The Wooksta: Not a Spitfire Blog

[The Wooksta!]

"Yeah, it's got a few bloodstains on it."

Having had a better look at the photos of the Victor I've purloined from ebay, I think it should be okay.  We're looking at some basic sanding and filling a few gaps and sink holes, but nothing too major other than the fun and games with the canopy.  The u/c *might* be salvageable, but I know I've a spare set from somewhere.  Just a bit concerned in case it comes apart when I strip it...

I've done the refill after sanding down the Valiant - noticed a few small things to tidy up but nothing too heavy.  I do need to sort out the area around the canopy but will leave that till the rest of the airframe is done.

Part of me is tempted to start the Airfix one as a comparison build.  It's tempting, but really, I've more than enough to do with the other V bombers kicking about here.


Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"You know, I have the most terrible craving for a piece of fried lavatory paper."


I haven't done a lot with either Valiant of Victor, other than tidy up and reprime various bits that need sorting out.  With the Valiant, other than one or two bits, they tend to stay fixed.  Would that they would be so similar on the Victor.  Areas are filled, sanded, primed only to be as bad as they were before.  Some are fit issues directly related to the moulds, and frankly it's dire.  At least the Valiant has an excuse - it's Mach Poo, so you expect a bad fit, but the Victor?  Easily one of the worst ill fitting kits that Matchbox *ever* did and almost, but not quite, on a par of horribleness with their 32nd Venom,.

I've cleaned up some of the smaller parts of the Valiant - namely the wheels and the u/c, which looks very substantial.  I had thought of swapping it out for the Airfix one, but the latter didn't quite fit.  The same went for the underwing tanks, as the Airfix ones are better but look much bigger than the Mach Poo ones.  Again, I decided to keep the Mach Poo bits.  They'll get primed at some point soon .  I know I need to assemble a set of Matchbox Victor refuelling pods for the Valiant, as it'll be  two point tanker.

The built up Victor has arrived, although I haven't got it yet as it's sitting at my postal address.  More sanding but I know I'll need to do some minor surgery to the rear of the bomb bay to remove the refuelling cradle(?) but I have the wreckage of another fuselage that can give me the necessary patch piece.  Other than that, strip, fill sand prime and repeat ad bleeding nausem.  Overall two colour wraparound and a pair of Martels under each wing, on a similar dual pylon to that on the Vulcan, albeit on the refuelling pylon rather than the Shrike pylon from the Vulcan. Never thought about a unit for it, but one of the normal Victor bomber units should do.

And mention of Vulcan brings me to the built up one I've acquired on ebay.  It looks to be more clean up than the Victor, and certainly more repair work.  Plans for this one?  Overall Desert pink with paveways under the wings on the Shrike pylons.  Some of the older hands may well remember that we had a similar model on the stands in the early to mid 90s.

More fool me, but I've volunteered to take part in a proposed V Bomber group build on Britmodeller, if only to get some extra whiffs over there.  Still not quite sure what I'll be doing, other than XM594 with nukes as part of "Last Flight of XM594", but I'm tempted with an operational Skybolt Vulcan B2 in antiflash, bearing in mind I did a camo'd one a decade back.  Thoughts are also turning to another scratchbodge of the Atlantic, although it may well be a master for a vacform fuselage.  Any resulting model would go in the more normal transport scheme, although the greys worn by the VC10s are an interesting alternate.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Depends how you look at it, I suppose. Not so good if you're a bit of dirt. But then, who is? Shall I do it, then?"


Well, I've now got my paws on the built up Victor and it looks better than I'd thought, but it's still going to be a lot of filling and sanding.  Mr Muscle will be deployed tomorrow to try and get the paint off then and I'm not sure if I should prime it first to show up the flaws or just start sanding.  The u/c is a complete writeoff, although the nosegear leg may be salvageable.  Luckily, I've a complete set of u/c for the kit and I honestly don't know where they came from.

I've started doing some research for my white Skybolt Vulcan, trying to find a serial for an aircraft that had the various mods to carry it and also a suitable squadron. 617 is out, as it's just too obvious and the camo'd one I did a decade back was with 617, so they're covered.  XM603 is part of the Skybolt batch and that served with 9, 12, 35 and 101 sqns, so that gives me a selection of units to play with.

