1/32 De Havilland DH-100 Vampire Mk.6 J-1200

[CarstenB]

11 hours ago, Alain Gadbois said:

Might be a bit late, but anyway this could help others!

Here is stuff found around the Internet, that’s about the Swiss Venoms FB1s, but will be essentially the same as your Vampire:

 

You can see bulkhead 2 is still there, but it has a cutout the width of the seat so it fits further back, and more angled backwards. Part number 25 is the tank behind the seat in the kit, but it is turned sideways and squished to fit in the tiny space left!

 

 

In these two pilot notes photos, you can just make out the bottom edge of the cutout, right in the first photo, left in the second.

 

And what can be seen from the top, in this very useful view for modeling purposes.

 

 

Nice project, good luck with the Pinnochio nose!

 

Alain

 

 

Hi Alain

 

Great pictures. They are very helpful. Unfortunately a bit late but I will use them for the next build. Thank you so much!

 

Cheers,

Carsten

[CarstenB]

So, while I'm waiting for the epoxy putty to arrive, I've been working on the rear. Of course, the rudder and elevator must not be missing. That's why I cut them out before I glued the parts together.

 

 

After gluing the rudders and elevators together, I filled the gaps with putty and glued a triangular strip on top to make the rudders fit into the openings in the tail.

 

 

After sanding down the triangular strips to a round shape, I added two more hinges to the elevators and fitted everything neatly.

 

 

Normally I try not to remove the rivets when sanding, but since the Vampire has hardly any rivets, it will probably be the other way round this time. So cover all the service doors and close the rivets with putty. I may then repeat this on the entire fuselage as well as the wings. OMG! 

 

 

Very likely I may sand again after priming to remove the rivets completely. But this will only be done at the end. Therefore, I can put the parts aside at the moment.

[CarstenB]

The next thing I did was to work on the landing gear. My idea was to make the shock absorbers really shiny with chrome paint. Therefore, I first primed the shock absorbers of all components with shiny black enamel (Humbrol Enamel gloss black 21) paint and then brushed them with chrome silver (Mr. Metalcolor Chrome Silver 211 - gets a beautiful shine after polishing with a cotton rod). At the same time I did the searchlight on the underside of the wing.

 

 

I learned this technique while building the Mirrage III S from Italeri. Unfortunately, I need a little more practice here. The effect is not quite as I had imagined. The searchlight is not bad, but the effect of the landing gear disappears. Next time I will probably have to replace the parts with small metal tubes and metal wires. As the saying goes: you never stop learning. 

 

 

Next I taped the shock absorbers and made the brake pipes out of fine wire. Here are a few templates from the internet:

 

 

And here the result in 1/32:

 

 

Next I painted all the parts in silver (Mr. Hobby Silver 8) and the brake pipes black (Mr. Hobby Black flat 12).

 

 

And assembled everything together.

 

 

Next I assembled and painted the tyres (the rims with Mr. Hobby Silver 8 and the tyres with Mr. Hobby Tire Black 77) and as with most of the previous steps, "heavy weathering". I think, the result is not too bad :

 

[themongoose]

Lovely work! Brake pipes really look the part and add a lot to the build. Nothing wrong with learning by the way 

[CarstenB]

While the glue is drying, after I glued the upper and lower half of the fuselage together, I took care of the navigation lights.

 

 

They won't be visible in the final version because the glass has become opaque due to weathering, but it's the details that count.

 

 

As with my first build, I used the remains of the transparent parts for the navigation lights.

 

 

I sanded the end into a cone and polished it up with different grits of sandpaper and polishing paste. Here is the example before and after:

 

 

Then colour the tips with red (Mr. Hobby Clear Red 90) and green (Mr. Hobby Clear Green 94).

 

 

I shaped the wingtips out of polystyrene, coloured them silver and glued the two navigation lights on with white wood glue. I use the two polystyrene parts, firstly because otherwise there would be a gap in the transparent wingtips, which would be visible when the rudders are folded in; and secondly because this way I do not have to fill the gap in the wings (between the upper and lower wing parts).

 

 

I can now also put these parts on the side until the rivets in the wings are filled.

