Another white Vulcan

[pigsty]

You may be thinking, when will this gobby bloke Pigsty stopping putting the world to rights and finally build a model? Well, I've started a new one at last! And ... it's another Airfix Vulcan. Well, mostly; it needs a bit of help. This is the original and genuine first boxing from 1983 - five-eighths of a lifetime ago! - and will be finished as a white Blue Steel carrier with a fetching blue missile.

How much? Bought from the Model Shop on Old Town Street in Plymouth - remember that?

Quick review of what's going into this: Two Mikes undercarriage bays and intakes; Flightpath accessories; and Airdecal decals for the days of white Vulcans. Airfix's decals were never up to much but 27 years in storage has done them no favours, so the new ones were a must. Also Freightdog's new jetpipes for the 200-series Olympus. Most Blue Steel carriers had these earlier engines and never got the 300 series, as tactics shifted to low-level and they weren't needed. Flightpath offers narrower pipes in white metal (now resin) but they lack the length and the toe-ing out of the outboard ones. The down-side is that Freightdog's take a lot of work to fit.

And here's a sample of the state of the plastic before I started. I had planned to paint this white almost from when I bought it, but my first attempt twenty years ago went a little wrong. Humbrol matt white in a combination of spray and brush paint (which goes very yellow) isn't going to win any prizes. So this is one wing panel after a good soaking in brake fluid and a lot of scrubbing. I've not tried to take off all the paint, for fear of the brake fluid eating the plastic; later stages will take care of a lot of it.

Edited September 6, 2010 by pigsty

[pigsty]

So, work begins. Here are the two sides of the fin - before at the bottom, after above. I've removed the RWR antennae at the top, rescribed all the panel lines, and sanded the old ones away. This takes a lot of the nasty old paint with it. It gives the plastic a rather nice eggshell feel.

The whole kit, apart from questionable fit, suffers from being just a little bit coarse. This causes some trouble later but here's a good cosmetic example. The boundary layer splitter plate is far too thick (and has a dreadful mould seam running across the outer face) so I've thinned it. This has to be done from behind, because the fat plate is too close the fuselage, and this means getting in behind it with fine sandpaper and doing your best. To be honest all I've really done is thin the outer edge, and for that reason I'll probably not put in the inlet that hides behind the plate. Or I might, who knows?

At this point I confess, I'm finding things to do to avoid the butchery needed on the undercarriage bays. So I've put the Blue Steel together. This too is very coarse in places. The pitot is about four inches across in scale, so I've removed it, reprofiled the nose, and drilled it to take a wire pitot later. At the other end, I've filled in the Stentor exhausts. All the pictures I have of the missile show flush-fitting blanks rather than the inset ones in the kit, so a couple of plastic discs sort that out. Both were far too small for my Olfa Compass Cutter, so I spent a happy evening creating them with scissors and painstaking sanding. (Typical - first time in 25 years I've found a use for the thing and it's too big ...)* Also visible is the degree of thinning that the missile's fins need. Again, I've really only done the edges to take away the semi-circular profile that Airfix left. Were I doing this properly, I might replace the forward ones with thin card, but life's too short.

* As the bishop said to the actress

Here's my approach to the landing lights: drill a hole in the middle of the marked area, back it with card, and come back later with a little-cars lens. I may remove the ring around the light once I've checked out a real Vulcan properly. As it's scribed (this isn't a terribly well-planned build!) that's easily done with a drop of Liquid Poly.

Now, the jetpipes. You have to hack away a lot of kit to make way for the Freightdog ones. The watchword is: cut inside the area you need, as you can always remove more if it's not enough, but you can't put it back if it's too much. You know this, of course. The resin ones are designed to fit into the fuselage as they come - casting blocks and all - but that's not really possible. Freightdog's instructions advise you to bevel the edges of the cuts to make room. What they really mean is to thin it half to death - you can see how much from the pair on the right. Again, this is caused by the kit's lacking finesse (although, to be fair, they didn't plan for this). Even then it's marginal, and I'd also recommend that you remove the inner end of the casting block and sand off its top. Eventually, it can all be stuffed in.

So that's progress so far (after a mere six weeks ). I've just spent a pleasant hour going to Dorking to choose what will almost certainly turn out to be the wrong shade of blue for the missile, so more to follow, perhaps.

