A lot of artistic licence on this one, I think Vampires were painted silver? But I wanted to go with a natural metal fuselage. So 7 different shades of AK Xtreme metals and Vallejo Metal Colors later, and I ended up with this. I also painted one drop tank Grey/Green camo, as to suggest that it was borrowed from a camo aircraft. No wash on this one, I justed used Tamiya smoke airbrushed over panel lines for weathering.
From what I have googled about this kit, there are inaccuracies? Don’t know, it looks like a Vampire to me, and who else is making 1/48 scale Vampires that is a modern tooling?
Very nice looking build! But yes, artistic license. Vampires were indeed painted in “High Speed Silver” paint, and not left bare. Because they were made from molded plywood and metal, like their predecessor, the DeHavilland Mosquito… Only the initial production Mark, the F. Mk.1 wore the late war camo colors:Dark Green and Ocean Grey over Medium Sea Grey in RAF service. The later Marks F. Mk.3, FB Mk.5, etc. wore the High Speed Silver in RAF service.
From my research into the Vampire what Stik says is spot on, but I really like the liberties you took with yours. To my eye it’s a much more interesting take on the aircraft than the “real thing” - so let me be the first to validate your artistic license!
And yeah I think the only other kits out there are Hobbycraft which didn’t have a great record on accurate detail and Classic Airframes which are great kits but a bit of a PITA to assemble.
I remember the first time I saw Vampires fly. It was an aerobatic team, either British or more likely Canadians. What was impressive was the Gs they pulled during the demonstration. Other jet aerobatics I saw covered the whole sky- this team did their whole routine well inside the airport boundaries (Detroit Metro). This would have been mid fifties. Anyone know what team that would have been?
Mighty nice, Grant, I think one of your best. If the base was a bit bigger and covered the entire subject dimensions, it could easily be taken for a photo of a real aircraft. Thanks for the post and photos.
That still could have been them. We went to those airshows at that field every year, and it is hard to remember after so many years exactly what I saw each year.
