In at the deep end- My first Vac-Form

[Spellbinder99]

No pictures as yet as my camera is still in my locker at work but I have finally jumped in and started on my Dynavector 1/48 TSR-2 kit.

I have never done any vac-forms before apart from starting to cut out the parts for a Falcon 1/48 MB-5, but armed with the belief that kits are made to be built AND that any muck up can be fixed with adequate supplies of plastic sheet and filler, I began.

I must add that I have read as many different ways to cut out and prep vac-form parts as their are kits, but in the end you can't really go too far wrong if you keep CHECKING before you sand or scrape off too much.

Dynavector kits are really well detailed and certainly deserve the reputation they have of being the Vac-form equivalents of high level injection molded kits. The care they put in is never more evident than in their acknowledgement in the instructions of flaws in the molds and pointers on how to put them right, such as the four underfuselage engine vents that have bubble of plastic in them. Easily put to rights and made to look much better by drilling them out and gluing a square of card over the holes from the iside. I deepened them even further by re-drilling them once dry and adding more card on top, now they look fine.

Once the basic top and bottom halves were cut out and sanded/scraped down to my satisfaction, I then cut out the main wheel wells from the sheet and cut the doors from the fuselage by carefully scraping around the panel lines with a sharp X-Acto knife. A seperate set of doors are molde on the sheet so that you can just hack and trim the holes then cut them out to add, but I found that I was able to cut a usable set of doors from the actual holes in the airframe.
I then glued in the wheel wells, which only cover the area seen when the wheels are down and the legs protrude out of.

Some very specific instructions are given about gluing in beams and crossbraces to set the fusleage width, whic I followed being sure to check against the upper half so that I was sure it would still fit. I have to confess, I tend to overengineer, so in an effort to make the fusleage as rigid as possible and to make sure the wheel wells would structurally support the weight of the model I added a lot of internal bracing both vertically and horizontally. I also added a lip along the upper edge so that the upper fusleage half has something concrete to glue against and so that when I fill the joint it will not split.

The Dynavector kits are molded from quite thick plastic, but like most Vac kits the seperated parts can move around a bit, but not this one now! I still have supports to add for the jet pipes and I am thinking of gluing in a cross tube to support the tailpane pivots for when they are added, so there is still internal work to do. Trial fitting the upper half shows that it should go together well.

With regards to the jet pipes, they are supplied in two halves. Now in my mind getting them cut out, sanded down, glued and still ending up perfectly circular would be a real test of my ability to "do" a vac-form kit. This was especially apparent as most reviews of the kit I had seen the builder opted to replace them with plastic or metal tubing.
Bloody minded as I am, I have decided to try and use them.....
That is progress so far.

Sorry to be long winded, but as I said, this is a first for me and as it is a favourite subject I want to try to get it right!

Cheers

Tony

[Martin H]

Build that bloody great monster of a kit?   rather u than me....Good luck

[AeroplaneDriver]

Good luck and congratulations on taking the step.

I have yet to tackle a vac kit so any and all first-hand reports from a fellow newbie are appreciated!!!

 

[noxioux]

I'd really like to see a step-by-step buildup of one of those things.  I'm still not sure I'm brave enough to tackle a vac kit, but there are some really killer subjects not to be found anywhere else.

[Spellbinder99]

Probably the best step by step visual guide to building the Dynavector TSR-2 is seen here:

TSR-2 Build - French language

It is in French but that forms no impediment if you Bablefish the page. Even without doing that you can get most of what you need from the pictures, The builder has even coloured the internal reinforcements in red so they are easily visible.

As regards the kit Martin, you are right, it is a Bloody Great Monster, but also supremely made and comes with a kick donkey set of white metal parts and vacform canopies. I am amazed by the panel line detail they have managed to include in a vacform.

In the end, all the reviews of Dynavector kits have agreed that as a first Vacform kit they are a great choice if you have at least moderate modelling skills.

Plus, if Murphys Law prevails, as soon as I get anywhere near finishing it a 1/48th scale injection moulded kit will probably be announced.

Cheers

Tony

[Spellbinder99]

So five days work gets me here.....



The front fuselage is just taped together and onto the rear fusleage as part of continually trial fitting to check on whether I am heading in the right direction. the rear fusleage is structurally finished and almost completely glued, filled and rescribed.

It is also as strong and as rigid as any injection molded kit and should be considering the weight of plastic sheet and strip butressing it!



I am particularly chuffed with this as the thin grey line is the total extent of the filler I used after joining the upper and lower halves. Most of the credit goes to the quality of the Dynavector kit, but I made sure all the joints were backed up properly with joining strips to give a substantial base to fill and sand against.



The rear nib/parachute housing is white metal and needs a little filler to fair it in, but that is something I am tweaking between jobs on the front fuselage. The front is midway in the process of internal strengthening, the nose wheel well is in and I am trial fitting the cockpits and adding styrene block supports so they will glue in place correctly when the time comes.

My GOD it is big, even in 1/48th scale but it is a lovely shape captured well by Dynavector.

Any comments cheerfully accepted.

Cheers

Tony

[Aircav]

OMG!!, Thats big    
Can't wait to see her finished      

[cthulhu77]

Coming along nicely !!!  You picked one hell of a kit, it is going to look great!

      greg

[nev]

Glad you got some piccies taken  

Big isn't she?

Markings...?

[retro_seventies]

she IS a whopper....

are you gonna do her as a protoype? early service? 70s? 80s? late service in the 90's and beyond?

you're doing a great job - there's a vacform kit that i want sooooooooo badly but i'm just too chicken to try...this build is really helping me get the courage to have a go!

[Spellbinder99]

Royal Australian Air Force Aircraft Research and Developement Unit.
Aircraft A8-662 in the later orange and white "Fanta Can" trials paint scheme carrying out service trials of the locally developed "Karinga" Cluster Bomb Unit.

She will carry at least two wing pylons with Karingas' on the inboards and the rearward facing weapons trials cameras on the intakes filming the releases. She will definitely have the IFR probe fitted as by the time of the Karinga trials in 1983 all RAAF service Eagles had these fitted.
As a trials aircraft, she will have at times carried all the current RAAF weapons and avionics fit such as chaff dispensers, overwing sidewinder launchers, RWR fairing on the fin, but for the duration of the trials it will pretty much just be pylons, RWR fairing, IFR probe and appropriate camera fits.

I am toying with the idea of fitting a Pave-Tack pod to the belly as well, but final fit will depend on how the build goes.

What do you think, make a few JMN's heads explode with that one?

I will probably leave a fuly loaded ASTA Eagle GR4 to the next build. (ASTA is basically what CAC and GAF evolved into in the 70's).

Cheers

Tony

[Spellbinder99]

Like I said, I tend to overengineer....



And that isn't finished yet! The only parts in the picture supplied in the kit are the outside shell and the nosewheel well.

Cheers

Tony

[lancer]

Nowt wrong with putting all that bracing in. It'll make the model nice and sturdy. I have to say, I am deeply impressed by you building of this kit, it is brilliant.

[Aircav]

I'm also deeply impressed by the stash behind    

p.s. The only time something is overengineered is when it either doesn't fly or float      

[elmayerle]

The only time something is overengineered is when it either doesn't fly or float    

I'll add one other symptom of overengineering: When reliability goes all to hell due to required functions of dubious, at best, utility.

Been There/Done That/Got the cheap tshirt to cover the scars