Alain Gadbois

They are from the RCAF maintenance manuals kept in the Aviation Museum in Ottawa. The fuselage drawings are spot on compared to measurements I took on the Vampire they have there. The wing drawings were not so accurate. Possibly distortion during past copying. Also they were not created to be necessarily accurate, but go along with parts lists. Alain

More info on the canopy rails: Look for section M-M: Alain

Something I posted before for someone asking for cockpit details, if you missed it: Alain

I guess it depends on how the kit part is designed and I don’t have it in hand to be sure, but it looks like a part with a rectangular section. The actual railing is a rectangle triangle, with the 90’ angle on the lower inboard side. The hypotenuse is outside the aircraft. Hope I’m being clear! Alain ps: probably easier to make a new one from scratch if you have an evergreen strip of correct height and width.

Excellent work taking on this tricky assembly process! The exterior canopy rail is of a triangle section. The kit part might be usable, by sanding the outside to get a sharp edge at top. The exact angle can be determined as it is following the angle of the windscreen side panels. The interior rail can be added from a strip of styrene, exactly the same height as the outside one.

Great start! The Quinta set is very impressive! Alain

Glad you could find useful info of this very specific aircraft. Alain

Thierry, Check the position of the instrument panel. I believe it should be a bit more forward, ie at the edge of the windscreen. I will also check on my side to be 100% certain. Alain

Nice start. Check the fit of the gun covers/air brakes on the sides of the front fuselage. Careful sanding and adjusting will help a lot. Filler will still be needed, most probably. Alain

I believe the Vampire was entirely painted silver, not only the wooden nose section. So no bare metal look here! A nice photo of Swiss Vampires showed some bare metal where paint had worn off on the top wing. Interesting effect one could try on this model. Alain

Nice link! Thanks!

Very nice choice of markings! Wil follow with much interest! Alain

To be honest, I had to look it up, but it is a very interesting choice! Some attractive camouflage scheme and markings possible. Did anyone ask you of the possibility of a Ki-15? Another interesting pre-war design that was important in the recon role. Alain

That C-119 is cute!

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