1/72 Avro Vulcan B2

Scrap Metal 

by Dan Greening

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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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Photos and text © by Dan Greening