Hacker Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Lee huge project at hand here . l will be thinking of you as you building it l will come visit you in your new hobby room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiner Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 big is big... large is large!!!!! wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJ Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 big is big... large is large!!!!! wow Just remember... Size doesn't count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Hi Lee I was hoping to see someone tackle this. I haven't got the room or I would do it just for the size of the thing. I was at the flight test day at Bruntingthorpe, it was INCREDIBLE! I don't where you live but if you are in the UK and in or near the Midlands, you should get there and take some pictures of the real thing. It really is awesome. Also there they have a collection of other military jets, Bucaneers, Lightnings ( I had to stop myself from drooling over those), and others. A few big civilians as wel, 747's etc. Keep us posted on this with lots of images. Just out of interest, how much was this kit, and how many parts are there to it? Thanks Ian Hi Ian, I have seen the return to flight video on youtube, and envy the fact that you were able to see it firsthand! I'm in Colorado, so I'll have to wait a while before I can see 558 in her element. We have 3 Vulcans here in the States, the nearest being a day's drive from here. As to cost, well, all I can say is at 300 quid, it is likely (99.9% certain here) the most expensive kit I'll ever buy. The kit itself is comprised 10 large vac parts, a clear canopy, around 50 resin pieces, and about 6-8 white metal parts. A very nice decal sheet is provided, but it is for XM558, which is a B.2, and the kit most accurately reflects the shape and dimensions of a B.1A. The more I get into the build, the more I'm finding some shape issues to deal with- Nothing incredibely(sic) major, but issues that will have to be dealt with nonetheless. a few of these are- The Spine- on the real Vulcan, there is a noticable interface where the wing meets the fuselage, a graceful, sharp crease immediatly aft and above the intakes. This then blends into a more subtle interface further back, and has a smooth radius between the wing and fuselage starting at about 1/3 root chord. The kit has the aft part right, but the forward crease is non-existant. I've already fixed this, and now just must build up the area between the wings with a bit of putty, as it looks a little flat. The pic that I posted with the Bf-109 show the lack of this. The nose- On the original build of this kit for the Telford show, the nose of the prototype model looked overly bulbous. This has been addressed by Ian Taylor, owner of Heritage, who, on his website, shows that a bit of careful cutting and sanding will deliver a much, much more accurate profile to the nose. The problem that still exists is that the nose is still too bulbous in planform. I intend to remedy this with a box or 2 of Milliput and some quality time with a coarse sanding stick. I will post pics of each of the model's parts, with supporting info, so it will be easier to see what I'm saying. The Canopy- This is where I have to say up front that my issue here is totally subjective- it SEEMS to scale out very well, and certainly is clear enough, and is made out of a very hard plastic, but pictures of Vulcan canopies seem to show it kind of "wrapping" around the fuselage a bit on the sides, whereas the kit's canopy is more "perched" on top, F-86-ish. I have sanded the kit part down so it drapes over the sides a little, but to get the drape I think it needs would mean that it would sit so low, it would look like a chopped lowrider. The landing gear- The kit's resin gear is modeled after the B.2 gear, which is signifigantly different from the B.1. The Y shaped main struts are attached to the cross-piece trunnion by 2 thin areas of resin- put the kit down even a little too brusquely will result in a sheared strut, and much gnashing of teeth. I really think that these should have been made of metal, and have already made replacement struts. Ian himself has said that this kit isn't for box shakers, and he is quite right there. All the issues mentioned are strictly issues with me, as a very nice, if not totally accurate replica will result OOB. That said, none of these issues mean this kit isn't worth it- At least, to me. Only 25 will be made, and some simple scratchbuilding skills will CERTAINLY help make the model much better. I do wish that it had B.2 wings, though- I also understand that a portion of the kits cost is going to the flying Vulcan's preservation fund, so I can tell people that I have a (tenuous) connection to the real one! PS to Ian Taylor- I can't find a production number on my kit. Can you tell me which #/25 it is? just curious! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Lee huge project at hand here . l will be thinking of you as you building it l will come visit you in your new hobby room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 Some pics of the modified spine- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 Here the affected areas have been cut out, and then backed with styrene. It looks a bit 2-dimensional here, bur afrer it was puttied and sanded, it looks more like it is supposed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOTR Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Still feeling sane? Well, I'll watch the progress with great interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian t 2 Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 hello there lee, nice to see you getting stuck in, yes looking at it i should have made metal u/c as per out lanc and mossie...but several people complained saying they preferred resin.....bugger am waiting for our no 1 kit to be built and presented to xh558's crew who will then hand over the signed certificates which i will then send on. as for your build i'm looking forwaqrd to seeing what you all do to the kit.... regards ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Aylmer Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hi Lee, How goesbuild, do you have any images of it yet. Thanks Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hi Lee, Well, that certainly puts the 'L' in 'LSP'!!! Good luck Lee, you'll need it (if only for your sanity! ). Cheers Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 Hi Lee, How goesbuild, do you have any images of it yet. Thanks Ian Hi Ian, Thanks for the note- I'm presently tryong to clear some half-finished projects off of the bench for the Vulcan build- I kinda promised myself I'd do this, and have taken my Seamew from parts to 50% done in about a week, so I'm glad I did this. Soon, though, I'll be back to the Tin Triangle, as I have to build it, or else!! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcauchi Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Truly amazing Lee, that is one of the most amazing projects I have ever seen. you have a lot of guts, ...and space of course. Well on the plus side, you can display a couple of 109's on its back, that is truly amazing. Looks like you have it all planned out and the first stages look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngtiger1 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Lee, I, I don't know what to say!! After looking at this photograph of the BF-109 on top of the fuselage of the Vulcan........just WOOOOWW MAN that is one big, huge, wide plane. I didn't know such kit was every made/produced. I'll be watching this very closely. ..the build that is....!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJPONeill Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Lee Good to see another one of your builds up and running. Are you going to build it as a B.1 or have a crack at converting the wing to the B.2 configuration? Am thinking that, for mine, I am lookimg at making whatever changes might be necessary to do a B.1 with a 21 x 1000lb loadout.... Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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