This
is my first plane kit which I updated with photoetch parts. I used Eduard parts
for the exterior, interior, Armament and seat. Express masks were used for the
canopy and windshield, and for the national insignias too. Trumpeter’s kit is
really huge and has very nice rivet details; a bunch of weapons, including a
full load of Mk117’s, fuel pods, Mk82’s, Standard and Shrike ARM’s are
included. Decals from TwoBobs are really nice and fit perfect.
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The
only problem I encountered was the main gear; I’ve read about it in ARC
chatrooms and in other modeller’s gallery reviews. I wasn’t able to receive
a white metal parts set for the gear, so I decided to scratch-build and enhance
the main gear, using metal tubing and wiring and a lot of special Super Rapid
glue. For balancing the plane, I put some metal parts in the closed bomb bay and
a big one I glued right behind the radar. In the end, the modified gear really
made it! I don’t know how the real “Thud’s” main gear could withstand
the aircraft’s combat weight. I decided to further enhance the Vulcan-gun,
using some different wires; I didn’t exactly replicate the real thing, but it
looks quite nice; a little touch-up for the the SEA-camo scheme I applied using
Gunze-Acrylics.
But
before painting the camo I did a coat of Tamiya Metallic Grey as a base coat -
giving me the opportunity to do some final sanding - next layer was a lot of
Tamiya Smoke in every rivet detail. After SEA-camo and spraying the national
insignias I weathered the entire plane using water based paint. Then a Revell
Gloss coat prepared the surface for the kit decals; I used the ones for Major
Don Kutyna’s “Polish Glider”. For a nice finish I applied a layer of
Modelmaster Flat coat.
To
have a plane sitting on the tarmac, ready and re-loaded for a next combat raid,
I let the canopy in open position and added a full set of Eduard’s photo-etch
Remove-before-flight tags; they look very nice. After taking the pictures with
my
Olympus
digital camera I realized that I may be did a little too much weathering, I
really don’t know. But the plane indeed looks combat-proven, doesn’t it?
However, it was a big amount of work, putting all those PE-parts on this huge
plane; just for the cockpit and the seat I was working on all a week’s
evenings...
Daniel
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