I've just had a thought for a late BAe operated Vulcan - XH558? - carrying a load of Storm Shadow test rounds.  Overall wraparound or the late 90s greys?  A bomber nose Canberra is also a possibility for that, as there'd be room for all sorts of test equipment and black boxes.  Would there be clearance for a Storm Shadow under a Hunter?  Late P.1121 carrying a pair under the fuselage?  TSR2 I've already done to death.

A tanker in Hemp is another possibility, with the RAF trying their hardest to keep the type in the face of Treasury opposition as they know they'll probably need them at some point.

So, there's a few ideas and with the new Vulcan due, prices for the older kits should hopefully tumble.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"I'm completely bloody sick of this!"

I don't know if they've changed the formula for Mr Muscle oven cleaner, but it's not working very well.  I've had several attempts now and the white paint underneath is just not shifting.  Well, it has on the fuselage, but the wings...  Well, it's a Matchbox one, so the plastic there is white, so I don't know if the paints coming off or not.

Apart from a few gaps where there usually are on that particular kit, it seems to have been quite well assembled.  The wing leading edges could do with some clean up and the wing joins need filling, but it's nothing that I can't handle.  My fears about it coming apart were groundless, although I deliberately snapped off the underwing slipper tanks and the fin and tailplanes to ease paint removal.  The tailplanes look like they'll need considerable cleanup and rebuild and I've a feeling I should get another tube of filler.

I'm hoping to get a primer coat on either saturday or sunday, but I'm aiming to start spraying things soon.

Vulcan.  It would appear that all the work I did to get XM607 shipshape with new exhausts was all to nowt, as I found a website which gives details of each Vulcan built, what engines they had, Skybolt mods, etc.  It seems that all the (intended) Skybolt carriers had Olympus 301s and just the one ECM plate but my build of what was intended to be XM607 now has 202s and 2 ECM plates.  I'm now thinking that one may be the RAAF one and the one intended to be RAAF will have to have it's wings replaced (they're not on yet) as I hadn't drilled out the Shrike mounting points as it wasn't going to have underwing stores. 

At least I get to use those shiny brass exhausts.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"But it says here, Michael look, "Ensure machine is clean, and free from dust"!"

Well, it's as paint free as I can make it.  What won't come off with Mr Muscle will be sanded off.  Leaving it to drain and dry out overnight before giving it a coat of primer to see what I need to fix.  The tail surfaces and wing joins seem to be the worst, but it looks to be relatively pain free.  As much as a Matchbox Victor can be pain free.

Then I have to do it all over again with a Vulcan...



Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"No, but it doesn't say, "Ensure the machine isn't full of washing-up liquid"!"

I've been having a few rethinks about some of the planned V bombers.

The Valiant.  Well, the Airfix one anyway.  I had considered a two point tanker in early 80s Hemp but the arrival of the Tanker/Recce add on set has me now decided on a PR machine in MSG/PRU Blue, on the grounds that it's a fantastic combination and looks brill with type D roundels.  A standard bomber may look neat in late 70s colours, but I'm doing the Mach Poo one as  tanker, although it would make decaling easier.  I'm pretty much wedded to the tanker idea, but if anyone wants to do it, they're welcome.  Tornado replacing Valiant isn't a bad idea and would mean some slightly more interesting markings on an otherwise boring aircraft.  Have I mentioned I loathe the Tornado?

The Vulcan.  This is an additional idea, based on the fact that the built up one I've acquired from Ebay (still to arrive) is a Blue Steel one.  There were proposals to replace the rocket in the missile with a jet engine* and had this gone ahead, it may have remained in service a bit longer.  Now I don't know how much work this Vulcan may need, so a dark scheme could well be in order.  Wraparound camo, ditto for the missile and possibly the same wing pylon mounted AR Martels to make getting throough WarPac defenses a tad easier.

I did have an interesting idea for the RAF - with the recent memory of the Falklands and knowing that they would well be needed to penetrate the USSR if the balloon were to go up - to put as many Vulcans as possible out of the reach of the Treasury and their axemen.  They sell them for scrap (plus all the spares) to a private consortium based in Australia or possibly the US (owned and run by patriotic ex RAF service personnel, naturally) and the aircraft are flown out there and cocooned.  If they were ever to be needed, they could quickly be brought back to service.  The crews would be employed by the RAAF as instructors, so they'd be out there "just in case".

