VC-10 testbed for the RB.211 engine

[Hobbes]

I've been trying to build the VC-10 that was used for flight tests of the RB-211 engine:



The paint job has been giving me headaches; last week, after 4 airbrushing sessions (white paint = PITA) and lots of paint repairs, I noticed that the filled-in windows weren't flush with the fuselage. The putty I'd used to fill them in had shrunk a bit, leaving visible dimples where each window used to be. So, out with the putty and start a repair job (ruining the paint finish yet again, so that means 2 more airbrush sessions).

Then, while sanding away the excess putty, disaster struck: the seam between the two fuselage halves cracked.  

I'm going to try and drill through the cockpit bulkhead, to insert a strip of plastic that will sit on the seam and hopefully hold the fuselage halves together.
The next question is if I can spray over the current paint job, of if I need to remove it all start over again...

[Hobbes]

Change of plan: I wedged the seam open, then glued it shut. After some PSR, the aircraft is almost ready for painting again...

[GTX]

Good show!

Regards,

Greg

[Army of One]

Keep at it H.....be worth it in the end.... ..........H

[Hobbes]

This is the result of the latest round of painting:





What do you think: is the color of the bottom half of the aircraft close enough, or should I paint it again?

[rickshaw]

Why assume it would be one uniform shade?

I'd say go with it, whack some varnish on it and if anybody asks, spin a bit of bullshit that they mixed the paints by eye and got it wrong between painting sessions.  

[PR19_Kit]

When G-AXLR was lying on its belly at Kemble after the RB-211 test programme it wasn't far off that shade. It would surely have darkened over its life, from the standard RAF grey, but who can say which day you're modelling it.

[Hobbes]

This weekend I took advantage of an optimistic mood and painted it again, it looks better now. The color difference is more pronounced in real life than on the photos, the previous paintjob had a greenish tinge while it should be more blue (as far as I can derive from '70s color photos that have been scanned, all without proper color calibration  )



Now to see if I can finish this without more disasters...

[kitnut617]

When G-AXLR was lying on its belly at Kemble after the RB-211 test programme it wasn't far off that shade. It would surely have darkened over its life, from the standard RAF grey, but who can say which day you're modelling it.

I've read somewhere that the RB-211 bent the fuselage because it was way more powerful than the two Conways on the other side when they were going at full chat, is that true Kit ?

[Hobbes]

http://www.vc10.net/History/Individual/XR809.html

The power of the RB.211 wasn't too far off of the 2 Conways. I suspect the damage was caused by the thrust reverser incident described in the link above.

[PR19_Kit]

AFAIK Haro's right.

That incident was mentioned only briefly in the aviation press but around Rolls-Royce Derby they were horror struck! I used to share some instrumention with R-R at Hucknall at the time and the guys there were wondering how'd they carry on with the RB211 test programme as they assumed that 'XLR would be a write-off, but it carried on for some time afterward.

[Captain Canada]

Wow....great build so far ! And nice save on the cracked seam....what a lovely aeroplane.

[The Rat]

Nice job so far, let's hope the minor disasters are behind you! I've often thought about something similar, but with a Boeing 727 - replace the three engines with two of higher power.

[jcf]

... with a Boeing 727 - replace the three engines with two of higher power.

Which is basically what the 757 was in the early days of the program. 

[Hobbes]

Getting ready to apply decals: