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Avro Vulcan B.2, Airfix 'new tooling' 1/72nd...


John Masters

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Here's my first entry to this Very Big GB...I'll get into it sometime this week as soon as I have made some space on the bench.  Even at 1/72nd scale this is enormous...

 

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This is the profile...I like the camo.  Plus, it looks like the one they used in "Thunderball"...I know...the Bond Vulcan was a B.1A...

 

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Nice looking decals.  Plenty of stencils...

 

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And here is the sprue...Gi-normous...still scratching my head and wondering if this isn't really 1/48th...

 

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--John

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

And I'm in!  

 

Page 1...

 

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Page 2...

 

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And here is what I have assembled, painted black as instructed.  I'll go through and highlight the entirely with a dry brush.  Also, I'll pick out the individual colours (leather, khaki, yellow, etc...) and then apply the decals for the IP, armrests...

 

I have terrible feeling that none of this will be visible on the finished model.  Too bad.  It's a pleasantly busy office.

 

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--John

 

 

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Basically still recovering from a stomach bug, but feeling better...I decided to take care of this nose-weight issue.

 

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40 grams.  That's the heaviest I have ever dealt with.  Time for the Liquid Gravity and the scale...

 

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Secured all those little beads in there with some CA, and I'll let that set up.

 

--John

 

 

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2 hours ago, Christer A said:

What's the ratio of Liquid Gravity/CA in that poor nosecone?

The CA is just the outer crust.  I imagine the inner beads are loose, but I tamped them down before I added the CA so it is pretty tight.  40 grams.  Egads!  Big and British indeed!

 

 

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I took care of a lot of infrastructure tonight.  I also finished the nose.  Surprise!  A gap to fill!

 

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Bomb bay...

 

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Lots of these goobers needed to be removed.  

 

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--John

 

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Hi John,

 

Reviews of the more recent Airfix kits do say that clearance is very limited and that the fuselage interiors are a very tight fit needing paint to be scraped off sometimes to avoid gaps - looks like this may be one where they made it just a little too tight! I had a similar problem with my Beaufort but managed to adjust it in the end. Is it going to cause problems with the fit of the canopy?

 

Pete

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10 hours ago, PeterB said:

Is it going to cause problems with the fit of the canopy?

 

Thanks Peter....I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, and a quick test fit say's 'no'...but I have a feeling it won't be any issue I cannot surmount.  

The instructions say that the interior should be painted black...that's fine. I may hold off on any paint inside until I know what can be seen.  

I''d rather the interior superstructure fits cleanly and allows the large wing to sit properly than any interior look.  

 

 

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The fit issue you need to watch for is if the seats are in correctly. If they sit slightly too high they will foul on the canopy. Happened on my build of this kit and I had to remove the seats and sand down the tabs at the bottom before reinstalling them to fix it.

 

You can see how much effort I put into mine, personally I'd do it again on a Vulcan but you can't see much of that at all. You could get away with a very basic paintjob so long as the pilots' seats look good 

IMG_20210705_115513~2

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

The fit issue you need to watch for is if the seats are in correctly.

I know what you mean.  When I was first putting them in, they seemed to not sit right.  Then I gave them a little push and they popped down snug.  The canopy fits over them well enough.  I missed the rear navigation board!  Oh well.  Can't see it anyway.  

 

 

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Onto the big delta wing and the interior superstructure...it's big.

 

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First some modifications, as per the instructions...

 

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This was tricky.  I found it best to glue one side, then the other.

 

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Some putty will be needed, but I figured that.

 

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Glueing the interior superstructure is tricky.  It is best to glue one corner, let it dry, then continue, etc...to try to get all 6 corners down at the same time is frustrating and cold lead to blue language.  Used a lot of glue, both CA and Tamiya Thin.  And I weighted and clamped where I could.  

 

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Eventually you end up with this:

 

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I will put that aside for now and build the landing gear bays and the interior motor sections, all of which need to be built and painted before inserting them into the interior and, obviously, before one attaches the top portion of the wing.

 

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--John

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi John,

 

Coming together nicely but looks like hard work! I have the earlier Airfix version which may be less accurate but should be rather easier!

 

Pete

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38 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Coming together nicely but looks like hard work! I have the earlier Airfix version which may be less accurate but should be rather easier!

 

It's not difficult at all.  I am just unused to building something quite so large!  😁

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Time to get the innards built and installed...

 

Wheel bays...

 

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Nice looking details that will pop out with some highlighting once painted.

 

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Engines...I am doing away with the template for painting.  It seems extraneous.  I gave the internals some Medium Sea Grey on the outward areas and black inside.  Aluminum for the jets.  No one will see them.

 

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Clamped...

 

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While all that dries I'll fix the top half of the big delta wing.  Hemostats required for clamping.

 

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--John

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Adam Poultney said:

Looks ok in the photos but double check.

Yes.  It's easy to see how it could fit wrong.  I am petty sure its in correctly.  I'll double check again...

 

 

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Egads.  "Big" is correct.  I'm actually finding it difficult to handle because it is so large.  I need a bigger boat.

 

Wing assembled...big clamp needed.

 

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A few hours later I added the nose. What you cannot see are the enormous gaps that will need to be filled and sanded smooth.  It'll be alright in the end, but some work will be needed before priming.

 

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--John

 

 

 

 

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That's the problem with 1/72 Vulcans... they're a complete nightmare to handle during the build. You'll want to get that nosecone added soon because that will end up with a nasty seam that needs fully eliminating (it doesn't match any real panel line). 

 

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I started on the rear sections of the engines...

 

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Just to show the gaps...I also attached the rudder...

 

Gaps and seams...

 

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I had to seriously file down the tabs on the rudder so they would slip in.  Even then, big gaps...

 

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I can't really believe that this is all my doing.  Some of it must be the kit.  There are also tons of sprue nodules that need to be removed which make me think the moulds are not the most perfect.  I will wait until it is all pretty much assembled and then go around and fill it all in and give a good sanding, smooth it all up.

 

--John

 

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Crikey, that is a very disappointing level of fit for a brand new kit, especially from Airfix of new. Add in that this must be considered a 'flagship product' and it's doubly surprising. Still, the level of detail is much nicer than their old tool kit.

 

Keep plugging away :)

 

Mike 

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