First kit in 22 years !
Discussion
This one was really meant to be a camouflage 558, albeit it contained the Blue Steel missile and a number of additional elements which weren't shown on the plan 
Some more images now complete:
Vulcan XH 558 by Martin_Bennett, on Flickr
Vulcan XH 558 by Martin_Bennett, on Flickr
Vulcan XH 558 by Martin_Bennett, on Flickr
Some more images now complete:
Vulcan XH 558 by Martin_Bennett, on Flickr
Vulcan XH 558 by Martin_Bennett, on Flickr
Vulcan XH 558 by Martin_Bennett, on Flickr
I'm sure I have seen pictures of 558 in white wearing red white blue normal colour national markings as well as the pale anti-flash colours but hey ho, what the hell this is a very nice model and I bet the lad loves having it up in his own personal sky.
Nicely made and using the advice you have been given here very well.
Looks blimmin' nice hohoho, keep up the good work.
What next?
bill
Nicely made and using the advice you have been given here very well.
Looks blimmin' nice hohoho, keep up the good work.
What next?
bill
perdu said:
I'm sure I have seen pictures of 558 in white wearing red white blue normal colour national markings as well as the pale anti-flash colours but hey ho, what the hell this is a very nice model and I bet the lad loves having it up in his own personal sky.
Nicely made and using the advice you have been given here very well.
Looks blimmin' nice hohoho, keep up the good work.
What next?
bill
Thanks Bill Nicely made and using the advice you have been given here very well.
Looks blimmin' nice hohoho, keep up the good work.
What next?
bill
I used a shop bought glue which is in a little blue bottle with a small accurate metal tube allowing fine amounts of glue, no waste and more importantly as you suggest no mess!
Looking at it critically it could have done with some filler here and there. It amazes me that a company like Airfix can make these models with for example the port and starboard wings fitting differently. Surely given today's manufacturing technology parts should fit almost perfectly?
I have a Harrier, large Tomcat and of course, Concorde sitting in my study waiting next to be built. I'm also going to get a large scale helicopter but haven't decided which one yet.
I admire the like of Eric and others who clearly have too much time on their hands and are able to spend time on fine detail. Whilst I like mine to look nice, patience is lacking currently and time even less (I'm away a lot, off pretty much until the end of November starting next week travelling with work).
It's also interesting that if you take a decent photo it shows all of the imperfections that you may not have noticed whilst building!
I'm hoping that having now had 5 children most of whom couldn't give a t@ss about flight, little Sammy (who's 2 btw) will be fed a diet of aircraft and aircraft related books/toys and general aero material and he will live his life as I wished I had......and become a pilot! He certainly likes his recent additions to his bedroom although doesn't quite understand Daddy has spent some time on these and regardless they are, they are not toys to thrown around!
Well done with Sammy, keep up the good work.
I use those blue glue pots too, but watch out for the tube getting blocked, I use a strand of copper wire from a stripped piece of cable to clear it out whenever.
You should bear in mind that the Airfix Vulcan came out before I gave up modelling in the eighties and is therefore a tad elderly by now.
I was never an "easy to be accurate" build, but as it was our first in 1/72 scale I always thought beggars and choosers applied to the situation
All of which doesn't detract, your Vulcan looks nice
Long live the Halfords rattle cans
(I wonder if they do FS36118 Gunship grey in a can, Hannants has run out)
I use those blue glue pots too, but watch out for the tube getting blocked, I use a strand of copper wire from a stripped piece of cable to clear it out whenever.
You should bear in mind that the Airfix Vulcan came out before I gave up modelling in the eighties and is therefore a tad elderly by now.
I was never an "easy to be accurate" build, but as it was our first in 1/72 scale I always thought beggars and choosers applied to the situation
All of which doesn't detract, your Vulcan looks nice
Long live the Halfords rattle cans
(I wonder if they do FS36118 Gunship grey in a can, Hannants has run out)
I think it still depends whose kits you try
Airfix's latest Lynx helicopters in 1/48 scale have been very rightly praised to the heavens and making accurate models from these is down to the accuracy of the information you use in preparation first off.
I suppose it is difficult to say which models are best or which have been out for the longest time, Eric doc_gn and Red Firecracker know their way around the world of modern kits. How about a quick ask in here before you decide what to buy.
Airfix's latest Lynx helicopters in 1/48 scale have been very rightly praised to the heavens and making accurate models from these is down to the accuracy of the information you use in preparation first off.
I suppose it is difficult to say which models are best or which have been out for the longest time, Eric doc_gn and Red Firecracker know their way around the world of modern kits. How about a quick ask in here before you decide what to buy.
perdu said:
Eric doc_gn and Red Firecracker know their way around the world of modern kits. How about a quick ask in here before you decide what to buy.
The Japanese / far Eastern stuff is pretty much guaranteed to be good - Tamiya, Academy, Hasegawa. Not cheap, but my view is that if you're spending many hours putting a kit together, and investing material in it too, it might as well be a good one.Having said that I bought an Airfix Mk1a Spitfire from Duxford last week. No idea why - after walking around the museum (and getting to sit in the TFC Curtiss Hawk!) I must have been overcome by nostalgia. The Airfix Bf109E4 I built went together OK in the end, but still a way off the Japs. If you want practice, buy Airfix - they are at least cheap enough.
