De Havilland Vampire J-28C - Finished!

[81-er]

So, my first entry into a Blitzbuild. I’m going to be building the Airfix 1/72 De Havilland Vampire T.11 kit, finished in the Swedish J-28C markings as they’re going to be easier to achieve than the dayglow stripes in the time frame. I’m going to be building this using the great escape option.

 

The box:

 

 

The sprues are still sealed in the bag (I actually had to unseal the box to take these shots:

 

 

Finally, my intended scheme:

 

 

The only aftermarket I’ll be using is a set of Eduard canopy masks.

 

James

[JOCKNEY]

Looks cool James, best of luck mate 

 

Cheers Pat 

[81-er]

Thanks Pat. I'm looking forward to this one

 

James

[81-er]

Here we go then. First off, the obligatory sprue & start time shot:

 

 

Now for the soundtrack (I’m aiming for plenty of vampire-related music through this build):

 

https://youtu.be/5eY0baENaL4

 

James

[John Masters]

Nice choice.  The Vampire is a lovely aircraft.  The Swedish look will be a good change.

[Bertie McBoatface]

8 hours ago, 81-er said:

vampire-related music

 

The theme from Buffy?

[81-er]

3 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

The theme from Buffy?

It may make an appearance. I've got a list of possible candidates ranging from pop to Greek symphonic death metal...

 

Right then, update time. I didn’t have a lot of time to work on this this morning, as I was meeting a friend for lunch. However, it’s surprising how much I could fit in! Firstly, the clocking off/progress summary photo:

 

 

That’s the majority of parts off the sprues and mounted for painting, plus a quite and dirty shot of paint on some of the cockpit parts (sans primer of any kind).

 

The seats have had a coat of Tamiya XF-54 for the cushions (based off of cockpit photos online):

 

 

I’ve gone for a coat of AK11881 Medium Gunship Grey for the cockpit:

 

 

 

I know it should be black, but I want to have a chance of seeing some of the detail. It’s slightly darker in real life. Any detail painting will be in black.

 

Lunch was a filthy burger from a newly opened place in town:

 

 

 

Because it was a nice day, “lunch” turned into a wonder down to the seafront and a few drinks at the pub, with me finally getting back home at 9pm. Oops. Currently fuelling up with a frozen pizza (chicken & bacon) before recommencing:

 

 

James

[Luke1199]

Didn't expect to leave a modelling thread with a strong hankering for a burger... but here we are 😅. Looks delicious!

[Bertie McBoatface]

I approve of the cockpit colour. It’s going to look darker when it’s all closed up anyway. Black paint is much to black for representing black paint. 
 

I don’t approve of your diet though. Blimey! That lot in one day would kill me dead. 🥵

[81-er]

3 hours ago, Luke1199 said:

Didn't expect to leave a modelling thread with a strong hankering for a burger... but here we are 😅. Looks delicious!

It was absolutely fantastic. Looked great on the plate, then far surpassed the (already high) expectations in the flavour department. 

 

2 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I approve of the cockpit colour. It’s going to look darker when it’s all closed up anyway. Black paint is much to black for representing black paint. 
 

I don’t approve of your diet though. Blimey! That lot in one day would kill me dead. 🥵

I quite agree with you on the black, Bertie. It's a little darker now it's had a wash, as you'll see below. The food isn't representative of my typical diet 🤣 Kinda balances out the (extremely healthy & home made) butternut squash soup I had last night.

 

Progress report, starting with the next part of the soundtrack:

 

 

Start the timer:

 

 

I primed anything getting Alclad with their black primer, with a bit shot over the booms while it was in the airbrush to check the seams:

 

 

 

Seat cushions masked, but I’ll leave spraying them black until tomorrow due to the late hour:

 

 

I applied the IP decal, only to discover it was significantly larger than the IP. I’ll let it dry and then trim the excess off in the morning:

 

 

I picked out a couple of details on the cockpit sides and painted the equipment boxes on the rear shelf black, then gave all of the painted cockpit parts a wash in Citadel Nuln Oil (still a little wet in these photos):

 

 

 

Lastly, I stuck some filler on the booms:

 

 

Clocking off with only 3.5hrs off my 24hrs so far:

 

 

If only I could build this fast normally 🤣

 

James

[Bertie McBoatface]

5 hours ago, 81-er said:

If only I could build this fast normally

I’m having the same thoughts about that and I’m still going too slow for this.

[81-er]

This morning’s plan’s didn’t go quite to plan. More on that below, but right now it’s time to update the music:

 

 

I’d left the nozzle from my H&S Evo airbrush soaking in thinners overnight as it was a little splattery last night, so the first job was to retrieve it, clean it over, then reassemble everything. The plan was then to hit the various aluminium bits with some Alclad, have a shower while that was drying, then move on with the build after. What actually happened was the paint all came shooting out of the top of the paint cup at high pressure! Several attempts at cleaning the airbrush later, I gave up and grabbed my Ultimate Apex. This has been relegated to being my primer brush for when I’m using the UMP/Stynylrez primers, so I had to disassemble it and swap the needle & nozzle back to the standard one rather than the 0.5mm. Which did the job, but wow is it not as nice to use as the H&S!

