1/72 Victor B2 build

[Martin62]

I thought I'd share my recent build of this wonderful Cold War aircraft. I decided to opt for the anti-radiation paint scheme from the off, and also wanted to add some photo etched detailing. I got hold of the full Eduard PE kit which contained cockpit, undercarriage and fuselage detailing and off I went.

I've used a fair bit of PE over the years but not 1/72 and it was fun cutting the parts from the metal sprues then crawling around the floor looking for tham as they pinged into the carpet. I treated myself to a pair of magnifying goggles. They came with a range of interchangeable lenses and a funky LED lamp. Great for me as my eyesight isn't what it was, but I wouldn't want to be seen in public wearing them! Or even through the window!

My recent Aztek airbrush was in for some serious work and I treated myself to a re-stock of paints,glues, masking tapes and coffee to get me going.

First job was the flight deck. The seats had to be deconstructed first to remove the moulded seatbelts which were to be replaced with the PE ones. After about a week of fiddling I lost the will to live and ended up only completing fourof the five seats. It was clear from the beginning that none of this would ever be seen once the model was finished so I was confident I could get away with it.

Having completed the seats it was on to the flight deck control desk, instrument panels and the entrance steps, all PE and I have to say wonderfully made. The ejection seat grab handles looked amazing when complete.

My only moan was the fit of the seats onto the cockpit floor. This was a bit wonky and not very high tech, causing a few problems with the fit.

Anyway, here's some hotos of the first stages....../media/tinymce_upload/da3d686427633fadc4217f48bb560158.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/a68939820eeb4d44e3cdd4baa28fc3b3.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/85e441d582dc3f968ad976a2cbb514c6.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/43d7681d16cd4a167ba12e013c147414.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/73ab3ce3e287e6173d9f9360dbf2a2dd.JPG

[Martin62]

I want to share my build of the 1/72 Victor. A fabulous aircraft and a great kit. I did try and post some initial thoughts yesterday with photos, but it all disappeared. 2nd time lucky then....

[Martin62]

OK so that worked this time.

I wanted to add some detail to this kit - which is already magnificent - so I bought the full Eduard PE kit for it which includes interior, fusalage, undercarriage and masks for painting the cockpit screens.

I have used a lot of PE over the years, bt never 1/72. I'll admit it was lots of fun cutting the pieces from the metal sprue then crawling around on the floor looking for these microscopic pieces which flew into oblivion and towards the carpet! There was so much of it I had to make sure I was very organised, and the first job I tackled was the cockpit.

The crew seats all had to be deconstructed first, with the moulded seatbels cut away.These were replaced with the PE pieces, and the seatbelts were extremely fiddly to do. The end results though - especially the pilot and co-pilot ejector seats looked really good. This PE set came pre-painted, so things like the ejector seat handles looked incredible.

However, it didn't take long before I realised that none of this additional work would ever be seen. Photos to follow.

[Ratch]

Your pictures will be moderated on Tuesday.

[Peter s]

 

However, it didn't take long before I realised that none of this additional work would ever be seen. Photos to follow.

 

I've found this on almost all my builds. I've a swordfish almost complete and even with the open cockpit you can barely see any of the detail parts i painted. Personally I save the pennies/time for aftermarket parts you can see or more kits.

 

Regarding the pics : maybe reactive moderation would be more efficient? 

[Kenneth ONeill]

Good news - That all looks the part.

Not so good news - When you close the fuselage about all you can see is the instrument cowl, the pilots' seats and the backs of the seats in the coal hole.

[Martin62]

So, yes, it became apparent very quickly after a bit of dry-fitting and well before I started on the PE that not much of this would be visible. However, relatively undeterred I carried on doggedly, more out of principle than anything. These two photos show the more or less finished crew compartment apart from the main instrument panels which came along a little later. Sorry, one of these is sideways.

 

 

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[John Symmons]

Hi Martin62.

So far it looks superb, especially that instrument panel, it could almost be mistaken for the real thing; really superb, but as you say it's a pity that it'll never be seen in all it's glory. Maybe you could do a cut-away like Dark Earth and his Hampton??? Maybe tooooo much .......

 

Keep up the good work and looking forward to more instalments.

 

Remember we do this for fun                        John the Pom

[Martin62]

Thanks for your kind comments.

