Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Hi everyone, Hope you all had a good Christmas. One of the presents that Santa brought me was the New Airfix Victor kit, and I just couldn't wait to start it!/media/tinymce_upload/38565d18861cd76cb73588a3e15e556e.jpgThe inspiring box art of a Blue Steel equipped Victor scrambling from Wittering into a storm laden sky. /media/tinymce_upload/aa1aad560e606619addfc148f037b107.jpgIn the bottom right hand corner of the box top is this small flash that informs us that the kit is not only designed in the UK, but is also produced here now as well, hopefully no more dodgy Indian or Chinese quality control./media/tinymce_upload/5b21b95acd7f79eeb236f863b40e4d5b.jpgOn opening the box I was presented with a multitude of sprues in a darker grey, harder plastic than before. All were crisp, with minimal to no flash, and a few shallow sink marks in places. For the most part the ejector pin marks are off visible surfaces, the exception being the inside of the airbrake, which has a very shallow mark, and the bomb bay walls, which won't be seen in this version anyway. There are alternate parts for a conventional bomb bay, open or closed, but no bombs, and the wingtips are separate clear parts (for the nav lights), which suggests that a standard bomber and K2 tanker may be in the pipeline. The instructions come in 129 stages, with separate stencil and colour scheme pages, and the decal sheet is of a high quality from Cartograf, as usual. There are two schemes, an anti flash white bird from 139 Sqn, and a camouflaged Victor from the Wittering Wing with no unit markings at all./media/tinymce_upload/acc02fa3cb12b98d614a871149f69946.jpgThe references and inspirational material I've gathered together. The build by Andy Davies in the AMW magazine differs in the colour call outs for the cockpit from the actual kit. Luckily for me, my local aviation Museum, The Manston History Museum, is a five minute drive away and they have an open Victor cockpit that I can inspect! The results of my visit will be in the next post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 The results of my trip to the Manston History Museum, for research purposes only, I didn't look at any other exhibits, or enjoy myself... Honest!/media/tinymce_upload/886c60d3adf97707820afee802a2e6ec.jpgView of the Victor nose at Manston. This was from XL190 (See the serial on the open door), which was gate guardian at St. Mawgan before the base closed and the aircraft was scrapped. Luckily the nose was saved by Manston. Also in this view are the nose of a Gulf War veteran Buccaneer and a Wessex HU.5 masquerading as an RAF HAS.2. There are many other fascinating exhibits, including complete Jaguar, Lightning, Jet Provost, Meteor and Chipmunk, plus many other nose sections and exhibits. If you're in the area it's well worth a visit, and also next door is the free to enter Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial. One of the rear crew seats, removed, restored and displayed outside the nose. As can be seen the basic frame is cockpit grey/green, as stated in Airfix's instructions, and not light grey as shown in the AMW article.View of the rear crew station, with one seat removed, you can see that the flooring is black. The seat in this view is unrestored and shows off it's grey/green colour.View of the cockpit wall taken from the port side entry hatch, showing that the rear crew area is painted in a Sky Type S colour, and the front cockpit in black, as shown in the AWM magazine article, not the colour suggested by Airfix (Humbrol 28 Camouflage Grey). The colour changes inline with the back edge of the canopy. View looking onto the flightdeck, showing the black frames of the ejection seats.A last view of the crew crew stations. I did take many other shots, but these I found to be most useful. Now I feel equipped to start the cockpit interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 So starting with stage 1, I began to assemble the cockpit. All went easily enough and I followed my photos and the kit colour call outs for painting. After an evening's work I was finished up to stage 8. Only 121 stages to go!The basic cockpit parts and seat sections.The cockpit section completed. Next up the nose-wheel bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Every pic after the first one in post #2 is displaying as a text label pointing to someplace deep in the depths og Google for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Same here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 Here are some of the images again. Sorry about the orientation, I couldn't do anything about it, but maybe Admin can help?/media/tinymce_upload/480babdcc7169eb0c155b4d450e57a70.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/a90b24007bc5b4a1889fa215aa0f3abf.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/d51853e435545d6bd8dde56650abe3e9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0e224003ba3a9b1829106670c155a22d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/a036b151e53a422c10e2d68c488cbed2.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2ce5a295d6e11808b96d9f117798dad1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Paul B Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Looking nice. I was also fortunate enough to get one of these (not started yet). I want to add crew and am still planning the final scheme (either XL513 in the early camo scheme or a 100 Sq all white).Looking forward toseeing your progress.