As for XM607 and the planned model having the wrong engines... Change the backstory.  After the Falklands and knowing that they'd possibly be needed with the deteriorating political situation, the Air Ministry and the MOD decide that the surviving bombers are throughly overhauled and the type of engines standardised, so all the Olympus 301 series aircraft are fitted with 202 series engines, plus any of the surviving aircraft with the Skybolt fittings get anti-radar Martels to assist in getting through WarPac defenses.  XM594 would get the 202 engines but not the Martels (not a Skybolt machine), but XM607 would get both, plus an additional ECM plate.

A number of Victors are also looked at for conversion back to bombers, although as they'd all been refitted as tankers, conversion back to the full bomber configuration wouldn't be possible.  However, they could be equipped to carry up to four WE177s plus a Martel set up similar to the Vulcan could be carried on the pylons which would normally carry the refuelling pods.  I'm not sure if the Victor K2s retained the H2S though.

Anyway, that's the rethink.

I've also had a thought of a Canberra PR9 in a MSG/PRU Blue scheme, largely as they never wore it but also as I have a part stared one that I'd like to finish.  I'd initially wanted to do an RAAF one in overall NMF, but like the rethink better.  Besides which, Matchbox Canberras aren't *that* hard to find these days.  This rethink was due to the rethink over the Valiant.  And I haven't got a whiffed Cranberry yet.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270


*I did start one and got the whole thing together, but got bored and passed it on, to either Falcon or Thorvic, but Falcon finished it off under a Vulcan fairly recently.  No, I'm not spoon feeding you - do the search yourself!

[The Wooksta!]

"We had a front door at the last house."

I found the Cranberry and it was indeed in a Fujimi Spitfire box and almost under my nose - about 6 feet from where I sit typing this.  It is indeed part started and wouldn't take too much effort to get to the primer ready stage except...  It's not a PR9 any more.  Some knacka has spliced in a B.(I).8 gunpack so it'd be a high altitude interdictor or escort.  Can still do it in the MSG/PRU Blue scheme.  May have to try and get a few more cheapo matchbox PR9s.  Except the prices on ebay are crazy and it's cheaper to get an Airfix Vulcan for Cliff's sake.

The Victor now has the rear bomb doors replaced and some sanding was done as they wouldn't sit quite right.  I've yet to apply the filler, having bought a new tube of Revell stuff for that very purpose,as being white it contrasts with the grey primer, so I know what needs sanding off.



Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Eh...Sausages. It was a Tuesday."

I should have known.  It's a Matchbox Victor and it *WILL* bite you.  Even a salvage that looks okay...  Paint stripped off?  Check.  Primer on?  Check. Spaces that needed to be filled?  Check.  More flaws popping up?  Definitely.

And all of them are the direct result of the kit's design and abysmal fit.   I've turned my attention to the airbrakes, with one getting a skin of plastic card so it's level with the fuselage, the other getting filler and sanding.  Would that the wings underneath looked halfway as good and as I say, it's due to the kit's breakdown.

The bulk of the filling and sanding is sorted.  Once the airbrake issue is sorted, I can get the tail surfaces back on and refit the underwing slippers.  These have been cleaned up and filled, but need a bit more work before they can go back on.  Then I'll have a look at the pylons.  I'll use some spare ones I have kicking about and remove the refuelling pods.  The pitot tubes will need sorting too, but although I have the bits spare, the sections where they fit are still full of plastic and I'm thinking it'd be easier to just fill them and drill the holes to mount the tubes.  That's the plan anyway.

Really not looking forward to having to sort out the canopy either.

After all these are done, I am *NEVER* building another Matchbox Victor.  Although I do want a fuselage for an Avro Trader.  I've found that the back of a Victor fuselage- from the front of the bomb bay aft - is a good match for a Tudor fuselage and just drops over the plans I've got.  Which is nice.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"2.999 recurring....."

The endless sanding and filling on the Victors continues.

