Viking's Swiss Vampire

[Viking]

I just noticed the start date of the GB was today; a quick rummage through the stash yielded an untouched Vampire still in its coffin. i hear rumours about how awful this kit is but, it fits in with my swiss airforce theme, its the only twin boomer i have, and it looks like a vampire to me.

box art, a very nice RAF vampire hunting down a Pfeil over Bavaria. you get the RAF markings, Swiss markings and a set of Dominicam republic markings.



parts: all nice pale grey plastic, nice engraved panel lines



half an hour of sticking bits together:



looks pretty basic and i can forsee an issue fitting the booms to the wings, otherwise it fits OK.

now, off to find what colour swiss vampire's were inside. I am assuming black, but just in case.....

[jssel]

Although HC missed the mark on the Vampires with to narrow tail booms and the wings having a droop I have always liked HC kits as a good basis for some proper scratchbuilding. I think you will enjoy this kit and it does look like a Vampire when complete.

Good start on this one.

[Martin R]

I like the concept of the box art at least. I'll be watching this one with interest.

Oh, and if anyone has a HC Vampire Mk 1 they don't want to build in the stash, give me a PM as I'm interested!

regards,

Martin

[Viking]

cockpit tub together today, very dark in there so just drybrushed a little games workshop chainmail silver around to give some defination. no seatbelts in the kit but i had an old Eduard set of RAF WW2 seat belts so one of them was added to give the seat a little life. not entirely accurate i expect but good enough for me

one item i didnt know before is that only a few Mk1 Vampires were supplied as test aircraft and they were expended as targets in the 1960's. i suspect therefore that they were pretty battered at the end of their life.





instrument panel added (forgot to take the picture first). very detailed with instrument dials and needles but too small for me to paint properly or even drybrush accurately.



lots of weight added and the fuselage joined.



booms added to wings



and surprise, surprise, a little fettling is going to be required.



and for all those spotters who like to identify part built models on a workbench:



now i just need to finish some of them

[MerlinJones]

My Venom also comes with a WWII-type seat and harness as, apparently, some earlier FB1's didn't have the Martin Baker fitted until later in their lives. The seat and accompanying harness looks very much like yours, so you're on the right track.

Regards,
Bruce

[Viking]

not too much to show over the past few days, mainly filling and sanding, but the airframe is together now and a coat of primer on:



some work still to do on the LHS boom join but i'll see how time goes, i want to finish this in the timeframe of the group build.

first coat of PRU blue on the underside, its a curious colour !



and, I'm not convinced by the angle of the booms, they look very straight compared to others models but the jet exhaust will not foul the tail so maybe its OK.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Glad the laundry wasn't hanging out when he went over ....

[MerlinJones]

Ooooh look...a Scottish Heatwave!

[JamesPerrin]

I know what you mean by the PRU looking odd. It's a tad brighter than you would have expected. This was especially noticeable on the RAF Sabre I did for the GB but I recently saw a contemporary photo of one and it is bang on.

[Viking]

lots of sanding and smoothing being done then 1st coats of paint on.







some tidying up to do now, particularly of the blue, and the colours look very stark so some toning down will be needed.

Oh, and for all you folks making jokes about scottish sunshine; remember that we dont so much have sunshine as daylight at this time of year....

[Stamford]

Looking very sweet indeed - is that a fingerprint I spy on the port boom?

[smethwick]

very nice ...looking very smart

[JamesPerrin]

She's looking very tidy Alan.

[Viking]

most of the painting now tidied up and masking removed. First of the decals added; the wing crosses are still wet hence the crinkling. Pretty basic decals but the crosses seem to have good colour density to go on over gloss red and not look too pink.







Undercarriage to sort next followed by some weathering; the panel lines are quite finely recessed so i'll run some sort of wash over it.

I wasn't expecting much from this kit but its performing a little better than i expected. Someone who has the skill, time and inclination probabaly could make an very nice vampire out of it

[Molly-new]

Someone who has the skill, time and inclination probabaly could make an very nice vampire out of it

You seem to have done a really good job yourself.