Edited September 6, 2010 by pigsty

[hazza]

Brake fluid!!!

what about fairy power spray?? Nice progress though doesnt seem to have done it any harm

Edited May 15, 2010 by hazza

[pigsty]

Oh dear oh dear. Another six weeks on and almost no more progress. Some pictures will follow soon, but meanwhile, here's a question for anyone who's used the Two Mikes undercarriage bays.

The instructions show you where to cut out the kit's bays and, eventually, you figure out how. It ent easy! The next thing you're advised to do is thin the triangular bit that pokes out across the maingear bay between the forward and aft doors. I've held the bay parts up against the kit's and I'm wondering if this is really necessary. The side of the bay that corresponds with this section comes out flush - all the way along, the side itself and the triangular projection are level. So if I thin only the triangular bit, it seems that I'll be left with a space above it, while the rest of the side panel fits snugly. And the profiles match, so I don't think I've failed to trim the resin parts properly. But having a gap seems odd, so I'm wondering, am I misreading the instructions? Should I be thinning the whole of the lip, not just this one section?

This is linked to another feature. The bay seems too deep to fit inside just the lower half of the wing, yet the instructions don't say anything about cutting out part of the upper half. I suspect that thinning the bay roof won't be enough on its, but coupled with thinning the lip of the bay all the way round, it might be. Possibly. Or I could just cut out a little bit of the upper half's inner end and brace the bay against the inside of the wing come assembly time.

Can anyone guide me?

['V']

I love Vulcans and white is the best colour ...........

So I'll be watching this ...... Phew £9.95, must have been a recent purchase as my last build had a £6 price ticket !!

At least with old kits like that when you add the resin the overall price won't seem to bad.

Slow ..... Nothing wrong with that, but I think we should only give you 18 months !!

Can't help with the gear bays - as nobody is allowed to pick up my models I don't spend money on parts others can't see.

Go on ..... call me tight (and I'll agree)

'V'

Edited June 28, 2010 by 'V'

[Nobby]

Made this back in the 80's and it had loads of issues but i was not too bothered back then. If i had to do it again i'd use you post as a guide!

[atdb27]

Sean,

can I suggest that you glue/add the upper wing sections to the upper fuse 1/2 and likewiase with the lower bits.Why?

Well for one you will have a good/clean wing to fuse joint with NO Steps in it.

It is easier to fill in the l/e areas rather than the wing upper/lower areas.

Adrian

[pigsty]

Sean,

can I suggest that you glue/add the upper wing sections to the upper fuse 1/2 and likewiase with the lower bits.Why?

Well for one you will have a good/clean wing to fuse joint with NO Steps in it.

It is easier to fill in the l/e areas rather than the wing upper/lower areas.

Adrian

I'll take a look, but with all the butchery that the resin bits necessitate, it may not be very easy.

[general melchett]

Nice start Sean, like Geoff ( V ) I have built many of these over the years and have got to know the old thing quite well along with its many faults.It's still a great basis for an accurate Vulcan just a few points that you might find useful. The intake plate that you have correctly thinned is also way too big and needs to be cut back by at least 3mm and given a more rounded profile making it a bit more important to add the prominent inlet just inside, also the navs window is in the wrong place and needs to be moved up and back slightly to look right.The two little blobs on top of the centre fuselage are supposed to be lights but there was only one here (on the right) the other should be removed and replaced with a small triangular blade aerial.As mentioned it can be a lot easier to attach the wings to the fuselage top and bottom before gluing the thing together to avoid the dreaded step,also watch out for the prominent sink marks on top of the intake leading edges which must be dealt with.

I have never rescribed any of my V Bombers because personally I just don't think it liooks right in this scale mainly due to the fact that Avro, Vickers and Handley-Page went to great lengths to manufacture super smooth surface skins with minimal seams to keep the things as aerodynamically slippery as possible, in the case of the Victor at least to actually filling the joins to achieve a smooth finish.Naturally dirt and airflow debris still built up in areas but you'll be hard pushed to find deep trenches covering the surface as I've seen on some models. Just personall choice of course. I'm in the process of converting this kit into a B1A using the Flightpath set so any help you may need on anything please feel free to ask either myself or Geoff..............we're a bit Vulcan potty as you might have guessed.

Cheers,

Melchie...

[pigsty]

All good tips, thanks!

The intake plate that you have correctly thinned is also way too big and needs to be cut back by at least 3mm and given a more rounded profile making it a bit more important to add the prominent inlet just inside

I wish you hadn't told me that ... !