 

Anyway, enough waffle, more pictures. Start the clock:

 

 

And as I left it (better photos of the actual progress soon):

 

 

I decided to do some domestic tasks while the nozzle from my H&S soaks (definitely that nozzle, as the 0.2mm one is fine in it), so no more progress shots as yet. I’m about to go back to it though.

 

As Bertie seemed to be concerned about my diet yesterday, for lunch I had some of the leftover soup from Thursday. Butternut squash & lentil soup, with chilli & fennel. Stir in a bit of Greek yoghurt, sprinkle on some home made dukkah, and an awesome lunch it made. The bread is a four cheese loaf from Lidl, because we forgot to put the bread maker on in time for dinner on Thursday.

 

 

James

[81-er]

Time for the update on this afternoon’s progress, but first, the music:

 

 

I kicked off just after lunch, with 20 hours to go:

 

 

Things went far better than this morning, with the minor exception of a small unintended blood sacrifice (but probably appropriate given I’m building a Vampire):

 

 

I knocked off after just under 4 hours of work, as it was time to feed the cats and make some food:

 

 

The filler on the booms was sanded back and the pitot replaced with some Albion Alloys brass tube as I’d managed to bend the kit part that comes moulded as part of the tail (not really a shock):

 

 

I’ll use a bit of the slide fit nickel silver tube after painting to replicate the end of the pitot.

 

Nose weight was added by using Liquid Gravity and some thin superglue:

 

 

I’d also whacked a Citadel Agrax Earthshade wash over the port side to try and give more colour variation, then it dawned on me I’d forgotten to do any dry brushing. So the starboard side has been done, port will get some in the next session, when I’ll give the starboard side the Agrax Earthshade wash as well.

 

The main wheels have had a coat of Tamiya XF-85 rubber black, and have been masked up ready for the Alclad aluminium on the hubs:

 

 

The gunsights were masked up and sprayed matt black (yet to be unmasked):

 

 

The cockpit floor has had a dry brush. Maybe a bit OTT, but almost none of it will be visible:

 

 

Control sticks are painted:

 

 

The engine fan got a black wash, not that it shows in this, but it did. Honest!

 

 

Seats are now painted and unmasked. They just need some dry brushed chipping, belts, and a wash:

 

 

Speaking of belts, I’ve airbrushed some 1mm masking tape with Xtracrylic RLM 24:

 

 

I was starving after that lot, so prepped some ingredients to turn into a stir fry:

 

 

Further evidence that yesterday’s junk really isn’t typical of my diet, here’s our spice cupboard. Yes, those four chocolate tins are full of spices, everything from amchoor to za’atar:

 

 

However, as there’s a blitzbuild on I compromised and used a packet Teriyaki sauce and udon noodles. The finished result (apologies for the steam):

 

 

Back to it shortly, but have a bonus tune:

 

 

James

[Jinxman]

Nice work on the kit - and nice looking grub.

[81-er]

Thank you!

 

Time for a break and an update. Plus a change of music, with this one from the soundtrack to Queen of the Damned:

 

 

Restart the countdown:

 

 

The interior before installing it in the fuselage. This is my first time trying tape belts, not bad for how little they’ll be visible:

 

 

And on my hand for a sense of scale:

 

 

Port side with the trim wheel attached:

 

 

Cockpit tub in the starboard fuselage side:

 

 

Stopping the clock for a break:

 

 

Landing gear doors all painted in the underside colour:

 

 

Intake trunking assembled. It’s actually painted aluminium in there, no idea why it doesn’t show in the photo:

 

 

Fuselage closed:

 

 

IP and gunsights in place:

 

 

And the limited amount of the detail visible when you shine a light straight into the cockpit 🤣

 

 

James

[Johnson]

What an awesome thread, great food, vids and a model (going well James).

 

Love the cockpit!

[81-er]

Thanks Charlie. Currently browsing the forum with one hand, while the other holds the wing to the fuselage while the glue sets lol

 

James

[Hockeyboy76]

This build thread is amazing, a model, dirty burgers, frozen pizzas, far to much veg for my liking, interesting playlists and blood sacrifice. It’s like your a veteran of the Blitzbuild. @Enzo Matrix make sure @81-er is signed up for the Xmas Blitzenbuild, he will be giving us all a run for our money with the cracker jokes. 
Good luck finishing off

[81-er]

Thanks, H, much appreciated! I'm pretty sure I can sleigh you all with my large collection of terrible dad jokes.

 

Double update time as I was just too tired by the time I knocked off last night.

