Cyber-Hobby 1/200 Avro Vulcan **FINISHED**

[JamesPerrin]

Until the Argosy I've not built anything for engined since the MB Victor as kid but now I shall build the most iconic of the V bombers:



An in-box review I did can be found here: http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1069; . I'll be building it OOB in the all white/bluesteel markings.

[bromo]

Nice choice Jame's,look forward to the build.

[smethwick]

Great looking plane....

[JamesPerrin]

Due to QRA protocol we're off!

I've done an in box review of the kit and noted some of it's issues. I'll be fixing the easier ones and turning a blind eye to the rest. In the main it will be OOB.

First thing to do is read the instructions and work out where everything goes and then completely ignore the given build sequence as it is not help whatsoever if you intend to fill paint or handle the kit.

I started with the Blue Steel recess. There are some tiny tabs in the corners of the hole in the lower half but naff all support in the middle. On top of that the tabs are too low and the recess sits below the surface of the wing. I built up the existing tabs with thin card and added my own additions down the sides until I got a flush join.



Unfortunately that's not the end of it as it is still quite lose in the hole and I filled the gaps with card shimms.



Inside I painted everything I thought could be seen black. Note I've cover the hole between the port engines. This was for the aerial platforms that is intended to sit between each pair of engines, except CH screw up #1 : there is only one aerial platform and it's on the starboard side.



The intakes are nice done bar an ejector pin mark and the holes for the location pins in the upper fuselage half. I removed the foremost and most obvious pin and filled the corresponding hole with plastic rod.

Other than that I painted all the cockpit bits black. I not going waste time with the the pilots as they won't be seen.

[DamienB]

Note I've cover the hole between the port engines. This was for the aerial platforms that is intended to sit between each pair of engines, except CH screw up #1 : there is only one aerial platform and it's on the starboard side.

The "aerial platform" is the Red Shrimp jamming equipment - Blue Steel carriers did indeed have two plates, as the missile blanked part of the coverage from the usual single plate fit.

[JamesPerrin]

Note I've cover the hole between the port engines. This was for the aerial platforms that is intended to sit between each pair of engines, except CH screw up #1 : there is only one aerial platform and it's on the starboard side.

The "aerial platform" is the Red Shrimp jamming equipment - Blue Steel carriers did indeed have two plates, as the missile blanked part of the coverage from the usual single plate fit.

Thanks for the info. I couldn't find any pictures though in my references (Warpaint) showing both even when carrying a Blue Steel. I'll dig out my other references tonight and see if I can can find the specific a/c the markings are for, XM595.

BTW I forgot post the link for my in-box review: http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1069;

[bromo]

Nice start James

[DamienB]

Thanks for the info. I couldn't find any pictures though in my references (Warpaint) showing both even when carrying a Blue Steel. I'll dig out my other references tonight and see if I can can find the specific a/c the markings are for, XM595.

I think I may be guilty of repeating something from a book that isn't entirely accurate... like you I've found plenty of pics of Blue Steel carrying Vulcans with one plate. It may be it was a later mod introduced once the effect on jammer coverage had been discovered. Here's one carrier with both plates anyway:

http://www.nationalcoldwarexhibition.or ... teel_l.jpg;

[JamesPerrin]

Thanks for the info. I couldn't find any pictures though in my references (Warpaint) showing both even when carrying a Blue Steel. I'll dig out my other references tonight and see if I can can find the specific a/c the markings are for, XM595.

I think I may be guilty of repeating something from a book that isn't entirely accurate... like you I've found plenty of pics of Blue Steel carrying Vulcans with one plate. It may be it was a later mod introduced once the effect on jammer coverage had been discovered. Here's one carrier with both plates anyway:

http://www.nationalcoldwarexhibition.or ... teel_l.jpg;

Thanks for the valued feedback. I'm doing the anti-flash variant so I should be correct with one. The kit does offer a camouflaged, Blue Steel carrying option, so the two jammers may be correct for that as in the photo.

That's a great picture BTW.

[JamesPerrin]

Rapid progress, probably due to the few part needed make up the fuselage

Intake halves were spray white with the compressor faces done in steel. I found that the remain pin stopped me from getting a flush fit so that got removed as well. I used a tooth pick to help 'feel' when the parts were flush with the intake lips. A card shim helped keep things lined up while the intakes set.





After remembering to added the bomb aimers glazing. A few dry fits and fettle was required before I was convinced again of getting a flush fit between the upper and lower fuselage halves. Tube glue was used along the front edge as the lower part is suspended on pillars and bridged any small gaps. A lot of clamps kept everything in check until the glue had dried.



The are rather large gaps around the nose and tail areas especially. While the milliput was out I also bulked up the top of the nose. The recess for tail is slightly wide so putty was used there too. My dental probe does a good job of removing the excess filler from these tight spaces.





There are a lot of tires, in fact two too many as CH think the Vulcan had four nose wheels.

I scraped the seams and then snipped off one of the the attachment points. This leaves the tire held on by just one point which after painting can be positioned to be in contact with the ground. This will avoid a lot of touching up later and allowed me to paint them v. dark grey without fuss. The undercarriage parts were undercoated with the same paint. they will then just need a single coat of Satin Black.

[MerlinJones]

That's quite a bit of work for such a small kit, James.

[smethwick]

looking great...beautiful plane and a cracking job

[shangos70]

Looking good James , atleast you don't have the very big wing to fuselage seam to worry about as on the Airfix kit .

[DamienB]

...just every other seam

Shame that a modern kit like this has so many fit problems. The intakes look to be more hard work than the Airfix ones. I wonder if it was designed as a diecast?

Brilliant idea with painting the wheels - I shall steal that!

[JamesPerrin]

That's quite a bit of work for such a small kit, James.

Says the man who scratchbuilt skis for his Auster

While building my Pitroad TSR2 I realised that if the kit is small scale, very detailed and has a lots of fine parts then you need to up your game, especially in terms of fit. A 0.5 mm gap discrepancy on a 1/48 scales kit is is nothing but on this it's a giant step. A small model like this is going to be looked at correspondingly close up too.

@Damien The intakes as moulded fit OK, I just felt that I could do better.

I'm also a big believer in fettling to get the best fit possible rather than covering sins with filler and then sanding them away.

Using card to fill gaps often implies they are big but I prefer to use card as filler as it requires little sanding after being trimmed, no discrepancy in media and can be used where there is no back to the gap ie filler can just fall through. I was only using 5thou card in this case.

The fit issues around the tail and nose on the Vulcan are especially annoying considering there have also released this as pre-built model, I doubt they've gone over that with filler. I remember though the fit on your Wolfpack 1/144 Vulcan's tail was appalling too.