The two little blobs on top of the centre fuselage are supposed to be lights but there was only one here (on the right) the other should be removed and replaced with a small triangular blade aerial

I'll double-check whether the Flightpath set covers this.

Sink marks: amazingly, I don't think I have any.

Rescribing: one wing on mine had panel lines like fences - with that, it was doomed! I agree about the finish, though; on an aircraft like this the panel lines are little more than an indication of where to put the small amount of weathering, just to break up the surface a bit. Life is too short to scratch them as deeply as some kits now come.

Now, about the undercarriage bays - anyone? I've got both sides ready now and reprofiling those splitter plates will keep me occupied for only a little longer.

[xlpainter]

hi another reason why the panel lines never show is when the raf painted the vulcans they were never paint stripped just rubbed down xl426 still has it anti flash white under all the paint from later colour changes i have paint stripped parts of the under wing on 426 and there is o lot of paint on it

[pigsty]

I'll double-check whether the Flightpath set covers this - it does!

Now, about the undercarriage bays - anyone? I've got both sides ready now and reprofiling those splitter plates will keep me occupied for only a little longer.

Pleee-ee-ease? I don't want to make any further commitment unaided!

[Mike]

Now, about the undercarriage bays - anyone? I've got both sides ready now and reprofiling those splitter plates will keep me occupied for only a little longer.

Leave that with me Sean, I'll have a look at what I did to mine

[robvulcan]

good look with the vulcan i might try and do one to this superdetail standard. just wish i had more time ,

ive always wanted to try make one fly since my child hood friend through my original kit down the garden from upstairs, as it did actually fly. how do you rescribe i want to learn how to do this, although you can always see many lines on a vulcan in photos.

[Mike]

Right - Vulcan dug out, pic taken, and here it is.

Nothing to cut out of the upper edge of the wing, but you will need to cut out the corresponding edge of the mating point on the underside of the fuselage

HTH

[pigsty]

Thanks Mike! Looks like I'm in for a nice long sanding session on the roofs of the bays, then. Ho and, indeed, hum.

[pigsty]

At last, some more progress. Frankly, it's been tedious, grinding away at this and that, and I'm not sure I've got it right, but here goes. Comparisons with General Melchett's and V's joint build thread will only make me depressed.

First, the pointy end. This is the extremely nice Two Mikes nosegear bay, taped together for fit.

And this is where it goes. You have to remove the kit’s bay, which is moulded integrally with the lower fuselage. The instructions show it neatly lifted out of the way; my method was more like borrowing a trained guinea pig and having it nibbled out piece by tiny piece, then sanding the scars as smooth as possible. Still, you don't need it afterwards, so no harm done, eh.

Now the maingear bays. Again, they need complete removal, which isn't easy, given their shape and proximity to the leading edge. Eventually I worked out a method that seems to work. First, some cuts in the roof.

Then, snap out the separate sections, and file back to the edges. You'll have spotted that one of those cuts runs a little short. That was so that I could take out the tapered bit cleanly (you don't want the break line going beyond the inner wall, in case it damages the outer skin) and expose the square bit beside it for cutting flush with the corner of the triangular bit. (Still with me?)

Next, cut through all the angles in the walls.

And snap them out one by one to remove the rest of the bay structure. The close cuts allow each section to be removed as a simple rectangle, unhindered by the inherent strengthening that angles give them. If you score lightly at the bottom of the angle, that helps propagate the break line where you want it, with no risk of its wandering about the plastic.

All that leaves some odd bumps on the inside surface. These are the backs of the little rebates where the larger mainwheel door attaches - a consequence of the very sturdy moulding. You don't need them, nor the other rough surfaces that are left, so away they go.

A little later in the process. You have to do two things here: extend the bay opening slightly, and thin the edges in the underside of the wing. I've sanded down the inside surface as best I can, which is tricky because of the tight corners. You need to thin it a little to accommodate the resin bay, and (as explained further up), thin the roof of the bay as well. However, as I ground away, it soon became clear that I just wasn't going to get the right thickness. Somehow there seems to be too much resin - even if I sanded it wafer-thin, the whole bay would still be deeper than the space available. I’m sure I've made a mistake here, but I can't pin it down. Anyway, being by now utterly fed up of swarf, I decided to cut my losses and open some space in the upper half of the wing as well. Plus equivalent voids in the inboard side. I'm sure this will leave the maingear sitting too low (and thus the overall height too great) but I'll live with it. I hope!

