Vampirology in 1/72 scale

[null_null981707818191]

My main interest is in building WW2 aircraft, but for various reasons, I decided to have a crack at something a bit more modern, and as the De Havilland Vampire gets a mention in the Airfix Magazine Guide to RAF Fighters of WW2, and as I wanted to try building a jet which would require spraying silver, the Airfix 1/72 DH Vampire T11 seemed to be a good project on which to cut a few teeth (albeit of course that it was distinctly post-war).

It didn't start well... On opening the box to check the contents, I discovered a major 'short shot' problem with one of the wing sections:

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A quick e-mail to customer services, and I was really pleased when the replacement (also in the picture) arrived a few days later. Good service!

As usual, work started on the cockpit. The paint shout-out was for black, but I decided to go for RLM 66 with a little bit of black added, so that the cockpit features which I painted black stood out a little bit. I also dry-brushed aluminium to highlight a few details:

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The seat-belts were made from masking tape painted an appropriate (as far as I know!) shade of blue, and the ejector seat handles were fabricated from stretched sprue, bent in hot water and suitably painted.

The instructor and pupil were then added:

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To avoid it being a tail-sitter, the instructions called for 7g of weight to be added forward of the CoG, so I built up a few bulkheads using plasticard, and then added the required weight of Liquid Gravity, held in place by mixing it with PVA glue and pushing it into the spaces:

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One of the real plus-points of this model was the clarity and thinness of the clear parts. The only concession to making life a bit easier was the purchase of Eduard masks, which made painting the canopy very much more straightforward:

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Purists will note that I painted the first coat in the main cockpit colour... The rest of the kit went together very well - there were a few gaps requiring filler, especially underneath the plane at the wing roots, but nothing too terrible. So then it was on to painting. My usual/preferred means of painting is using a brush, but I decided to spray paint using a base coat of grey Halfords primer, followed by a top coat of Halfords Audi Aluminium. It was certainly a very quick way of covering the model, but on reflection, I think I'd have been better off getting some Humbrol Aluminium as even after varnishing the surface still seemed a bit gritty/textured:

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I also made what I now think to have been a mistake by uising Humbrol spray satin finish acrylic varnish to seal the surface (and the decals) - just a very light misting coat seemed to go matt and whiten slightly, so I shan't be using that again...But overall, I was quite pleased with the end result, so here are few more pictures of the completed aircraft:

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The decals, incidentally, (and the colour scheme) were as in and on the box, so representing a Vampire T11 of No 14 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force. The decals went on very easily, helped with a bit of Microset and Microsol.

So now it's back to WW2 (the next one on the 'list' might well be a Battle as flown by one of the Polish Squadrons), but I've quite enjoyed doing something different (for me at any rate) and learning a few things at the same time. So I hope you approve of my efforts, and here's one last picture:

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[Trevwoody]

Thanks for the plasticard bulkhead suggestion. It would save some of the rattling lead within my own models. 😳

Nice build.

[John Symmons]

Hi null_null98.

That's a very nice Vampire model and very well built. I especially like the shade of silver; suitably dull. You might not know that the Vampire was, like the Mosquito, was built of wood. so therefore was painted silver which would have quickly become dull like your model. I used to lived almost just over the road from DeHaviland's Leaverston (The engine factory) and remember seeing a few on their open days. (1950's). It always amazed my just how close they were to the ground. Also nice to see you haven't accentuated the panel lines.

 

Well done again and keep them coming.

 

Remember we do this for fun                      John the Pom..

[null_null981707818191]

Thanks John (and so nice to see you back on the forum). I knew about the plywood fuselage bit, though I have to say that the finish that I ended up with was pure accident, as you might have deduced from my comments about so-called-satin varnish... And if anyone can recommend a satin acrylic spray varnish that actually does what it says on the tin and dries to a reliably satin finish, and which won't react badly with Vallejo acrylics or decals, I'd be interested in knowing...

[WilliamDavid]

That looks pretty realistic, and I also prefer the look without the zebra effect panel lines so popular these days.

I have a Vampire to do, and this post is rather useful.