I’m starting on my first vac kit, Wings’ 1/72 Bv 155. It was a German projected high-altitude B-29 killer that advanced far enough for a flyable prototype. The War ended, though, before any more came of it.
The wings are glued up, and wing radiators detailed. The horizontal stablizers are permanently placed, but the fuselage is just temporarily taped up. No landing gear is provided, so I’m currently working on that.
The black is just a primer coat for me to see the wing joints under paint. Wire hangers were used to stabilze and insure correct wing dihedral, and will be used as a main spar once the wings go on.
Decals and an interior are forthcoming.
Believe it or not, I’m actually having fun with this! Thanks for taking a look, and more as more becomes available.
Lookin’ good Mike. It’s a curiously shaped beastie, isn’t it, and by the looks of it, you’re making good progress. Keep up the good work & post plenty of pics as you go [;)]
Yes - interesting piece of kit - I felt the same kind of enthusiasm with my vac but less exotic Javelin ( I think a pic is on the vac GB) - makes a nice change from the standard kits - will be interested to see how you dea with the U/C etc. Keep us posted please.
Yep - you really MUST post pics of the undercarriage. I’ve got myself a load of brass tubing for just such a job (probably on a heavy like the Victor or Vulcan), and I’m dying to see what other people do.
Ditto for me Remco. Mind you, I build incredibly slowly. I suppose that Mike’s Bv155 is also 1/72nd scale, which makes for quite small parts, so less sanding, fiddling etc.
The hard work on vacforms is getting your technique right to get the parts out of the backing material & sanded so they fit correctly. Then, depending on which manufacturer you chose, it’ll either go together much like a short-run styrene kit (Dynavector), or need a large amount of scratch building like Mike’s Wings’ kit.
I was VERY tempted by a Sanger vac of a Stirling I saw only for £26 a couple of weeks ago. It professed to have white metal & resin parts for undercarriage, engines etc.
I know of course that there are vacs in the world and that there are people who has built them. What I´m asking for is Lucien´s thoughts about his first vac, if he thinks it´s difficoult etc.
Here’s what Mike’s first vac has done to me!!! [;)]
Vacs are quite good fun actually Johan - but choose your first one carefully. I can’t praise Dynavector enough. They’re pricey because they come from Japan, but they’re very well engineered & don’t scare the novice too much, as they also include undercarriage & cockpit details. Go on! Have a go! [;)]
Gilmund, I’m not a very experienced vacform builder, I’m currently building my third.
However, I found that they are not as intimidating as they look. The sanding takes some time, you need to do some test fitting etc. but that’s not that hard.
The real difficulty is, with very large vacforms, (large scale, multi engned, that sort of thing) to make the internal reinforing of the structure.
Another difficulty is that some parts are impossible to vacform (landinggear for instance). There are three options, the kit has injected/resin/metal parts, you use the parts from another kit or you scratch build the parts.
Didn’t know that, but when you look at the nose, you can actually see it’s heritage. I wondered why Mike was thinking of using a 109 cockpit and landing gear, and now I know! [:)]
Yes, the size has made this kit doable. Still, it’s rather a large aircraft (almost 11 in. wingspan!). I’ve settled into my “preferred” method of building.
To get the parts off the backing sheet, I cut out the approxamate shape with scissors, then sand the bejeezus out of it until the excess backing falls away. (I use really coarse sandpaper, carpentry stuff). This works well if you don’t go nuts (like I did on my fuselage halves! [B)])
To glue parts together, I make sure the shape is right and glue them (if I can) with tube glue. Once they are dry, I smear super glue over any gaps, and attack the whole seam with (more) coarse sandpaper (usually a sanding stick). This fills holes with a superglue/plastic dust putty, and further renforces the joint.
My landing gear is finished, and it’s definitely not museum quality! I was lucky to have some sprue the right diameter, and used paper clips for the bent “axle” at the bottom. It’s strong, though, and better than my first attempt with paper clips and a wire coat hanger!
The Bv 155 has such a conveluted history it’s very interesting to read! The high-altitude B-29 killer actually got it’s start as a shipboard Me 109 replacement! It also utilized an exhaust-driven supercharger so complex even after reading it I still don’t know how it works! (Note the large exhaust pipes on the side.)
Well, mikeiw, I’m glad to see my insanity inspires others! Good luck with that beast!
It’s actually quite a lovely airplane … I like the graceful lines. Hadn’t heard of it before and your build looks like it will be impressive. Do keep us informed and send more pics. What manner of scheme will you employ for it’s colors?
![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/155quat.jpg[/image]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/155quat.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}
![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/155back.jpg[/image]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/LHprs/155back.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}