The salvage job now has the tail surfaces and slippers on, with the filling been done and sanded back.  The canopy went on better than I'd thought, due to a combination of Plasticweld, Krystal Kleer and Perfect Plastic putty.  It's all been sanded back and looks okey but undoubtedly will look terrible once the primer goes on.  I've got to add the outer pylons - not to mention actually make the launchers - and do a bit more filling and sanding before the whole thing can get it's final (I hope...) primer coat.

Haven't done anything with the first salvage job, the one that went to the club, for a while, so that will probably get it's slippers added later today, along with the mid air refuelling intake.  And then yet more sodding filler...

Victor number three has had the bulk of the sanding on the wings done, I just need to add one of the flaps and then I can get them primed.  I would like to get the wings on today if possible, but the air brake area needs a tad more sanding before it looks to be blended in.  The airbrakes, along with the wing fit, are appallingly bad.  I like things closed up, so I dread to think how bad they'll be opened up. Perhaps Zenrat will enlighten us?

I've left the ailerons as they are in the kit on both the RAAF one and the second salvage job.  I really cannot be arsed with the amount of filling and sanding there.  At least with the second salvage one, it's going a dark wraparound, so I can live with it. The RAAF one was to have gone in a similar three tone grey scheme that the RAF K-2 was getting but looking at the later F111s, they look to be in an overall single grey scheme - what colour is it?  Is it in the Xtracrylix range or can I get away with Halfords Primer? That's an odd medium grey that's darker than Med Sea Grey (annoying because it was a perfect match) but somewhat lighter than Dark Sea Grey.

An RAAF TSR2 in that scheme is beckoning...  And I *really* don't want to go down that rabbithole again.

As for the others in the V Force.

I've started tidying up the underwing tanks for the Valiant and the refuelling pods have been cleaned up and filled where necessary.  I've also made some wing fences from some thin plastic card.  Not as thin as it should be, but certainly better than the veritable scale housebrick that Mach Poo provide.  and *YET AGAIN* I've had to deal with more filling underneath where I'd bulked out the fuselage with plastic card to get the depth to match.  Out with the superglue this time - I'm not messing about with it here.

Thinking about Vulcans again, I'm liking the idea of one in a Mid Stone/Dark Earth wraparound for Red Flag.  I know one was painted half that way, with the standard camo on the uppers, but a complete wraparound that way could look fun.


Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Another half-hour, just a little more time, okay?"

Well, the third Victor now has it's wings and tail surfaces on.  They went on last night and got filled just before I went to bed, so it should be ready to sand off now.  Once that's done - and likely to need redoing in places - I'll get the slippers on and have to do the whole thing over again.  The other two are about ready for a penultimate prime before I get the canopies masked and give them another blast.  Hopefully, I shouldn't find anything that needs yet more filling.  It's a good feeling knowing that the third one is structurally complete.  How many people can say they've done three of these?

Starting to get itchy again as I want to start gluing bits together again.  Thinking of another Vulcan, probably a Skybolt carrier in antiflash white and likely with 617 Sqn.  The RAAF one is stalled largely due to the lack of available Olympus 202 exhausts.  I do have the brass ones, but I want to hang onto them, possibly for that Skybolt one.

When I was at the club the other night, one member said he didn't think it was possible to whiff the V Bombers.  Little does he know.  All you need is a few reference books and a half decent imagination.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Look - nobody's fed Special Patrol Group, have they?"


That built up Vulcan I won on ebay a week or so back has arrived and it's pretty dreadful.  Whoever had built it had clearly ignored the instructions, as it had the TFR and RWR fairings on the nose and tail respectively and they'd also fitted (badly) the Shrike pylons, plus the Blue Steel fairing complete with missile.  Either a junior (which makes some sense) or someone trying to get onto the whiff bandwagon. 

Most of the joins are rough as it looks to have been assembled  with tube glue and not sanded back, hence I do think it was built by a junior.  In addition, the u/c bay doors are all closed.  Not entirely sure how well these will come out if I try to remove them, or even if they'll come out in one piece.  The Blue Steel fairing did come out okay and whilst it's unsalvageable, I do have a spare one from the bagged kit I got a few weeks back as that's going to be a Skybolt machine when the AiM conversion arrives. I'll have to dig the Blue Steel out of that to go under this one.  More of which anon.