Ignore the mismatched edges of these cut-outs. They're hidden in the wing roots and the bays won't slop around because I plan to fix them solidly with plastic tabs and superglue.

By now, I'd found a handle for my PE razor saw, so at least this part of the process was a bit quicker. Lion Roar do a set of three very effective saws for £5, that fit into much smaller spaces than normal ones, and I've found that they fit a standard steel Stanley knife holder.

Enough of that. Following Melchie's very handy tip, I set about reducing the splitter plates to a more realistic size. Removing them completely and using plastic card seemed too great a faff - matching profiles and all that - so I just repeated the thinning that I'd done before. More tedium.

And, because this exposes the wing root fairly comprehensively, there's no avoiding it. In go a couple of saw-cuts for the air-conditioning(?) inlet.

Finally, a small refinement. The oil outlet pipes alongside the engines need opening. In reality they're one pipe inside another, but that's way beyond me, so I've opened out the ends (a simple bit of drilling) and will bodge the effect with a bit of black paint.

I'm now painting the maingear bays, so there should be some more to view (between your fingers) soon. And after that, with luck, some actual assembly. Then I might think I'm getting somewhere.

Edited September 6, 2010 by pigsty

[general melchett]

Great stuff Sean!, it's a lot of work isn't it, but 'sure as heck is worth it guv'ner!'...or so I'm reliably informed...though who by and when I'm not sure!!

I'm still awaiting Mikes wheel bay set but am mightily tempted to rip the kit parts out now looking at this

as for....

Comparisons with General Melchett’s and V’s joint build thread will only make me depressed.

Well it really shouldn't, your cracking on at a great pace, we all work to what we can and learn off others when we're stuck, (which is often)!!................now get on with it fella, that's an order............

[robvulcan]

great stuff how long you think its going to take you . i just posted some pics of my recently finished b1 xa903, and im about to post ones of my xh480 b1a that was resurected from a pile of junk from when my mate trashed it as a kid. my oldest and now newest vulcan. cant wait to see yours which vulcan you doing.

[pigsty]

great stuff how long you think its going to take you .

Forever! I started in April and have only stuck about seven parts together. So much else to do, including checking the eyelids for leaks when I should be slaving away ...

cant wait to see yours which vulcan you doing

Not sure. It will be a Blue Steel carrier with 200-series engines, and I'm tending towards 83 Sqn, but that still leaves a choice of eight airframes (I think).

[Flying Penguin]

Looks good so far Will be following with interest....

And I'm glad someone's finally shown a good way to get the Two Mikes gear bays fitted... Bit the bullet yesterday and ordered the whole shebang so I could do '558 and I was a little concerned I'd bitten off more than I could chew

Cheers

Jamie

[AnonymousER99]

Looks good so far Will be following with interest....

And I'm glad someone's finally shown a good way to get the Two Mikes gear bays fitted... Bit the bullet yesterday and ordered the whole shebang so I could do '558 and I was a little concerned I'd bitten off more than I could chew

Cheers

Jamie

Jamie

So that was YOU who ordered the full set huh? I will do my best to get them out before the IPMS Nationals this coming week. If not, is it okay to ship the following week? Cheers and thanks for the order

Mike

[Flying Penguin]

Jamie

So that was YOU who ordered the full set huh? I will do my best to get them out before the IPMS Nationals this coming week. If not, is it okay to ship the following week? Cheers and thanks for the order

Mike

Hi Mike,

Yes it was me. I've got a few things to finish before I can get the Vulcan started (don't we all?) so whatever works for you

Sean - Apologies for the accidental thread hijack!

Cheers

Jamie

[marty_hopkirk]

Brake fluid!!!

what about fairy power spray?? Nice progress though doesnt seem to have done it any harm

Brake fluid is probably one of the best and safest ways of removing [even for the most hardened and aged] paint from styrene - it is certainly far less aggressive than some of the techniques I seen that utilises oven cleaner or similar. Basically, one can leave styrene soaking in brake fluid for an epoch without it attacking it. It does however, eventually melt resin. A lot brake fluid is mineral based these days others are vegetable.

I have used numerous occasions and found it both effective in both cost and removal.

Marty...

Edited July 28, 2010 by marty_hopkirk

[pigsty]

I'm glad someone's finally shown a good way to get the Two Mikes gear bays fitted

Look at post no.15 for the official way. I'm just groping my way in the dark here.