Next step was to make the PE undercarriage parts This involved the main undercarriage bays, doors and undercarriage legs. There was a fair bit of bending to do - some of it on the floor under the table looking for more tiny parts that were trying to escape.

I was mightly impressed with the way the parts totally transformed these sections of the kit. The main undercarriage legs in particular are super-detailed, and there were housings and covers within the bays that were formed from bending parts two or three times.

More photos:

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[Dad Paul B]

This is really impressive so far Martin and the PE enhancements are stunning. It is a shame that all that interior detail gets well hidden, though there is quite a bit of glass so it is possible to see the rear instrument panel.

This is a great kit already and the detailing really adds to it. Also although not designed for it I was able to convert it to 'in flight' with easy (my version is somewhere on the forum from 2016).

Enjoy the rest of your build.

[Martin62]

Thanks for the comments. I moved on to the air brakes next and decided to have them open even though static with the crew door open doesn't look quite right for me. Anyway, in for a penny. 

I really enjoyed this part as it was clear that this section of the PE enhancement would be seen. It was fiddly to get the centre strut in the right place. It's buried in the middle of the unit and partly visible in one of the photos.

Working though the PE instructions I decided to leave all of the fins and tubes on the fuselage until the very end of the build. I predicted that my hamfisted-ness would break them off. It was a good decision as it seemed that every time I moved something I knocked the model from its rotating stand.

I've included one last photo of the crew compartment to show more of the rear section. This is the last time it will ever be seen by man!

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[T2B]

The build is looking very good and the PE set looks very comprehensive! For my future Victor build, which PE set are you using? 

[John Symmons]

That is all very impressoive well done and thanks for showing us that superb interior.

 

Remember we do this for fun                        John the Pom

[Martin62]

T2B: It's the Eduard 'Big Ed' set which contains air brakes, interior, exterior, masks and undercarriage. It wasn't cheap - almost doubling the cost of the kit - but I was keen to make it the best I could. It's worth the effort for the undercarriage and airbrakes alone, although you can also buy the individual kits separately

 

Anyway, the work moved on to the fuselage and tailplane and I followed this set of wonderful posts to help me along. I'd recommend anyone else considering buidling it to do the same

https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/forum/handley-page-victor-b2-build/?p=1

I found the fit of the fuselage to be excellent and after referring to the above articles didn't experience too many problems fitting the wing sections. They do require an element of 'tell it who's boss' by applying some firm pressure to make them almost click into place. I didn't have any great problems with raised fit lines, but there was a bit of filler needed here and there.

I don't think there's much point repeating the content of those articles so I'll try and keep it brief!

The wings went together very well too, but there were a few issues with the underside bomb bay fit and the exhausts, neither of which would give a good fit. I'm not happy with the end result on my version.

I noticed that once the crew compartment was fitted that the ejector seat poles (? not sure what the term is) were sitting higher than the cockpit. I put this down to the poor fit of the seats into the floor. It was a very rudimentary moulding in my opinion, with a heavy block of material that was supposed to locate into a square hole. A pin and hole moulding would have been better. I ended up pulling the seats out, cutting of this blob then super gluiing them back and it wasn't ideal. I also still had to trim a part of this 'pole' off. At the end of the day it didn't matter as I was already well aware that hardly any of this would ever be seen!

In the next instalment I'll talk about the cockpit masking and paint choice. One of these caused a proper headache!

Here's a few photos of this part of the build. My recently finished Tamiya 1/12 RC30 is in the background. If I had a spare £60K I'd have a real one in my garage!

Plenty of tape used here. I didn't want my usual fuselage fitting problems!

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And now it's clear how big this thing was going to be

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Focusing on the air intakes not the cockpit

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Problem with the ejector seat mechanism isn't clear here

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...but it becomes very clear in this view

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And this is more about the quality of the moulding than my skills....

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View of the underside. No the best photo quality I'm afraid, but that's something I'm working on.

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[Kenneth ONeill]

I think you may have fitted the ejector seat guide rails (poles) upside down. They shouldn't normally protrude visibly above the top of the head rests on the seats.

[Pretty Mediocre Modeller]

Thanks for the comments and call outs to my build Martin.

Paws, those poles are actually moulded into the seat frames, so you can't get them upside down, they are suppose to stick up like that.

