Two Vulcans

[Ratch]

would be nice if you could pose one together with a period RAF fighter to show the shear size of the Vulcan.

Thanks John, that's why I put the vehicles next to the B.1.

[Kenneth ONeill]

Might one suggest that an Ajeet would really show off the size of the aluminium eclipse?  😆

[Ratch]

 Sorry, could you post that in English 🤔

[Sailorman]

It looks soooo realistic in the photos with the sky and trees....great stuff!  I remember them flying out of Luqa Airfield in Malta back in the 60's.

There's a story related to Vulcans that you might find interesting.  I think it was late in 1974.  A Vulcan flying out of the airport in Malta got into difficulties and the pilot tried to return to the airfield. Unfortunately the plane didn't make it and crashed into a residential street in a town called Zabbar a few miles from the runway.  Sadly I believe some, (if not all), of the persons on the plane lost their lives.  

A number of houses were demolished and one person, (I believe it was just one), lost her life on the ground.  It is said that this person was terrified of aircraft all her life and because of this fear never even boarded a plane.  It seemed so weird that even though she never went near a plane because of this fear a plane still ended her life.

At least that's the story but everyone here in Malta seems to know it!

[John Symmons]

Whoops sorry Ratch, I missed that one.

Remember we do this for fun.                             John the Pom

[Kenneth ONeill]

 Sorry, could you post that in English 🤔

Ajeet; what the Indians called the Gnat. An attempt at humour.

[Dad Paul B]

Lovely builds with great grubby looks. This also highlights the hard work needed on the Vulcan tooling compared to the Victor and Valiant. We need a new tool with actual bomb bay and 21x Thousand Pounders plus Buccaneer ECM pod and Shrikes on a Pylon for Black Buck options.

Given the period of these the Terrain Following Radar thimble on the nose should have been removed at the same time as the Tail Warning Radar fillet. Nice to see Blue Steel remembered on a Vulcan build.

Great salvage work.

[Ratch]

 I'm guessing that the B.1 should not have the thimble, but this was already fitted by the original builder...

I wonder what he had in mind???

[Kenneth ONeill]

 I'm guessing that the B.1 should not have the thimble, but this was already fitted by the original builder...

I wonder what he had in mind???

ISTR the thimble being moulded into the fuselage halves?

[T2B]

@ Ratch

I'm no expert Ratch but when I was doing my build of the early B.2 (BS) version of the Vulcan my research indicated the TFR was only fitted to the later versions of the B.2 when the avionics were upgraded which included the 'squared' tail fin. So I don't think your B.1 would have been fitted with the TFR?

I was initially doing mine straight out of the box but at the time was reading a detailed book on the development of the Vulcan and mid-build decided on some alterations to make the more authenitic early B.2 (BS) version, and therefore the small radar dome on the nose was removed with the modelling knife and a small amount of filler used to fill the recess. Job Done!

But considering you were effectively making good someone's else failed starts, and doing two big builds together I think you have done pretty well in a short space of time. No wonder you manage to do so many builds a year!! 

 

  

[T2B]

@ Paws4thot

ISTR the thimble being moulded into the fuselage halves?

Yes the thimble, or TFR dome are pre-mould as part of the two fuselage halves. And in the case of the Vulcan the two halves are split horizontally rather than vertically (or split top & bottom).

When doing my build I removed the dome after the fuselage was glued together and painted as it was a late decision to take that path, but it was still an easy job to remove, fill and sand.  

 

[Kenneth ONeill]

@T2B - Well, it's been decades since I built an Airfix Vulcan so I wasn't sure, but I did do the anti-flash white 617 scheme, and thought I remembered removing the TFR and RWR after assembling the fuselage halves and fin.

[Charles Knell1707819909]

As an ex-RAF brat who lived at both Finniningley and Waddington, the dirty condition of the Finningley Vulcans was legendary. Caused by factory smoke fallout from Sheffield, Doncaster and Scunthorpe in the days when they were industrial centres.

I still recall over fifty years later the wife of one of my dad's fellow crew members commenting on my FROG Vulcan, covered in static dust from its perch on top of the family TV, that it was almost as filthy as the real ones. Probably the only element of realism in an eight year old's model.

In contrast, Waddington Vulcans remained much cleaner and whiter looking in their overall anti-flash scheme days.

edit: ...and yes, the TFR nose radome needs to be gone from any B1, and the divot for the in-flight refuel probe above it too, now that the B1A option has been dropped.

[Ratch]

Thanks Charles, the model will remain as is. I'm no expert and I have no desire to revisit the build. What's wrong is wrong, but as I won't be entering it in any competitions only I have to live with it. Maybe your observations will help someone else with their build. It's just a pity these corrections weren't pointed out when I was in the process of building it.