I just finished an Academy F-84 Thunderjet this evening, and that went together pretty well, but it's quite intricate and a b
h to paint well in a realistic natural metal finish.I wouldn't want the thread to descend into an "Airfix v' The Rest" type debate (as they often do).
Airfix have their place in the modelling world. It is very true that some of their old moulds leave a lot to be desired (as do Revell's, Heller's, etc etc).
And it is true that the likes of Hasegawa and Tamiya are consistently excellent - even their old moulds. But their prices, especially Hasegawa at the moment, are totally out of order - in my opnion.
But read the review in the latest Model Airplane magazine of the new and eagerly awaited 1/72 Sea Vixen from Dragon/Cyber-Hobby. This kit costs £35 in the UK, and it is a total disaster.
On the other hand, Airfix's 1/48 Sea Vixen has been pretty much universally praised - and it costs around the same price, for a much bigger and much more accurate model.
And if you want an accurate 1/72 English Electric Lightning, the 50 year old Airfix kit is still the best regarding outline and accuracy. You should see how much Trumpeter got their 1/72 Lightnings wrong.
So, not every new Far-Eastern kit is necessarily better.
Airfix have their place in the modelling world. It is very true that some of their old moulds leave a lot to be desired (as do Revell's, Heller's, etc etc).
And it is true that the likes of Hasegawa and Tamiya are consistently excellent - even their old moulds. But their prices, especially Hasegawa at the moment, are totally out of order - in my opnion.
But read the review in the latest Model Airplane magazine of the new and eagerly awaited 1/72 Sea Vixen from Dragon/Cyber-Hobby. This kit costs £35 in the UK, and it is a total disaster.
On the other hand, Airfix's 1/48 Sea Vixen has been pretty much universally praised - and it costs around the same price, for a much bigger and much more accurate model.
And if you want an accurate 1/72 English Electric Lightning, the 50 year old Airfix kit is still the best regarding outline and accuracy. You should see how much Trumpeter got their 1/72 Lightnings wrong.
So, not every new Far-Eastern kit is necessarily better.
Edited by Eric Mc on Sunday 30th September 10:01
nick heppinstall said:
dr_gn said:
Prompted by this thread (and because I'm waiting for the oil paint to dry on the SE5a) I made a start on my Academy Thunderjet. I bought it for £4.99 purely to try out Alclad II, so it'll be straight OOB.
Fantastic ! Step by step guide to painting please !
More pics here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
dr_gn said:
Bloody hell that looks good ! Not sure now if I even dare post pics of mine ! Not that its anywhere near finished lol !! How did you mask off the Cockpit frame ? Appreciate the pics in the other thread thanks very much :-) !Crap I also put filler around the air intake and tailpipe !!!
nick heppinstall said:
dr_gn said:
Bloody hell that looks good ! Not sure now if I even dare post pics of mine ! Not that its anywhere near finished lol !! How did you mask off the Cockpit frame ? Appreciate the pics in the other thread thanks very much :-) !Crap I also put filler around the air intake and tailpipe !!!
Someone asked about canopy masking on the other thread:
Canopy masking. I must admit this was my second attempt. I always use Tamiya masking tape cut into c. 1mm thick strips. Then, using tweezers apply the strips to the periphery of the glazed areas. Use the newly cut edge on the outside becasue the old edge sometimes isn't as sticky due to age/dust etc. You can use a brand new #11 scaplel blade to trim the ends if necessary. Then patch in the middle bits of the glazing with squares of tape. Make sure the tape is well bedded at the edges using a cocktail stick. Apply tape the entire inside of the canopy to prevent overspray. Then spray a light coat of interior green (obviously this will be visible on the inside of the glazing), followed by the external colour, in this case Tamiya Deck Tan. On this model I then had to mask again to get the silver canopy frame edging and applied a dark wash/decals then stain varnish overcoat. Remove the tape and rub over lightly with a duster to break any raised ridges and that's it. In total, canopy masking for this model took around 3 hours. Always use matt paint in thin coats and dry with a hairdrier at frequent intervals to reduce the risk of bleeding.
Hope this helps!
nick heppinstall said:
Cheers I need to read and digest the other thread. I'm still at the sanding filler stage. I only manage to snatch a bit of time here and their but I find it very restfull.
I post a pic when I have it filled and sanded. Maybe around 2015 however !
I struggled to fit the nose panels - lower fuselage either side of the cockpit, and the port wing infill. They are a good fit, but if you fill the edges there are no panel lines, and if you don't fill them they have inconsistent gaps around them. I opted to fill them and shade the panel with a darker colour. It looks OK but still annoys me a bit.I post a pic when I have it filled and sanded. Maybe around 2015 however !
I also find building models quite therapeutic most of the time. To the extent that even when I've had something really stressful on my mind, if I can make a start modelling I usually completely forget about whatever's worrying me for an hour or two, such is the level of concentration needed for some bits - usually fine painting.
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