Anigrand 1/72 Vickers VC-10 C1 Conversion
VC-10's are in most aviation enthusiasts top 10 airliners I'm sure, and it is certainly in my top 3 if I could decide between every other classic airliner.
I decided to spend the money on this resin kit after reading all the mixed reviews. I have to say it's not without its faults but that's what modelling is about. At the same time I really wanted the original C1 in the white over grey skyflash scheme rather than those drab grey or hemp versions.
The two main corrections for me were the nose and the bullet fairing. Not as tricky as it might look but it does require a degree of bravery to cut the nose down the middle. This in part to correct the pointyness of the radome and also the angle the windshield sits. It worth doing if only to make the clear windshield section sit just right.
The bullet fairing on the tail is too square and straight when it should be more rounded and waisted like a coke bottle. The other thing is extending it forward with some miliput and sculpting to the correct shape and contour.
The other things worth noting would be the wing fences. Throw the kit ones away. They are useless. Also the position on the kit is wrong and so is the length. I cut some new ones out of brass sheet. Both recessed in to the wing with the smaller one cut in to the dog tooth leading edge. Take note that there are several variants to the VC-10 wing and wing fences. Check lots of photos. They are not all the same and the RAF had ex-civilian aircraft from BA, East African, Gulf Air, Ghana etc as well as the original RAF variants.
Another major mod was the engine pylons. These come with a sort of gull wing configuration which is not wrong but not on all versions. I think there was a mid-life upgrade to the engines and repositioning the engines was one of those things. Earlier versions were straight and parallel with the ground. This requires cutting and reshaping in boiling water to set to the correct angle. The engine intakes are pretty awful. I cleaned them out completely and moved the stator vanes back about 1/4 inch, creating a duct with plasticard and miliput. I also cast 4 fan sets from an RB211 engine in 1/100 scale which matched pretty much a RR Conway fan blade. As good as I was going to get for this job.
That's the build more or less. I got the decals upscaled by F-Dcal France, finished using automotive paints & lacquer, decided to have the gear up (the under carriage is very basic) and made a wood/metal stand so it can take pride of place on display as one of the best loved airliners from the 60's.
I would do another one of these Anigrand VC-10's despite the amount of sanding and filling. Next one will be British Caledonian if I can get the decals for it.
The kit retails for around £114 and the decals were £25
Useful reference for VC-10 builders http://www.vc10.net/index.html
By the way, the leading photo has had the stand edited out, just in case anyone thought I threw it across the garden 😉
A lot of work that really paid off. What is the overall length & wingspan?
Thanks for your kind comment. It's 63cm span, 67cm long or 25" span by 26.5" long.
A very nice rendition of the VC 10 indeed. I remember building the Airfix 1/72 scale tanker version as a child. The dark green / sea grey / gloss white scheme was a striking scheme for the VC 10. The civilian BOAC scheme was very nice indeed. Well done!
Thanks Morne. That Airfix Tanker VC-10 you're thinking of would have been 1/144 scale. I've just added a picture of the RAF VC-10 in 1/72 with the Airfix VC-10 in BOAC. This was a Tanker kit but returned to airliner config, or as close as I could get from the Airfix kit. I have a few VC-10's in various scales, being a massive lover of the '10.
That's correct 1/144 scale. As a child it was large in 1/144 scale. 😉 Cheers mate!
Nicely done on a big bird mate.
Effort rewarded many times over.
Well done sir.
Excellent workmanship, my friend...I especially like your photographic technique ( at first I thought maybe you DID throw it across the garden). 🙂
You've a nice touch with these aircraft. Nice to see some of the preliminary work too.
Modelling the hard way with a great result ! Well done my friend 🙂
that is a piece of work
Really beautiful, excellent finish. I've built several Anigrand kits and I liked your in-progress photos. As you said they have some issues, but with research and attention to detail, a great looking model can be had.
A very nice result with that kit. I agree the VC-10 is a good-looking classic jetliner.
You've turned out a real beauty, Alastair, it's easy to see just how much you like the real thing from the amount of work you had to put in to get this stunning model. A VC10 in the garden, just great!
Hi Alastair!
I don't know if You will see this reply after all this time,but I have got this kit and the F-decal BOAC decals,i wondered if you could point Me/give Me some clues on the modifications to the kit to turn it into the civilian version,had a look round but I can't find a lot of info.
Cheers, Pete
Hi Pete
I hope you are well and good luck with your VC-10. Despite some of the failings with the Anigrand VC-10 it turns out not too bad in the end but it does take some perseverance.
I changed my PC recently and lost all my internet favourites but I do remember that http://www.vc10.net/index2.html provides some good reference on all variants plus some interesting reading about the VC-10.
From memory it depends on which VC-10 you do, and by that I don't mean Super or Standard, I mean down to the registration. Some civilian became military and vice versa. The only significant differences are with the engine pylons and where the wing fences are positioned as well as a dog tooth leading edge on some. The African VC-10's were also different.
Big things to modify on the kit to make it like any VC-10 (see photos above) are the tail bullet fairing, the cockpit window (be brave), the wing fences and the engine position on the fuselage (and the angle of the pylons depending on variant).
There was an article or two in britmodeller.com but I can't find it. It had good reference on the build but that was for an RAF tanker version.
That's about all I can recall. I was thinking of doing a BCAL VC-10 but that's as far as I got. Too many other things on the go.
Thanks for the message and reminder that I signed up to imodeller. Forgot all about it.
Cheers