Welcome to the Venoms, Vixens and Vampires, oh my: de Havilland! campaign!

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Happy Building

here we go, my first all resin kit.


paul

Hi Paul

Nice! Can you write us a review of it?

All the best

Rowan

hi rowan,

hasn't someone already done one ? its been around for a while...

paul

Hi again Paul

Surprisingly, it doesn't look like anyone has - I can't see it in the database.

Ironically, I was just contemplating buying an Alley Cat Vampire myself, because I've got hold of the Trumpeter kit in order to review Pavla Models' new upgrades for it. I can see immediately why the Trumpy kit has taken a bit of a beating in some quarters, and it's convinced me I need the Alley Cat kit!

All the best

Rowan

And so we start:-







Next step:- off to the wash box.
Colour matching the decals will be a challenge!

Nice one Richard!

Can you review this too? It looks like you've got that in mind...

All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan.
I will do a in box review/build review.
I have built other Omega models and they require drilling and rods on most parts.
Thank you for the invite, Jessica will love you for that!

Excellent! Looking at your and Paul's entries, I've even managed to bounce myself into joining the campaign! If I actually manage to build something for a change, I should definitely get into Jessie's good books!

I won't be starting my build just yet, because I lost an argument with a tin can last week and am down to one properly working finger on my right hand - but where there's a will there's a way!

All the best

Rowan

Hi Rowan.
I hope you hand gets better soon!
You could always run a left handed build campaign.
Take care.

Well another race to the finish, ah erm, the start. Decisions, decisions:

I may start both, but I'd like to rig the Tiger Moth, so the Chipmunk might get finished first.

yep thats fine for me

if you do that with a can rowan what are you like with a modelling knife !

i'll sort that review this week.

paul

Hi there

I like the idea of a "wrong hand" campaign sometime - of course we'd all have to promise not to cheat!

@ Paul - I've had a good many cuts over the years through being careless with modelling knives, scalpels and razor saws (and I've no doubt I'll get some more before I pack it all in!), but this one from the lid of a tin can is easily the nastiest yet. Nice one on the Review.

All the best

Rowan

Well, here I am. I have not sliced my hand with a tin can, it is still a hot summer, hunting season is on, and I'm working on 6 modeling campaigns. Not busy enough, yet!

This is my entry:



Guess I should do a 'Canadian Snow Dance', so it will get cold and I can stay in the house to model-on!

That's a great kit Ben, but the decals desperately need replacing. Luckily for us...

Thankyou, Jessie. I thought I already had those fine decals in my collection. Can't seem to find them, though. Perhaps they'll turn up before I get there.

Hi there

This will be my project:



I bought Trumpeter's oft-maligned Vampire to review some resin upgrades that Pavla kindly sent us, so I'll use them to cheer it up a bit, along with making some other improvements. As the kit actually represents an FB.Mk 5, not a '9, I'll buy one of the far more accurate Alley Cat kits (see Paul's review HERE) and nick some of the spare markings.

Will it all make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? - time will tell...

All the best

Rowan

And here de Havillands Beauty, the Hornet:



Not sure which version I will do, maybe even the NF21 with the ugly nose job.

Greetings from Shanghai

Nice one Tom!

For what they're worth, here are links to my old build of the kit. They might give a little inspiration or help you avoid some pitfalls:

https://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/forums/20689&page=1

https://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/forums/24347

The main thing I learned too late was to add the doors closing the air intakes in the wings on a parked aircraft.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Rowan

Yours is very nice. But I still cannot get used to the nose
Thanks for the tip with the air intakes. Just glued the wing together . But its funny, in the warpaint book I found some planes with open inlets and even on with running engines and closed inlet (How is that supposed to work?)

I have looked at some recent builds at Britmodellers site. There seemed to be strong indications that the plans in the Warpaint book are not correct (wrong fuselage length, different length of nacelles! and wrong position of the landing gear) However no corrected plan is published yet
I want to detail the landing gear compartment a bit and correct the landing gear position as it influences the stand of the plane.
I also cut out the aircooler outlet and want to detail a bit. This created a little problem with the cooler inlet. The opening should be roughly rectangular, but is originally trapezoid (wider at the root.
When I force-glue it with the cooler into rectangular shape it is not fitting on the wing-root profile on the fuselage
Has anyone encountered that problem, too?
Will show some photos later.

Greetings from Shanghai

Hi Tom

I know what you mean about the nose - it's downright ugly, isn't it! I've got an RAF Hornet still in the Stash and I'm looking forward to doing that with its clean original lines.

I do remember reading once how the intake doors worked. I can't remember the details, but I guess it was simply the pressure of the air being drawn in that opened the hinged covers. Sometimes they seem to be hidden in shadow and are hard to see in photos - which is why I managed to miss them in my build.

All the best

Rowan

And now a moment to remember the brave aircrew who gave limbs to support our hobby:


Slow progress on a easy kit, had to run to the LHS for face paint.

Hey Everyone! Here we go again, I'm in with Xtrakit's rendering of the Sea Vixen FAW 2. I have also acquired a pile of Airwaves photo etch, though I suspect I won't need them for this build (I'll probably hold it back for the FROG campaign) as this kit seems fairly well detailed, and there are several resin parts supplied. I am looking forward to this build, I have a feeling this one will go together better than the FROG Sea Vixen I will be building!

As I have Airfix new Vampire T.11 on the way in the mail, I signed up. I plan to build the restored WZ507 as operated by http://www.vampirepreservation.org.uk/. "The new paint scheme shows WZ507 in the markings of a Vampire T11 from 219 Squadron during the 1950’s."

Hmm, I'm thinking of doing the 1962 trainer version for the great build off campaign. Who wouldn't love acres of "Florescent Fire Orange" on their shelf?