 

Comething a little lighter audio wise for a bank holiday Monday morning:

 

 

Starting the clock last night:

 

 

And stopping it nearly 4 hours later:

 

 

What did I get done? Well, just a little:

 

 

 

She’s now well and truly together. I had an absolute nightmare assembling the wings and booms. Partly my own fault as I glued the bottom of the wing on one side before I put the boom on, thankfully I just about managed to lever them apart enough to slip it in. The other issue was the gaps between the bottom of the wings and the fuselage, which were huge and required a lot of force to hold them closed while the glue set. Probably partially down to me and a build up of tolerances, I suspect it wouldn’t be as bad if I wasn’t building to a deadline and spent a bit more time on the fit.

 

For anyone else building this in the future, you can slip the main tailplane between the booms after they’re glued to the wings, much easier than doing it beforehand as Airfix suggest. I had to put a shim of 10thou plasticard on the underside of the outer tailplanes as both were an awful loose fit. A bit of sanding and trimming to the shim and they fitted a treat.

 

The canopy wasn’t too bad. As much as I applaud Airfix for giving us the option of posing it open, a one-piece canopy would have been nice to have as well for those who want it closed.

 

As I’m building it gear down, I used the gear closed doors to mask the gear bays, held in place with some liquid masking:

 

 

That’s the end of last night’s progress.

 

This morning, my first job was to get some primer on. Start time:

 

 

End time:

 

 

And the result:

 

 

 

I imagine this may very well be the first time someone’s put a steak through a vampire’s heart to bring it to life 🤣 A few minor bits shown up by the primer, which I’ll attend to after I’ve had a shower.

 

James

[Jinxman]

Very nice work for a Blitzbuild.

[81-er]

Right, the latest progress report (number 9 so far). For the music, I’ve gone for a tune from Slayer about being a vampire:

 

 

Start the clock:

 

 

Seams dealt with and the primer touched up where needed:

 

 

Pause the clock while that dries:

 

 

A few domestic tasks out of the way, it was time to restart:

 

 

A quick and dirty marble coat was applied:

 

 

 

And the underside was painted:

 

 

The colour variation sadly doesn’t show up too well in the photos, but it’s very evident (if subtle) in real life.

 

 

 

And stop the clock:

 

 

Next step will be masking for the olive drab top colour, but I need to nip to Lidl and get a sausage casserole in the slow cooker first.

 

James

[Hockeyboy76]

It looked really Vampire-ish in black. A nice pair of shark teeth on the front…… 

Right I’m off to the check the stash for a possible Xmas Blitzenbuild. 

[Jinxman]

1 hour ago, 81-er said:

Right, the latest progress report (number 9 so far). For the music, I’ve gone for a tune from Slayer about being a vampire:

0r anything from the rather excellent album 'Reign in Blood'. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

The food has definitely improved. 😆

[81-er]

20 hours ago, Jinxman said:

0r anything from the rather excellent album 'Reign in Blood'. 

It is a most excellent album, but a bit lacking in vampires 🤣 

 

13 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

The food has definitely improved. 😆

 

Hopefully you'll approve of the latest update then

 

As you can probably guess, I didn’t make the deadline. I was close, but no cigar. So how far did it get? Read on…

 

As this is going to be a somewhat epic update, it seems appropriate to unleash the epic symphonic death metal (complete with choir & orchestra)

 

 

This lot got prepped for the casserole:

 

 

As I was cooking for a veggie as well as myself, I also browned some veggie sausages to be added at the end. The rest was put into the slow cooker, and I headed back to the bench.

 

Restart the timer:

 

 

One masking mission later, I was ready to spray the top coats:

 

 

Which turned out like this:

 

 

 

 

This was the point I started thinking it looked a little like a lizard from some angles 🤣

 

While that dried, I stopped the clock and popped over to the corner shop as I fancied a chocolate bar and didn’t have any:

 

 

Chocolate consumed, it was time to restart:

 

 

First job was to remove the masking, very happy with this as there wasn’t any paint bleed:

 

 

 

 

While it was upside down, I carefully prised the landing gear doors off:

 

 

Again, no paint bleed.

 

Stopping the clock a little later as I had to feed the cats and check on dinner:

 

 

By then I’d managed to get the gloss coat on:

 

 

 

As well as the Alclad aluminium on the landing gear doors and wheel hubs:

 

 

Interestingly, it looks far more like the dark aluminium I used on the Sabre rather than the aluminium areas on that, and I’m not sure why. It’s definitely the regular aluminium (and the same bottle), used over exactly the same primer as the Sabre.

 

I also got some Alclad jet exhaust on the, erm, jet exhaust:

 

 

The base of the casserole was looking (and tasting) good:

 

 

And the sausages were cut up ready for later:

 

 

Back to it:

 

 

And the end:

 

 

As it currently sits, all of the top & side decals are on:

 

 

Just 5 more decals to go on the underside when I get back to it. I may have missed the deadline, but I’ll keep going and see how far I can get with the 5 hours remaining on the timer.

 

Dinner was, however, awesome:

 

 

It’s been a fun GB, and I’ve learnt a couple of things. Firstly, I can actually build a pretty decent looking model reasonably quickly. Secondly, when doing a blitzbuild, spend more time building and less updating!

 

James