Acklington
22nd January 2010, 16:28
Remember this post from last year?
http://i42.tinypic.com/2rc3ec4.jpg
Where one of the 'incorrect' Corgi "V-Bomber pair" had the wrong size pale markings removed, plus the pimple on the nose, and the refuelling probe.
The rest of the conversion took far longer than planned, although obtaining the "Minicraft" 1/144 B-52H plastic kit was the easy part. This contains 4 Skybolt missiles, plus various pylons.
Also easily found was the following Woodford colour footage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEVdMgvUkaM
This is interesting because it shows a different type of Skybolt shape, compared to the well-known black and white period photos of XH537. So with 4 "Minicraft" Skybolts to play with, two were converted to the nose shape shown in the video, and the other two were left as is.
The big problem with the conversion proved to be the upper wing roundels, and I almost now understand why Corgi 'got it wrong' in the first place. Real Vulcans have 84" upper wing roundels, and whilst you can get these on 1/72 scale decal sheets, the '1/144 half-size' of 42" is nowhere to be found! I tried cutting my own from solid decal sheet, but that didn't work. Eventually I found a pair of post-war Italian roundels that were the correct size, and repainted them, with difficulty.
The other bits of the conversion were to add the camera housings under the wing tips, and fuselage. The refuelling probe mounting on the nose is close to the shape of the nose-mounted camera on XH537. The four underwing airscoops were painted black on XH537. The Skybolt pylons basically came from the B-52H kit, but needed lengthening (and are still too short). All Vulcans still have the mounting lugs for these pylons, so glueing them in the correct place was easy. This Corgi Vulcan comes with the correct type of bomb-bay for XH537, even though Corgi got it wrong for their 'Blue Steel' version.
http://i45.tinypic.com/351ef0y.jpg
So here is XH537, with new full colour markings and pylons.
http://i46.tinypic.com/ng36n5.jpg
And with the commonly illustrated type of Skybolt.
http://i47.tinypic.com/adc02g.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2u5z8ep.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2yoepe9.jpg
And here are the alternate Skybolts.
http://i49.tinypic.com/2z7r802.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/2v34ksp.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2cicxms.jpg
The next conversion was going to be the 'other half' of the "V-Bomber pair", namely to produce an early Victor B.2 in full colour markings. However, the Victor also had 84" upperwing roundels, so that conversion has stalled, until I can find some.:unsure:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2rc3ec4.jpg
Where one of the 'incorrect' Corgi "V-Bomber pair" had the wrong size pale markings removed, plus the pimple on the nose, and the refuelling probe.
The rest of the conversion took far longer than planned, although obtaining the "Minicraft" 1/144 B-52H plastic kit was the easy part. This contains 4 Skybolt missiles, plus various pylons.
Also easily found was the following Woodford colour footage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEVdMgvUkaM
This is interesting because it shows a different type of Skybolt shape, compared to the well-known black and white period photos of XH537. So with 4 "Minicraft" Skybolts to play with, two were converted to the nose shape shown in the video, and the other two were left as is.
The big problem with the conversion proved to be the upper wing roundels, and I almost now understand why Corgi 'got it wrong' in the first place. Real Vulcans have 84" upper wing roundels, and whilst you can get these on 1/72 scale decal sheets, the '1/144 half-size' of 42" is nowhere to be found! I tried cutting my own from solid decal sheet, but that didn't work. Eventually I found a pair of post-war Italian roundels that were the correct size, and repainted them, with difficulty.
The other bits of the conversion were to add the camera housings under the wing tips, and fuselage. The refuelling probe mounting on the nose is close to the shape of the nose-mounted camera on XH537. The four underwing airscoops were painted black on XH537. The Skybolt pylons basically came from the B-52H kit, but needed lengthening (and are still too short). All Vulcans still have the mounting lugs for these pylons, so glueing them in the correct place was easy. This Corgi Vulcan comes with the correct type of bomb-bay for XH537, even though Corgi got it wrong for their 'Blue Steel' version.
http://i45.tinypic.com/351ef0y.jpg
So here is XH537, with new full colour markings and pylons.
http://i46.tinypic.com/ng36n5.jpg
And with the commonly illustrated type of Skybolt.
http://i47.tinypic.com/adc02g.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2u5z8ep.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2yoepe9.jpg
And here are the alternate Skybolts.
http://i49.tinypic.com/2z7r802.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/2v34ksp.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2cicxms.jpg
The next conversion was going to be the 'other half' of the "V-Bomber pair", namely to produce an early Victor B.2 in full colour markings. However, the Victor also had 84" upperwing roundels, so that conversion has stalled, until I can find some.:unsure: