SJPONeill Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Rather than confuse things with the image I posted on Lee White's build, it's probably more useful to everyone to start off another thread for this build. This thing is big, big enough to give most post offices a hernia and the first hurdle we had to handle was finding someone to ship this beast from the UK to New Zealand with charging the national debt - the first quote Ian got was a massive 384 UK pounds (the kit itself is 'only' 300!) and we had to learn all about volumetric versus actual weights, that is, the kit weighs 5kg but its volumetric weight (Width x length x height) was 20.8kg. Finally by shopping around (there is a massive diffference in costs between the various companies) and cutting the kit down, Ian got it down to 8.8kg and the journey began. It was delivered into the caring hands of NZ Customs who gave it a nice home and fed it well until I paid its ransom and it was delivered to sunny Waiouru - fortunately the snows didn't conspire to hinder its travel. What's in the box? 2-3 acres of thick white vacformed plastic. Resin and white metal parts for cockpit, landing gear and other bits'n'pieces. One (only one) clear cavopy in vacformed plastic. A large decal sheet for XH588 and the 16 of 25 Certificate of Authenticity Instructions are on a number of A4 sheets and these make it quite clear that this is not a shake'n'bake kit and the builder will need to do their own research on detail which is cool until such time as Trumpter release a 1/32 V Bomber set. Am I happy with it? Absolutely although it's size has caused some temporary domestic discord... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJPONeill Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 My initial plan references are from Scale Models August 1975 (1/96) and Scale Models International December 1984 (1/144) and yesterday afternoon I had the plans in these blown up respectively by factors of 3 and 4.5 to 1/32. Large scale plans of Cold War strategic bombers are not something you see everyday in your average Central Plateau ski town photocopy shop and the various A0 sheets attracted quite a bit of attention as we laid them out on the floor. My main concern was to confirm the issue that Lee had raised regarding the shape of the wing which is close to that of a B.1 but even with the leading edge extension pieces in the kit, a long way from close to the massive wing of the B.2. Because most photocopiers (here anyway) don't enlarge beyond 400%, we had to enlarge the 1/144 plans in two hits (with enough calculation required to make my head hurt) and even then had to tile them into left, middle and right pieces which I have still to join into a single sheet. Once that's done I can then get out with the ruler and confirm the dimesion on the enlargements are correct. One of the problems I have here is the largest flat surface I have to work on in our weekday crash pad is the floor of the lounge and even that is only just big enough to lay the sheets out - and then I have to guard them closely to avoid paw prints from my canine assistants. First impression from laying the fuselage halves on the plans are that the nose forwards of the intakes is somewhat bulbous but nothing that can't be dealt with using care, filler and sandpaper (still have stacks of the last two left over from drywalling/Gib-ing a house this year); the fuselage section with the engines maybe lightly narrow but the tailcone seems spot on. Very soon I am going to have to make some decisions on which version to build: back to a B.1 or build it up to a B.2 much as the great white delta attracts me (and despite the number of local modellers encouraging me to pop a couple of copies and make multiple versions (like building one 1/32 Vulcan is not going to cause some disharmony in the house!) I'm definitely leaning towards the high road of the Falklands B.2, although I may compromise and make up some of the alternate B.2 payloads like Blue Steel (plans in SAM July 1982), Skybolt (just had some fence posts delivered) and the twin Shrike pack... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Man, what a massive model, and what a massive undertaking to build it! Who'd have thought we'd actually end up with two of these behemoths being built here? Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 HI Oh yes that's some big model. Can't wait to see more. Texas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian t 2 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Massive is right wow, not one but two being build will be watching so will i, what a carry on we had sorting a courier so nice to see the majority of these being built. had several discussions with the vulcan to the sky lads and their thoughts are most plans are wrong when it comes to the wings so beware mate. but like with all our big vac forms its up to the individual how far they go and / or their skills reach. so looking forward to seeing her built. will post some pictures of our build for the vulcan to the sky trust soonest best regards ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian t 2 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 here's a few pics of "our" build, this will be auctioned off to raise funds for 558 this is being built for me by aaron hughes, a customer of mine who's lightning build blew me away...he's building this for me in return for a vulcan for himself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbooyv8 Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 There we have it. Several of the big Flying Overcasts in the builds! Good luck with this big monster. I'll gonna follow the build with interest! Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJPONeill Posted July 29, 2008 Author Share Posted July 29, 2008 O.k. is this two different build's if Iam [wrong] witch some time's Iam that was quick Two builds in this thread although Ian might want to launch his one in its own thread to prevent confusion, especially since his is likely to be finished before mine and Lee White's one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylan the rabbit Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 For 384 Pounds, you could have paid for a return flight to NZ for Ian to bring it out himself! Monster of a kit that one. Looking forward to watching it grow! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 here's a few pics of "our" build, this will be auctioned off to raise funds for 558 this is being built for me by aaron hughes, a customer of mine who's lightning build blew me away...he's building this for me in return for a vulcan for himself So you are going to put it up for auction???!!??? What is '558'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJPONeill Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 What is '558'? Only one of the greatest moments in aviation history in the last decade... Vulcan 558 Club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcauchi Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Awesome but looking really great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Only one of the greatest moments in aviation history in the last decade... Vulcan 558 Club Oooooohhhh! I knew about the project to get the Vulcan flying again, but didn't remember the 558 code. I applaud your efforts!!! If I can find a place for a new coffee table, maybe I will bid on it! Definitely look forward to seeing your progress!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJPONeill Posted August 11, 2008 Author Share Posted August 11, 2008 Progress so far... Have spent a large part of the weekend, separating the resin parts from their pouring stubs...have done the intakes and jet pipes, the front and rear radar fairings (leading to a comment from my wife "What? You spent all that money on a plane with a pimple on its nose and a boil on its butt!") ; working on the gear bay doors now... Have also been working on the internal bulkheads, using the SMI plans blown up to scale. This has pretty well confirmed that the kit is OK for length but has some shape issues with the fuselage: the under-fuselage channels for the engines are too close together and not circular enough in profile...easily fixed; the nose from the wing forward seems to be deeper than the original and more elongated than the original as well...not insurmoutanble but will be something I work on a bit further down the track. The ways it's working out at the moment is that the first sub-assemblies to be developed will be the bomb bay and wheel bays...hope to have some pics tomorrow (left the camera run down again and have to wait til the batteries recharge again...). My biggest probvlem at the moment is where we are living at the moment is pretty 'cosy' and doesn't have much space to lay put the plans so I can mark out on the fuselage where the internal bulkheads go...really need to wait til we get home to do this - or have a day when it's not snowing or blowing so I can work outside... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Matt Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 This is looking very cool. Watching with enthusiasm. That section under the fuselage looks very trick. Oh...I had a patient once who said her Dad was one of the test pilots for this plane when it first flew. Neat...next time bring photos luv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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