It's currently sitting under it's fourth spray of Mr Muscle.  The top surface came off pretty easily - this coat is to try and remove the more stubborn or thicker bits - whereas underneath is proving a bit more stubborn, as two attempts and I've only managed to shift about one wing back to the plastic.  Looks to be original too, or at least pre-1995 judging by the colour.

There's a great deal of filling and sanding in a reasonably well assembled kit, and this certainly isn't one of those, so I expect to go through at least half a tube of filler and a full can of primer by the time I'm satisfied it's ready for paint.  Whilst it's in worse condition than the Victor was - that didn't need as much work as I'd feared, although it ended up with it due to me converting it back to a bomber - the shape means that the remedial work is easier to do and I don't have to fight the multipart flaps and wing fit.

Thankfully, this is going in a DSG/DG wraparound with a Blue Steel underneath, albeit the Viper jet engined version rather than the HTP of the original IF I can remember how I did it originally (Falcon got the one I'd started).  Fortunately, the drawing in Project Cancelled appears to be 72nd.  The jet Blue Steel was to have been a low altitude version, an early ALCM, so it fits with the low altitude scheme and TFR fairing.

The long term plan I had to do a Vulcan with three underslung Gnats is now dead.  I could never work out just how the two outer Gnats would be carried underneath and I never did get enough WE177s for them either.  It's possible I could do the proof of concept with a single Gnat in the former Blue Steel bay but really, I think just abandoning the whole thing is a better idea.  It does leave me with a Vulcan free to do other things with.

The RAAF Victor has all the filling done to the airframe, apart from the canopy and is about ready for a prime to tie it all together, although it'll need a final coat once the canopy is in place.  This one is going in overall Halfords primer, which is close enough to the grey worn by current RAAF tanker aircraft.

Final thoughts now turning to a Victor SR2 in a late grey scheme.  There's a built up one on ebay that's not that expensive either...

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Ehhh, "Six-hundred and four, Toxteth O'Grady, U.S.A.""

After at least eight blasts with Mr Muscle, four scouring pads, the nail brush and a toothbrush, I've managed to get the bulk of the grey paint off the underside of the Vulcan.  Life's too short to try and get the rest off, law of diminishing returns and some of it would be sanded off due to the areas it's in.

The nosegear bay doors have come out relatively intact and the whole airframe is in the bath draining.  I'll take a few photos for posterity - I didn't take any prior to the stripping but did download those from the ebay seller.  If and when its done, I may well write an article around it, but don't hold your breath.  Although on second thoughts, I may well do it as the IPMS magazine does pay by the page and being out of a job early next month, I could use some extra pennies coming in.  If nothing else, it could well raise the profile for the SIG in the magazine.

Still unsure if I should prime it first before beginning clean up of do some and then prime.


Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Oh, it's broken."

Well, I've finally got round to cleaning up the salvage Vulcan, having left it to drain/dry out for  few days.

TBH, it's a mess and it's clear that it was built by a junior.  Glue stains everywhere, excess glue oozing from the joints, loads of mismatches, gaps left right and centre.  Thankfully, again I'll be deploying FOD guards for the intakes.  Anyway, I've made good the glue staining and the oozed, the u/c doors are out and unfortunately now unuseable.  The remains of the Blue Steel plate have been cleaned out and a new one from another kit will fit where it touches, much like the kit itself.

I did manage to get the canopy off in one piece, only to find whoever had built it had added the crew - well, the pilots anyway - and I'll be leaving them in, largely because it's less hassle.  The canopy isn't too badly gluestained, only affecting one of the smaller panels and I think it's fixable.  I'll give the whole thing a coat of primer tomorrow to hide the various odd colours and try to show up what needs fixing that I haven't seen.  I can however foresee a metric f**kton of sanding. Thankfully, this is going in a dark scheme.

I have started the Vulcan that arrived a week or so back and it appears that it's one of the first ones - the distructions say COG Products 1983 and the colour of the plastic looks to be correct too.  Haven't done much other than some cleanup, one of the intakes is together and the fin is done - I've cleaned it up and removed the RWR as this is going to be a Skybolt machine, either with 230 OCU or possibly 617.  It will be getting a set of those nice brass exhausts and quite possibly those resin wheels, but I may yet get another set of those.

