A kit noted for just about looking like a Vampire in a dim light.   You may find it looking odd next to the Airfix kit,  though there has been a 3D printed tail plane F1  conversion made for the Airfix kit by @wellsprop 

Ah... when trying to refresh my memory as to the problems,  I find this thread by yourself...   and an awareness of the problems.   

 

Linked as maybe of use/interest to others.     

 

Neat work

 

cheers

T

 

Cheers Troy! 

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I'm moving this thread to the one I originally started comparing the horrible Hobbycraft kit with the new Airfix one, here...

 

For those who like watching a modeler suffer, the planned mutant Airfix-Hobbycraft mutant should be fun to follow...!!

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23 hours ago, 224 Peter said:

This is a kit where the designers have allowed themselves to go too far for a 1/48th kit. 

The U/C and flaps are nicely detailed, but Airfix has added additional detail which is the very devil to fix in place. Why? the location points are fine and after spraying too small for most of the little parts to fit, so lots of filing and drilling is needed. 

With hindsight all if these details should have been assembled and ten painted. Too late now. 

 

This is where I am.... 

 

spacer.png

 

The underside boom joint is still visible, but enough is enough. 

I'll brush paint the internal detail and oil wash to hide the gnarley bits! 

 

The front leg fitting is simply weird it seems to me that in a drive to make the model look as authentic as possible the designer forgot about making the model enjoyable to build, or am I missing the point?  

I've now finished one of the two builds. The " twisted" one is waiting on decals, but the seams are sorted and it is all square. I'm trying to source the early style Egyptian roundels to fit the tail booms, so asking around the club for 1/72 examples.  I agree with you Peter, although I had pre painted those parts in your picture, or like the structural members added them before painting, I built one kit with the flaps down and adding the tiny actuators was tricky indeed and made them hard to paint afterwards. Like you I found the nose wheel fitment a little odd but did manage to secure it firmly on my second attempt.  My second kit is flaps up so won't be so tricky.  Even though I added more than the recommended weight I still ended up squeezing lead pellets flat from an old dive weight, dipping them in white glue and carefully dropping them through the footwells to add more in the nose, and I even drilled a hole into the wing tank mounts and dropped more lead pellets into the front of them.  It now sits on its 3 wheels ( just ).

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On 18/02/2022 at 20:48, Nick Belbin said:

I, too, am having ‘fun’ with this kit - I started mine today.

 

I have a question. Everywhere I’ve looked tells me the wingspan (in real!) is 38 feet; Airfix state 40 feet. Help, groan . . . who’s correct? 

 

Nick

PS I’m doing an F1 using Wellsprop’s conversion sets - so wingspan dimension for that specific mark would be useful to confirm also.

 

Thanks

 

Checked my references, 40ft for rounded wingtips.

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Here is the first of my two finished.  Not the warped one but pretty much similar issues as described above save for the warping.  Pleased with the final result although the digital images show some blemishes I can't actually see with my own eyes ( so won't be trying to fix them) ....

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Edited by neilh
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