Revell (Matchbox) 1/72 Handley Page VICTOR K Mk 2

Started by Spiros Pendedekas · 87 · 3 years ago · 1/72, Handley Page, Matchbox, Revell, The Falklands War, Victor
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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Thanks my friends @j-healy and @pikofix!

    Though I adore the new superdetailed kits, I also find some (strange) attraction to the older/classic kits, really liking putting them together. By definition, the result will be inferior to the "modern" kit one, but one can always enjoy the sweet nostalgia and the sense of accomplishment by solving the kit's issues (even if they can be really challenging at times).

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Wings attachment

    Having performed as much sanding/filling work as I could, so I will have the least possible relevant work to do with the big, difficult to handle assembled Victor, I started to attach the wings. I first attachd the two inner parts with liquefied styrene as primary bonding agent, followed by water thin glue after attachment. Fit was positive. Here they are:

    After some net research (isn't the net a wonderful tool?) of past builders comments, there were moans about the outer wings attachment AND shape: There should be a "kink" at the inner/outer wing joint, but If you attach them as thy are, they rest aft of the required position. Moreover, their resting position should be parallel to the ground: not only this is not the case, but also the outer parts themselves are curved (!), which is totally wrong

    I thus:

    1. Shaved the attachment lugs off and filed the mating surfaces flat (and perpendicular to their horizontal axis) with my heavy bastard file.

    2. Brutally twisted the outer wing parts with my hands (yes, I did...), until the looked straight (oh, my!).

    3. Affixed the outer parts at the inner parts with liquefied styrene and aligned them, so they are parallel to the ground, as in reality

    Looking better now (and drying...).

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Cheers Falklands/Malvinas GB!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Tail assembly

    I attached the fin. Massive gaps were present...

    faired with liquefied styrene:

    Tailplanes were then attached

    . I used 3-view net drawings, in order to attach them with the correct dihedral:

    as you can see, the joined area not only has significant gaps, but alsothe mated surfaces have different shapes (they should, of course, be the same). Again liquefied styrene faired everything:

    Interestingly, the tailplane underside joints were much better!

    I also faired the sing root gaps with liqufied styrene:

    Here she is, drying:

    Thanks for stopping by!

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Gee, that was some major surgery my friend. Happy ending to it all though!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Thanks my friend @airbum!
    What a great thing to come into past builders reports, addressing all challenging/wrong areas!

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    Eric Berg said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    It's really looking like a Victor now, Spiros. Liquid styrene to the rescue, again! It is indeed a great thing to find postings by fellow modelers who have wandered down the same paths and found solutions to pass on that makes our builds easier than theirs was.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Thanks my friend @eb801!

    Yep it's so amazing that fellow modelers take the time and document all paths taken!

    My Victor is idling for a couple fo days, due to the "Cicogna Madness" excitement at athe EoJ GB...

    https://imodeler.com/groups/the-empire-of-japan-1919-1946/forum/topic/fiat-br-20-cicogna-i-type-%e7%a7%81%e3%81%af%e3%82%bf%e3%82%a4%e3%83%97%e3%81%99%e3%82%8b-ijaa-12th-sentai-china-1939/

    ...and the HAF F-16, which received its nutral gray "first coat"...

    https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/hellenic-air-force/

    ...hopefully tonight another sanding session will take place, to even the liquefied styrene (d) areas, then some air scoops will be attached, so the final sanding can be commenced.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Shaping things...

    An excess material removing took place (flaps, tailplanes/fin top atachment, inner/outer wing joints etc), followed by coarse sanding and puttying at many places (including some that the previous filling session had missed):

    .

    The bombardiers transparency was attached. Fit was not good, so it was faired into place with my Excel blade, folowed by my trusty friend, the bastard file. It will be filled and sanded as well, and thank goodness that the tankers had them painted over, as I will not have to polish it...

    As a note: handling the big assembled Victor is not the easiest thing, let alone excess material shaving off, filling and sanding. It was thus a wise decision to resist the tempation of assembling it before filing and sanding all subassemblies. I am not totally confident that I would be able to perform those jobs with the Victor assembled, without sinking into frustration...

    Thanks for stopping by!

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    You have progressed rather quickly Spiros, catching up to all reading and the process. As mentioned having 2 of these in the stash and do intend to build them. But like you, I have a soft heart in building the older kits despite newer kits are now available. And you know I do intend in picking up the Airfix kit someday. But watching you build this Victor, it is quite an endeavour. Well done. And looking forward to the next step.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Thanks my friend @uscusn!

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    Paul Barber said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    The sprue goo worked wonders, Spiros - you have taken this kit to task my friend - 'smashing it'!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Thanks my friend @yellow10!
    Yesterday it was yet another puty session, possibly the semifinal one, as, understandably, this kit requires a few filling/sanding loops. Soon to add some final external addons and then proceed to the paint shop!

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    Smooth!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    As per the Carlos Santana song, my friend @airbum!

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    Morne Meyer said 3 years, 1 month ago:

    She is starting to look like a Victor. Sad that this Matchbox offering had such terrible fit issues. Needless to say you are indeed proving that a new tune can be played on an old fiddle. Looking forward to the painting stage!