The
Avro Vulcan is an aircraft I have a real fondness for despite having never seen
one fly; the last operational squadron was disbanded four years before I was
born. The Vulcan, with the Valiant and Victor carried Britain’s nuclear
deterrent prior to the introduction of Polaris. Following the switch to low
level operations as a result of Gary Powers’ U2 being shot down both the
Valiant and the Victor were found to be suffering fatigue damage and were
removed from the nuclear bomber role leaving the Vulcan to carry the burden.
The
Falklands War of 1982 saw the Vulcan’s flying in anger for the first and only
time, at the very end of their operational lives Vulcan’s flew over 4000 miles
across the featureless South Pacific to drop a single conventional bomb on the
runway at Stanley Airport.
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This
is the second Vulcan model I’ve made. The first is long gone and for this, the
second I made it a labour of love. Having purchased Flightpath’s Vulcan detail
set and the Airfix kit I scratch built details for all three wheel bays, the
cockpit and the ECM bay in the tail from plastic and wire and cut out the
recesses for the airbrakes. I also rescribed all of the panel lines and expended
enormous amounts of filler and sandpaper on the airframe. Everything was going
surprising well when, perhaps somewhat inevitably, things began to go wrong.
I
sprayed it the wrong colour.
Following
the Airfix instructions the grey was too dark. For the aircraft I wanted to
build it just looked wrong. The green paint had also turned very rough like
sandpaper so it had to come off. I began to sand the paint smooth to allow for
re-spraying. I had nearly finished preparing for a second coat when…
I
dropped it.
Ok
technically I knocked it off the table but the effect was the same, the nose
split into two from intake to intake, the nose gear bay, my lovely detailed nose
gear bay skidded across the floor followed very closely by the cockpit floor and
the entire of the rear crew station. Thank god I hadn’t put the crew in they
might have got hurt.
Despondent,
I left the Vulcan to collect dust for a few months before I was inspired by
pictures of Vulcans being brutally scrapped on the Internet. An idea quickly
fermented into my mind and out came the hacksaw and off came the wing. The gap
was plugged with plasticard and the ribbing and wiring added. I also moved most
of the control surfaces on the wing and the rudder to add a bit more life to the
model. The nose was also glued back together and the damaged filler repaired.
I
sprayed the model with Humbrol enamels and weathered it with pastels. I
deliberately chose not to pre shade the panel lines so it didn’t look to
exaggerated. The options on the Airfix decal sheet are all for relatively well
known aircraft so I cut two of the serials and put them together to create an
aircraft that may or may not have existed I really don’t know. The cockpit
framing and airbrakes are from the Flightpath set.
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The
base is simple MDF cut to shape with the lines carved with a minidrill, painted
grey and weathered with pastels. The debris under the jet is a combination of
bits and pieces from the kit, pieces of plasticard cut and drilled to shape and
the etched fret painted on both sides, cut up and bent into shape.
I
really wanted to convey the sense of the Vulcan being alone, forlorn and
derelict and I’m pleased with the result. Any feedback or constructive
criticism is welcome, dan@bzzz.co.uk
or danbzzz on the forums.
Dan
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