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1/48 Hobbycraft de Havilland Vampire FB52, Iraq, 1955

Started by Spiros Pendedekas · 104 ≡ · ↻ 3 years ago · 1/48, de Havilland, Hobbycraft, Iraq, Vampire

Viewing 16 - 30 of 104 posts

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Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Louis (@lgardner) - don't give up your dayjob my friend 🙂

Spiros (@fiveten), great upgrades!
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Thanks, my friend @airbum!
Chuck A. Villanueva said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Looks like you got the liquid styrene filler working well. I'm still the old song and dance school with Tamiya and GM putty. it sets quickly and don't have to wait long to start sanding on it. Now Mr Surfacer as well to smooth out the rough parts after the sanding as it fills pin holes and areas that the putty just didn't quite fill. Neat stuff. That Vamp is one nifty little fighter. One thing about Hobbycraft not much in parts, but not really bad kits on some of their stuff. I like their A-4 series, not as nice as the Hase kits, but they look just fine when completed.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:

HI Chuck!

I was unsuccessfully experimenting in the past, trying to liquefy some styrene, to use it as a bonding/filling agent, till I saw a couple of videos, explaining not only how to do it, but also stating that liquefied styrene can replace filler at some instances, so I reluctantly started to use it, "expanding "my horizons a bit time after time.

That said, I consider liquefied styrene a coarse filler, needing the help of "normal" filler and that magic product Mr Surfacer at the final sanding/smoothing phases.

The Vampire is indeed a nifty little fighter, and the Hobbycraft kit seems adequate.

For some reason, this specific kit, forgotten at an Athens hobby shop and bought at a sale price, was begging me frequently in the past to built it. Well, I did its favor, and I am not disappointed so far.

Thanks for supportive commenting, my friend @uscusn!
Allan J Withers said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Coming along nicely Spiros, I put a piece of sprue in a MM jar of thinners, let it soak for a few minutes and brush it off onto the model as needed, works well for some uses, put the sprue aside to dry till next time !
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Nice trick @kalamazoo - will have to give it a try!
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Nice trick indeed, Allan @kalamazoo!
Tom Cleaver said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Oh my goodness, you've made a Vampire(ish)! 🙂

Actually, this is looking amazingly good, especially when one considers what you have started with.

A lot of "some modeling skills required" on display here.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Hi Tom @tcinla!

As per quite a few Hobbycraft/Academy kits of those brave years, one is greeted with engraved panel lines [ok, good, but raised are not an issue for me, let alone that raised look much more realistic at quite a few instances (some might oppose to my view, but I can hear a 1/48 Monogram Liberator telling me I'm right...)] and simple looking promising construction (which, surprisingly, might reveal some fit issues and mismatches later on...).

Shape (ok, -ish) issues, slight discrepancies at dihedrals, not always perfect quality control (wrong fitting wingtips pop up) and some toyish oversimplifications (blant wheel wells and cockpits par exemple!) are coming to mind as well. Their decals were hit (black box Hobbycraft, "Cartograf" Academy) or, in many cases, miss.

I'm stating all the above, as there was no reason for the above issues to exist: they could be easily resolved at the kit design or the first mockup phase and decal supplier choice. Adding to that their top molding technology (rarely to never have I found mold imperfecions or flash), and one might state that Academycraft could be issue-free tiptop level company from then on.

Thanks for liking my job so far!
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Well, Spiros, your builds just goes to show that if you see a challenge, not an obstacle then you are almost there with just about any build.
It is almost like the Eduard philosophy; make a basic kit for most, add some PE and a little resin for the experienced, and for the wild ones go all the way with loads of resin and PE and extra decals and such.
I know where you belong in such a comparison my friend!
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Thanks my friend @airbum!
Hope your comments prove themselves at my Ju 290 vac!
George R Blair Jr said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Wow. Nice progress Spiros (@fiveten). I lost track of the De Havilland group while I was finishing my Special Hobby and Valom, and now I am way behind. It will be hard to catch up with all of the great work you have done.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Thanks George @gblair!
Actually, with all those great GBs running and my other existing projects (and family and work as well) I kind of lost track of myself too!
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 6 months ago:
More than a week has passed from the last update, the reason mainly being giving priority to my "Greek Korean" (go figure...lol) C-47. I love multi projects: I someway prioritise one or two models, but I can still work with the rest of them, even if the progress might be small...

...(as you may understand, the above statement is a hopeless attempt to avoid an angry admin for letting the week pass on the Vampire! lol!)

Joke aside, I did a bit of work at my Vampire tonight, mainly consisting on some detail sanding and filler application:

I also drilled through the bland gun ports, for added realism:
1. Drilled out
Cheers great DH100GB!
Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 6 months ago:

Lots of small green dots to have fun with my friend!

Viewing 16 - 30 of 104 posts

de Havilland Aircraft Company 100 years ENDED!

1/48 Hobbycraft de Havilland Vampire FB52, Iraq, 1955