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 That's worked cheers. Orientation's not that important to me, but I'd suggest a photo-editing program may be needed. MS Paint will do for rotates, but GIMP is a free download and still as capable as Photoshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 I've now completed up to the end of stage 27, 102 to go. For some reason after completing the nose wheel bay, the instructions start going all over the place, with the tailplane and main undercarriage units constructed next, even though they are not needed until much later in the build. Anyway everything went together without problems./media/tinymce_upload/1a05ed56942bdec95a4c65bcdf8c431a.jpgThe nosewheel bay, constructed from 10 parts./media/tinymce_upload/70ff3b6af7a7b9d80d0ab70ec3b3d2c5.jpgThe tailplane. The elevators are separate and can be positioned at differing attitudes, but are not movable after attachment./media/tinymce_upload/c5b435d280a2b861ce716d2493e8def3.jpgAll the parts needed for one main undercarriage unit. Looks quite complicated, but all went together ok. The only problem was the seam line where the two halves of the main leg joined./media/tinymce_upload/67d1bc7c90f26eb2798e5c301a3214b4.jpgUndercarriage units assembled, the aluminium painted sections received a wash with Tamiya smoke to highlight the detail.Next up the wing construction starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Symmons Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Hi PMMPicture orientation can be changed in the windows picture & fax viewer, not sure if that is still available in the newer windows versions as I'm still using XP.Looks to be another great build, always loved the Victor, another of those great British photogenic aircraft. Only made the old Lindberg model years ago, this one looks superb. I used to see the prototypes flying over Watford when Handley Page were still at Harpenden, always loved that cresent wing shape, very futuristic back in the late 50's and still is.I seem to remember hearing that they could actually go supersonic in a shallow dive, never heard it confirmed weither it was true or not; official secrecy act and all that. Would be nice to know if it was acually true, if it was then Britian had the worlds first supersonic bomber.Keep it coming looking forward to following your build.Remember we do this for fun John the Pom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Downey1707820148 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Take note of steps 28 and 29 which I think are wrong. Don't remove that fairing for the flaps. Instead trim the inside of the wing for the other flap fairing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 I've spent the last few days on the wing construction. This started off with the intakes, which also include spars to strengthen the mid section. The intake halves were first painted white, including the separate side part, and all the drop in splitter plates. As I am building the camouflaged version I needed to paint a lip of the camouflage inside the intake. Unfortunately the instructions do not specify where the demarcation should be, but there is a faint panel line inside the intake which I believe is the correct demarcation, so I masked up on this./media/tinymce_upload/681c3e13d0f0065fd0ada078240635e3.jpgDuring the construction of the intakes I also added the chunky box section spars that make sure the outer wings are set at the correct angle and build up the main wheel wells and painted them aluminium.Before long I had the intakes together and all the splitter plates inserted. When the halves are first put together the join seams look quite prominent, but once the drop in splitters are in these hide most of the joins, so no filling and sanding was needed./media/tinymce_upload/cf7eb836331e79387572a16b52cef768.jpgThe exhausts were simple by comparison. One complaint is the lettering and numbering on the sprues, this is very faint and makes finding small parts hard to locate. Maybe it's just my eyes getting bad!/media/tinymce_upload/d0ca8fbaac467584c8bb53eb5e2c4877.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 One complaint is the lettering and numbering on the spruesI saw a review of a product that was basically sticky labels with A, B, C... and 1, 2, 3... printed on them for sprue labelling. Or just buy a pack of one of the smaller standard size Avery labels and DIY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 To help save myself some money I've made some tags of my own out of masking tape to identify the sprues, but finding the right numbered part is a chore still!Anyway, the kit has been progressing, and the outer wings were the next on the list. For anyone who is interested it looks like another boxing of this kit will definitely be out as a Tanker (K.2), as it has separate wing tips to cater for the shorter tips on the tanker, and there are flashed over holes exactly where the HDU's would go (see photo)./media/tinymce_upload/5ab6f28e8f6b080506dc96712fadd0d3.jpgThe wings were quickly together, and the internal spars kept everything in line and no sanding or filler at the wing joins was needed.All the pre-build internal sections were then cemented into starboard side of the fuselage and all fitted well. The airbrake is to be build open, so the complex mechanism was constructed, again without problem. The bomb bay was also added, even though not visible on this version, as it adds a lot of internal strength to the fuselage./media/tinymce_upload/d10fc9304d2c995e2805f821fcc092ea.jpgThe bomb bay has nice moulded detail, all ready for when the conventional bomber version is released. The two channels where the main wing spars fit in can also be seen just behind the cockpit./media/tinymce_upload/a226fcc782d4df5466b60ba7c823c424.jpgClose up of the airbrake mechanism within the closed up fuselage. This is made up of eight parts, including two bulkheads. In the AMW magazine build they had trouble joining the rear fuselage and had to reduce the bulkhead edges, but this did not happened to me and I had no issues, so the production kits must have been fixed. In fact I had no problems joining the fuselage at all, and was left with only some hairline cracks to fill, and some light sanding of joint lines, though lots of clamps and tape was used while the cement dried. The rudder was also trapped with the joining of the fuselage, and if you are careful this