[CarstenB]

And now for the part I love least: filling & sanding. I know, as a model builder this is part of the job, but unfortunately with this model the fitting accuracy leaves something to be desired. Accordingly, a lot of spackling is required.

A side note for me for later builds: the bulkhead to which the engine is glued must be reduced by approx. 2-3mm. If this is not done, there will be unnecessary tension in the rear part of the fuselage and it will take a lot of putty to close the gaps.

 

 

I have used different putties here. For the large gaps I used Mr. Hobby MrWhite Putty. It is a little better for sanding. For the narrow gaps, especially where there is a pannel line, I usually use Vallejo Plastic Putty (70.401). I have had good experience with these two in the past.

 

So, the whole thing has to harden first, then it will be sanded. I'm already looking forward to it. 

[CarstenB]

While the putty is drying, I have been working on the different doors, flaps and airbreak flaps. The following image shows the wire for the landing gear door:

 

 

Of course, I have to replicate that on my model. I used fine wire and a few old PE parts from my stock. Then I painted everything silver (Mr. Hobby Silver 8).

 

 

And here the flaps and airbreak flaps from the Infinity Model extension kit:

 

 

They will all be put to one side now until I tackle the primer for the fuselage.

 

That was the summary of the work of the last few days. It doesn't look like much anymore, but there is still a lot to do. I keep you up-to-date.

[Alain Gadbois]

Very fine work on your Swiss Vampire!

All those rivets are a PITA for sure! The Vampire has such a clean surface finish, the rivets are hardly visible even up close!

 

Alain

 

[CarstenB]

1 hour ago, Alain Gadbois said:

Very fine work on your Swiss Vampire!

All those rivets are a PITA for sure! The Vampire has such a clean surface finish, the rivets are hardly visible even up close!

 

Alain

 

I know, Alain  but there are still some rivets visible. So sandig them all off is not an option. I gona see the results after the first surface primer shower. 

[CarstenB]

While I put off sanding, I added a few small details to the fuselage. The openings at the engine maintenance doors, the small exhaust just before the main exhaust and the external 24V power socket.

Here are the details according to my research:

 

 

Note: for the decal work, I need to figure out what kind of information is below the opening. Most probably a heat warning. Haven't found a picture yet which shows me what sign it is.

 

 

It has been brought forward in the late version of the Vampi.

 

 

And here the small exhaust. The J-1200 did not yet have the antennas marked in green. I assume that these are upgrades which are necessary for the operation of the J-1197 as a civil version (HB-RVN). Anyway, I can ignore them.

 

And here the results in 1/32:

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by CarstenB
Added the external power socket

[Alain Gadbois]

A note on the inner flaps, if you don’t mind.

The styrene insert should be flush with the skin surface. Look how the flap has a raised section that overlaps the fuselage skin.

 

 

Alain

[CarstenB]

47 minutes ago, Alain Gadbois said:

A note on the inner flaps, if you don’t mind.

The styrene insert should be flush with the skin surface. Look how the flap has a raised section that overlaps the fuselage skin.

 

 

Alain

 

Now that you mention it, I see my mistake. Here the instructions for the Infinity Models extension kit were not very clear or I misunderstood. The photo below shows the flaps pretty well, although it is not a Swiss version.

 

 

Anyway, I'll fix it. It's not such a big deal. But thanks for the tip, Alain. I really appreciate your support.

[CarstenB]

Just found in the internet a walk around of an ex Swiss AF Vampire T.55. I know, it's not the Mk. 6 but many of the pictures can be used also for my version. Here the link: http://nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com/waVamp.html

[CarstenB]

3 hours ago, CarstenB said:

 

Note: for the decal work, I need to figure out what kind of information is below the opening. Most probably a heat warning. Haven't found a picture yet which shows me what sign it is.

 

Just figured it out  Found a good picture in the above mentioned walk around: Vampire T.55 walk around. It has something to do with the oil. 

 

 

But even with zooming in, I can not read all. Any ideas?

[Alain Gadbois]

Just one remark, on the Swiss aircraft, all markings are German and French, plus Italian on the ejector seat triangle.

So it would be nice to find a walkaround of an aircraft with all original markings.

 

Alain