[Martin62]

The fuselage and wings went together well and it wasn't too long before the subject of paint had to be dealt with. I did some research here and there and concluded that the most accurate colour I should use for the anti-radiation colour scheme was Mr Color Off White. I got hold of several bottles of off white, white and flat white just incase.

I wasn't ready for the stench of the paint when I cracked the bottles open. It certainly wasn't anything like the normal Tamiya acrylics I've used since god knows when. It was also very thick so I thinned it down. Big mistake. I used Acrylic thinners, which turned the paint into a gloopy substance.Anyway I then found out that these paints are laquer based and not water based, so I had to use a lacquer thinner. First attempts with the paint also showed that they need a lot more thinning than I was used to. 

In the end I managed to get a decent finish, but it isn't 100% smooth. The extreme close up photos here will show the finish, but after a dose of clear lacquer spray it ended up OK.

The cockpit cnaopy masks were excellent and after rubbing them into place with a nice pointy coctail stick they formed a good template and overall I was happy.

The Blue Steel missile was being done at about this time, so more of that later.

After the paint job had been done I had to consider the decals. There are hundreds of them so once again I decided to do them in number order and cross them off the instruction sheet so that I could keep track of where I was.

Anyway here's some shots of the masking and painting

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Doesn't look big from here, but it certainly is

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Nice view of the masking showing the quality of the Eduard product

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First coats of paint now on

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....and the underside after some clear lacquer

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I may need to re-fit the canopy. It doesn't quite meet the nose as I would like

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[Martin62]

Thanks for the comments and call outs to my build Martin.

Paws, those poles are actually moulded into the seat frames, so you can't get them upside down, they are suppose to stick up like that.

Thanks. Yes, I meant to respond to that one. I had to check but they are part of the seat in the kit. Cross-referenced to a period photo of the real thing their function becomes clearer. :)

[Kenneth ONeill]

And, annoyingly, it doesn't fit smoothly enough that you could leave it as a lift-off feature for viewing access to the coal hole.

[Martin62]

And, annoyingly, it doesn't fit smoothly enough that you could leave it as a lift-off feature for viewing access to the coal hole.

"Coal hole." I like that one!

[Kenneth ONeill]

And, annoyingly, it doesn't fit smoothly enough that you could leave it as a lift-off feature for viewing access to the coal hole.

"Coal hole." I like that one!

I've been in preserved Vulcans and Victors, and they are "that black" in back.

[Martin62]

A few more photos, this time showing the Blue Steel and the underside of the aircraft. Decals are on in this set. I had to be very disciplined and apply them in order. Very complicated, but effective in the end!/media/tinymce_upload/289ebed03640ba49570ee98ea38064a9.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/667b74f57149ffbe39435fab22eecd7b.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/1b62b024c92d95db9e471486de368ca3.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/61309ec6e1388145d6d428aaf225cf12.JPG

[Dad Paul B]

Looking fantastic Martin.Very impressive detailing and paintwork inside the undercarriage bays. I think there is one error in the kit detail set as most potos show a second cradle guide (the black line running under the missile) near the canards. Most preserved missiles do not seem to have these.

Now all we need is a V-Bomber Resupply set.

[Martin62]

Well here's the finished article. It's a tricky size to photograph well and obviously it's in the garden! One day I may gravitate to creating some decent backgrounds, but not this time. It was a great kit ti build and highly recommended. It took a few months of evenings between Jan and May this year to complete./media/tinymce_upload/e98094076781e726f0557b8032b0691c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/bdf931150e59175abaee1202411af254.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/e44e8cdcc257ea268620995c18e73b4e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/7909426eadb87f54c15acfa781d35d4e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/8b693b0d8c6a1bd640efa6a125b8d75c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/fd1fb737f943dcc1156bba1d967190ce.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5522f0402cf8f1f183baa5bc33545225.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/223fd5594f861ac98cc1d36812942b26.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0cdd92a322fa835cbdd5c75fb6dd7ac8.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/a979c3e5e3368b363bd76948994d1ff9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/02bc22b193d1cacaf8137f089058da5c.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/b668928b3c1e5e123833b14d190de4a9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/3f33417b50e0af729de8b4dc0b3c45b1.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/6c84f1b45a58bc9e16954c3ba54ef078.jpg

[Kenneth ONeill]

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