Kiwidave4 Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 I usually build armour these days but occassionally dabble in other subjects. A friend who flys RC and likes de Havilland aircraft asked me if I could rescue a plastic kit of a Vampire he had bought and started. I of course agreed without knowing what I was letting myself in for. When I got my hands on the partially assembled model I recognised straight away that there was something very un-Vampirish about it. A quick Google gave me all the bad news! On the assumption that something could be done with the styrene oddments I set to with my razor saw to convert the part assembled model back to a kit. I then made a list of things that needed doing, realised that I would be better scratchbuilding a Vampire and resorted to plan B, namely, do enough to make it resemble a Vampire. To this end I identified the wings and intakes as the main areas to work on. I made a false rib for each wing root to act as a pattern for locating the dowels that would hold the wings and also fill in the materail lost when cutting off the wings. I reprofiled the wing roots to move the trailing edge forward, and added inserts to each wing to form the intakes. I then stuck it all back together! With some additional cockpit detail - scratchbuilt seat, gunsight, and plumbing -, the nosewheel converted to anti-shimmy pattern, strakes added to the intakes, plus a coat of paint I got this - An MDF teapot stand was obtained to make a base, decals were applied and Voila!, not a Vampire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darson Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Bloody nice work Dave, great job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 nice, I like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 WOW !!! for some unknown reasn I look at it and it reminds ME of that program THUNDERBIRDS {are GO!}.. Lovely buld..Love the finish...Nice work ..well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted August 27, 2010 Author Share Posted August 27, 2010 Thanks chaps, and FAB Houston! :-) Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 Nice work! I built this kit years ago - brings back some memories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 Beautifully Vampirish! /Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 It is true you can polish a t**d!!! Absolutely fabulous work my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted August 28, 2010 Author Share Posted August 28, 2010 Appreciate the comments. Thanks & regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Great job on a kit that has more than its fair share of faults , at least yours had diheadrel on the wings , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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