can be left movable, though mine was left solid./media/tinymce_upload/3bbee08143d6eae2b04a6810b0b84928.jpgView of the completed bomb bay, I painted the rear section aluminium, just in case any can be seen behind the Blue Steal when it's in place. The wings have been glued in place here./media/tinymce_upload/fc9423fc91f504951bf0b1e4332b26e1.jpgFinally beginning to look like a Victor. The fit of the 'V' tail top was very tight, but no gaps were left when it was finally on, but the wings weren't a brilliant fit and were a little proud of the rest of the fuselage around the saddle over the top of the spine, this was also the case with the insert for the length of the spine, but I think a few minutes or so with some wet and dry paper should sort it out, and as all the joins are on panel lines no filling should be needed.Next up will be finishing off the tail, adding the wingtips and inner wing under surfaces.Thanks for reading and any comments welcome,Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rael Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Its looking great, the detail on this kit is impecable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 I've now completed work on the tail end and air brakes, fitted the wing tips and inner underwing sections and jet pipes. Most parts went together as advertised, but I did have a few issues which I shall come to./media/tinymce_upload/d03565fba778140062c1545a32ba8f5f.jpgthe completed tail. There was a choice of two tail ends, with or without the warty ECM bulges around the Red Steer tail warning radar dome. I chose the one with the bulges, even though the instructions said I needed the plain one for my chosen colour scheme. I just thought the warty one looked more interesting, and using artistic licence assumed that a little earlier in its career it would still carry them. the air brake doors went on without problem and were strong when assembled. The inner mechanism has moulded in lightning holes, but I drilled these out with my pin vice for more realism, as in the AMW article./media/tinymce_upload/b7a3cabacaf8cad4dbe7ca9379529bc0.jpgThe wing tips were next. These comprise an upper and lower section with the aileron moulded with the lower section. Strangely the top section, including the whole of the extreme tip, is in clear plastic, I suppose this is to allow you to mask of the navigation light. All fitted well here, but looks a bit weird before painting./media/tinymce_upload/0c636ffda719ebb09d34ddb85e5ce1b0.jpgThe next stage deals with the inner lower wing sections. These require careful handling as they are a very tight fit, the join along the inner/ outer wing sections was good and requires no cleaning up, while the wing root and air intake sections do not fit so well and will require some filling and neatening./media/tinymce_upload/a22b39008b31f77fe09fd73c4ad2f78a.jpgThe latest area completed is the jet pipes and surrounding fairings. As can be seen in the photo, the fit was not great and some filling and sanding will be needed here. The spine insert can be seen here as well, this still needs to be sorted out.That's it for now. I think I'll construct the missile next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 As a break from the main airframe last night I decided to construct the Blue Steel Missile./media/tinymce_upload/1017b02a5958efb6921a1f6c8cb13b6a.jpgThis is the Blue Steel specific sprue from the kit, including the missile itself, the bomb bay insert and other intakes and aerials. Comparing the weapon to one from the Vulcan that I have in my spares box it is a major improvement over the older tooling. The Airfix Modelling World article said that two intakes were missing, one from either side of the fuselage. On checking my references I found this to be correct, so will have a look through my spares box for something appropriate at a later date. The article also points out that the rocket exhaust should have a cover, but as this area is sunk within the fuselage I think it's okay to leave as it is./media/tinymce_upload/9c6738972eed8958e999e60e3c49838b.jpgThe rocket went together quickly with minimum seam lines to clean up. I've left the bottom folding fin off until painting just for ease. I also test fitted the bomb bay fairing, and as it points out in the AMW review, it is about 2mm short, when I fit it I will have to pack one end with card and fill and sand. ☹️If anyone is contemplating a diorama with the Blue Steel being loaded, remember that because of the minimum clearance beneath the Victor the top fin was removed and re-attached after loading.Next stage deals with the instrument panel, fuel management board and coaming, which is fitted into the cockpit transparency opening. I'm not looking forward to that, why not insert it before joining the fuselage halves? With regards to the fuel management panel (the rectangular panel with decal that goes between the ejection seats and attaches to the underside of the instrument panel), I'm not sure this was carried on bomber Victors, as some of the stories in the 'Victor Boys' book refer to it being fitted after the aircraft was converted into a tanker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 I've made up the instrument consul and have included the fuel management panel, it probably won't be visible anyway. As you can see I got one of the decals a bit wonky, but it's hardly noticeable on the actual assembly./media/tinymce_upload/c1ef148ae9c9c0229edbb35d7c2ff33b.jpgThis wasn't the easiest thing to attach, I used some PVA so I didn't mess it up. It would have been far easier to fit it before joining the fuselage halves. The belly insert was then dealt with. As I pointed out in the previous post it is to short for the opening, and I had to pack it with plastic card at one end. The results can be seen here after filling and sanding/media/tinymce_upload/94797c5fe38a3504b2d50625812db0d5.jpgIn this view the tail wheel bumper is also visible. This piece had a smaller