I'm tempted to start another one as the other Skybolt machine (one with training rounds with the OCU and an operational one in antiflash white), but I've a feeling I could be biting off more than I can chew.  May need more filler...


Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"Look! Look, when they get back, tell them I'm incredibly sorry!"

I've managed to get the bulk of the sanding done on the salvage Vulcan and the primer revealed more than I suspected, including some pretty dreadful glue stains.  The intakes, always a pain in the arse to get blended in, aren't too bad either, but as the previous owner had decided to put the crew in, I can't go with the FOD guards, largely because I'm leaving the crew in as trying to get them out could be more trouble than it's worth.  Bit more sanding on it in the morning and then another coat of prier to see what needs done next.

As for the RAAF one that was left part started due to lack of Olympus 202 exhausts... Well, they've arrived but I've decided to stick with the 300s instead, as the RAAF would likely have taken delivery from the tail end of Vulcan production and they all had 300 series exhausts.  In addition, I'm tempted to go with XM607 in a complete Mid Stone/Dark Earth scheme for Red Flag, as opposed to the odd half and half that she did wear.  Although that could be kept for later - I've got enough Vulcan s now to do what I want to with a few left over.

I did start another one to do as the second Skybolt machine, so that's three together and two not far behind.  Those two are relatively easy, as once they're together it's out with Halfords finest. 

I've done a small amount of casting, as I'd promised Kit some Centaurus engines, amongst other things.  One of the moulds I was gifted by TsrJoe some years back has Vulcan exhausts on them and I think they're 201 series, so I cast a pair but have yet to use them.  Not sure which whiff they'll end up on but they'll get used eventually.  I'm also tempted to get a Flightpath Vulcan B1 conversion, but I've yet to think of any convincing whiff for it.

Dear god, what have I let myself in for...

At least I wisely decided to stick Victor number 4 to one side for now and I'm not dragging out the planned Blue Steel one for a while yet either, although the one I got from kit already has the fuselage assembled with a dirty great hole cut for the Blue Steel mount, so I'd just have to assemble the wings.  The worst bit of the kit...

No, I'll just stick to the Vulcans.  For now, as the AZ Hornets are imminent.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270

[The Wooksta!]

"That's absolutely brilliant! You can't get any cleaner than that!"

Well, I think I've got the salvage Vulcan tidied as much as I can.  Still one final primer coat and then off to the paint shop with it.  I've laid in a decent stock of Xtracrylix Dark Sea Grey as there's at least four V bombers using it, amongst all the others going in similar colours.  The u/c I'll steal from the kit I got off ebay with all the extras.

The RAAF one has yet to get a coat of primer, but then I've still to fit the bomb doors and they are another pain to get rights as they're always warped and there's some quite subtle angles in there.  I've some sprue across the inside and I'll try jacking it up on scraps of plastic card to try and get it level.  I tried it with the last one and it seemed to have worked.

The two Skybolt ones now have the wings attached to the lower fuselage halves, this being seemingly the best way to assemble the blasted thing with minimal sanding - I'd done the RAAF one that way and it seems to have worked.  The fuselages on both should hopefully sorted out later and I can get the tail fins and cones into place too.  Just need to get the nose weight in the second.  This is one of the more recent boxings and I've heard tales about them being unbuildable.  Now, that's crap, because other than a bit of flash - and no more than I've found in other Vulcans over the years - it's been as easy or difficult as the kit has always been.  The other Skybolt one is an original boxing (well, the instructions and decals are, it was a bagged kit so I can't comment for sure on the plastic) and that's been exactly the same.

And then we come to the part started one that was in me Mam's loft.  The intakes are done, the cockpit's in so hopefully this one should be assembled by the weekend.  I'm still not entirely sure quite which one I want to do - either a K2 in Hemp over LAG/White or XM607 or another late serialled aircraft at Red Flag 78 in a sand/stone wraparound.  Both will get done eventually, but for ease of masking I may well go with the tanker, although I'll need to mould the Model Graphics (or whatever the ex-con is calling his stuff these days) before I go any further.  There's a few other things I need to get the moulds done for anyway, so I may get that done later today. Don't think anyone has done a Vulcan in Hemp before so it could well be a first.

Comments on this thread - in the vain attempt that anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=35118.270