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


John Masters

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Filed the gaps with PPP the other day.  I have been lax in my modelling and have allowed everyday life--sleeping, eating, working--to interfere with what's really important--my model building!  

 

But the gaps disappear.

 

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A bit of the underside...

 

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Since this is most likely the only build I will make for this GB, I can take it slowly.  Whereas there are other GB (Mig, Ground Attack, etc...) that demand more output.

 

-John

 

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12 hours ago, CliffB said:

Just the 'small' matter of painting now :winkgrin:

 

Thank you...some more pieces still too add, but as you say, mostly done.  I am actually taking a short break as I want to focus on the Mig-21 GB, and also the F/A-18 GB and the Ground Attack GB are ending on April 10...I want two more for each of them.  I have the in the B 'n' B GB...

 

 

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On 3/30/2022 at 6:59 PM, William_The_Legend said:

you've done a good job at filling there. the fit issues you mentioned a few posts ago were almost certainly the kits doing as i had the same issue around the tail and blue steel mount fit. good work :)

Thanks @William_The_Legend.  I am back at it.  Control surfaces glued in, 'canopy' masked,  and I have attached the underneath air vents, other odds and ends...next stage, all the undercarriage. I can build them but I won't attach them until after the paint is all done.

 

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I figure I can build the landing gear as separate components--small kits in themselves.  Funny.  the instructions say they are black.  Is this true?

 

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--John

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On 08/04/2022 at 20:51, John Masters said:

Funny.  the instructions say they are black.  Is this true?

Correct, most Vulcans had black landing gear. Some early Vulcan B1s had bare metal gear but all B2s had black. Here's some of my photos for reference:

IMG_20200728_105434341_HDR

 

IMG_20211017_123118360_HDR

 

IMG_20210602_132503121

 

The red parts shouldn't be on a serviceable aircraft ready to fly (only the bar in the middle photo is modelled in the kit)

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/11/2022 at 3:46 PM, Adam Poultney said:

most Vulcans had black landing gear.

Thank you Adam.  That's the info I was looking for!  Especially the little red bits.  It'll make a small difference.

 

Well, I am back at it.  I must admit I was losing steam on this build but tonight I took stock and buckled down.  

 

I have primed the aircraft and filled some gaps around the cockpit with PPP. I have assembled and painted the landing gear (installation later, of course). I have attached all the airbrakes in the 'up' position (purely for looks). All the radio whiskers have been attached. The wheels are assembled and the hubs painted.  I'll mask the hubs tomorrow and spray them Tire Black  And, last but not least, after some thought and a certain amount of misgivings, I assembled the nuke.  I am doing this purely for historical accuracy and not because I approve of these kinds of devices.  For my own sanity I am pretending it is actually a large piñata full of sweets and small toys. 

 

Two different colour primers.  One can emptied out...and a Cuban Mig next to it for scale.  Big model.

 

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Landing gear bays painted white...

 

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Plans consulted

 

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Parts gathered...

 

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Assembled and painted...

 

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And this thing.

 

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Paint tomorrow!  I can feel it...

 

--John

 

 

 

 

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Moving along...I am off-island as of Tuesday mooning for a full week.  If I am industrious I might be able to get all the paint on before I take off.  

 

Masked for the white underside...

 

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And see AK White Primer did the trick!

 

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Topside grey tonight.

--John

 

 

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I gave the nuke some white paint too...

 

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I masked the underside and the leading edges for the Sea Grey...

 

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The Sea Grey Humbrol rattle can looks good.

 

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Tomorrow the NATO Green goes on.  I'll use Tamiya XF-67 and see if I have better luck than with the Vallejo brand.  

 

I also masked and painted all the tires.  In there are the Mirage tires too, if anyone is counting!

 

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Done!

 

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--John

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Hi John,

 

Looking good so far.

 

I must confess the RAF Dark Green post war has puzzled me a bit. The IPMs Stockholm site aka "Urban's colour charts" mentions 2 versions of BS641, one pre 1975 being described as Gloss and bluish, and the post 1975 one as matt and brownish, and of course there is also Nato green which they say the RAF used but that to me seems a bit light (at least the Tamiya version XF67). Some paint manufacturers do at least 1 post war version - eg Gunze, whilst others such as Xtracolour/Xtracrylic just do the one version for both WWII and later, though they also do a Nato green. Maybe somebody like @Adam Poultney can explain this? I used Gunze H330 "Harrier, Jaguar etc" on both my Jaguar and Tornado builds in the Bomber/Strike etc GB. Of course, just to muddy the waters even more, Gunze have now re-mixed their WWII version of the green so to me it looks rather lighter than before - more like Nato green!

 

Pete

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2 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi John,

 

Looking good so far.

 

I must confess the RAF Dark Green post war has puzzled me a bit. The IPMs Stockholm site aka "Urban's colour charts" mentions 2 versions of BS641, one pre 1975 being described as Gloss and bluish, and the post 1975 one as matt and brownish, and of course there is also Nato green which they say the RAF used but that to me seems a bit light (at least the Tamiya version XF67). Some paint manufacturers do at least 1 post war version - eg Gunze, whilst others such as Xtracolour/Xtracrylic just do the one version for both WWII and later, though they also do a Nato green. Maybe somebody like @Adam Poultney can explain this? I used Gunze H330 "Harrier, Jaguar etc" on both my Jaguar and Tornado builds in the Bomber/Strike etc GB. Of course, just to muddy the waters even more, Gunze have now re-mixed their WWII version of the green so to me it looks rather lighter than before - more like Nato green!

 

Pete

"Dark Green" went through several iterations over the lifespan of the Vulcan. Early versions couldn't be applied over the radome, hence some having a sharp edge around it and some having a modified pattern to avoid it. There were gloss versions and matte versions. I am home from uni for a few days and left all my Vulcan reference material there, I'll look up a better answer when I can 

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Thank you @PeterB and @Adam Poultney  Because I am going in for the green today I will use the NATO Green.  I also really want to see how much better the Tamiya green tone works through the airbrush.  I really do appreciate your research and knowledge.  Many thanks.  🙂

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9 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

"Dark Green" went through several iterations over the lifespan of the Vulcan. Early versions couldn't be applied over the radome, hence some having a sharp edge around it and some having a modified pattern to avoid it. There were gloss versions and matte versions. I am home from uni for a few days and left all my Vulcan reference material there, I'll look up a better answer when I can 

There's two issues here, the colour standard and the paint composition. The same colour standard in a different type of paint can result in a different finish and different restrictions on where the paint can be applied.

At least 2 of the changes you're referring to are due to the type of paint and not the colour standard. Some paints are approved for use on radomes, some are not, this accounts for the pattern change around the radome. There was also a switch to polyurethane paint in the late 60's which resulted in an initial high gloss finish. Whether there was any change in the colour standard for Dark Green during it's use in service on the Vulcan I'm not sure, but I suspect not.

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1 hour ago, Dave Swindell said:

Whether there was any change in the colour standard for Dark Green during it's use in service on the Vulcan I'm not sure, but I suspect not.

I would agree, however I think later dark greens faded differently to early ones which gave the appearance of a different colour.

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2 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

I would agree, however I think later dark greens faded differently to early ones which gave the appearance of a different colour.

Yes, I'd agree with that Adam, and this would be significantly affected by different types of paint being used, and different manufacturers paint compositions as well as environmental exposure even if all the paints started out matching the same colour spec on initial application.

If you're modelling a new aircraft you should be looking to match the paint colour specification applicable, after time in service you've got more leeway - check your references 🙂

 

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14 hours ago, Andy350 said:

Looks like you're making great progress on this build.  Looking forward to the reveal.

Thanks Andy.  Me too!  I was so busy yesterday I wasn't able to get to the masking, painting, etc...It'll have to wait a week or so.  I am off-island for a week as of this morning.  Some time on the mainland...

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2 hours ago, John Masters said:

Thanks Andy.  Me too!  I was so busy yesterday I wasn't able to get to the masking, painting, etc...It'll have to wait a week or so.  I am off-island for a week as of this morning.  Some time on the mainland...

Very jealous, you live in a very nice part of the world.

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Thank you @Andy350.  Trust me, I don’t take it for granted.  Also living here is very different than visiting for a few weeks.  I’m off to Leeds in about a month for a big convention and I’m looking forward to that.  I hear there’s good curry up there…🤪

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3 hours ago, John Masters said:

Thank you @Andy350.  Trust me, I don’t take it for granted.  Also living here is very different than visiting for a few weeks.  I’m off to Leeds in about a month for a big convention and I’m looking forward to that.  I hear there’s good curry up there…🤪

Don't know about Leeds as such but I come from Bradford, 11 miles away and there were a lot of good "Indian" restaurants/takeaways - I say "Indian" because a lot of the families involved were I think from Bangladesh/Pakistan originally, though by now they are mostly second or third generation Yorkshire.

 

As to the Vulcan paint, it certainly faded very rapidly - somewhere I have pics of one that had been standing out in the open for a few years and it looked almost light olive/light sea grey!

 

Pete

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