protrusion on either side, these represent the spotlights that illuminated the hose unit on tanker aircraft. As these were not fitted to bombers they were removed carefully with my craft knife. The rest of my time has been spent filling and neatening seams and attaching various air-scoops. It's getting close to the time when painting will be necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 Hi,Sorry it's been a while since I last posted on this build, but as I've been hand painting by brush it's taken a bit longer than usual. the undercarriage has gone on, followed closely by the camouflage, starting with the white underside. Brush painting white is a real chore, it took seven coats to get anything like a consistent coverage. Then it was a whole evening of masking up, followed by the medium sea grey and dark green, which only took two coats each. Off with the masking, and then another evening of touch ups where the paint had crept under the masking, and this is where I am now. /media/tinymce_upload/94143bfbeadb551e73c7dbff4bba17dc.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/dc16dd205cdbae22385dc28307f1e618.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9dfabc350a99c8fb07c6e7c553ba392a.jpgNext up some detail painting, a couple of coats of future, and then the decals. The end is finally in sight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Coming along nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 I'm posting again with a quick word of warning. I painted the green of the camouflage using Mr hobby Hobby Color. When I placed the decals I give a wash of Humbrol Decalfix, unfortunately this stripped the Hobby Color straight off. Before I place any more decals I'll coat the whole kit with couple of layers of Klear. Luckily only a very small area was effected./media/tinymce_upload/ce28aea507a0b0be03fee8ef23b0f076.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Thanks for that; based on what I know of paint chemistry the same effect may occur with Tamiya acrylics too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 Finally getting somewhere now. I've got all the decals on, it took 4 or 5 sessions to get all the stencils in place, and I'm ready to add all the aerials, and bits like flaps and entry door to finish her off. I was thinking of giving her a coat of satin varnish, but decided to leave her gloss as it looks right./media/tinymce_upload/ea42411449ef24f15fb5fb99b4e6ac8f.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c73f7a2ae181aca0f6a730789af1a3fb.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9a77e6f503dcfc2a4ef053f8e64d2b8f.jpgI also have a questioning maybe some can help me with;What colour should the flap housing be under the wing? Was it white like the surrounding area, or aluminium as stated in Airfix's instructions? And what about the tops of the flaps themselves? Are they all the topside colour, or is the part usually hidden under the wing when not deployed a different colour or unpainted? Anyway, that's it, next time I post hopefully it should be finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toboldlygo Posted March 2, 2017 Share Posted March 2, 2017 Finally getting somewhere now. I've got all the decals on, it took 4 or 5 sessions to get all the stencils in place, and I'm ready to add all the aerials, and bits like flaps and entry door to finish her off. I was thinking of giving her a coat of satin varnish, but decided to leave her gloss as it looks right./media/tinymce_upload/ea42411449ef24f15fb5fb99b4e6ac8f.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c73f7a2ae181aca0f6a730789af1a3fb.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9a77e6f503dcfc2a4ef053f8e64d2b8f.jpgI also have a questioning maybe some can help me with;What colour should the flap housing be under the wing? Was it white like the surrounding area, or aluminium as stated in Airfix's instructions? And what about the tops of the flaps themselves? Are they all the topside colour, or is the part usually hidden under the wing when not deployed a different colour or unpainted? Anyway, that's it, next time I post hopefully it should be finished.Those areas may well of been aluminium as stated in the instructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Well it's done! Finished my Victor, and now I have a full set of 'V' Bombers. The final job was to install the flaps. I was a bit worried about this, as the attachment points were small, and the angle wasn't specified, but when put together everything was more or less set by the tiny bracket that holds the inner and outer sections together.Overall a very enjoyable build, with very few issues, everything went together well, and the detail was good, from internals to surface detail to options like flaps, doors and airbrakes. The only slight gripes were the missing intakes relevant only to the 'Blue Steel' version on either side of the mid fuselage, and the designation, it's a Victor B2R on a Victor B2(BS). From the break down of the parts I would say that we can expect a standard B2 and a K2 boxing in the future, or at least a conversion pack like the one produced for Valiant a few years back. One nice touch was the boarding ladder for the crew. Thinking of crew, none is supplied with this kit, and unusually for an Airfix kit there is no option for an inflight build./media/tinymce_upload/57c59779c5318dead3256ef2a2b5cef5.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/b418aa8d2fb0ed68bfbd9bfdb7caf1e1.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/eafe75d2709ad86cfd84c9811a99093e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/78ed10de73590c5b934e3ec68d825abb.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/f08ec34af645344f3f361ca62cf4bec9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9488acdf4a304c9e9e0d808494a40341.jpgThe problem now is where am I going to put it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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