DBMiller's 1/72 Scale Vigilante

[DBMiller]

Yes, I am starting another. I've finished two and resumed work on a shelf queen so I'm treating myself to a new build.

I knew nothing about the Vigilante when I bought the kit. I was at my favorite hobby store, spending too much, when the owner said "if you buy one more 1/72 scale plane you can have one free." Well, what would you have done? I chose the Vigilante just because it looked cool.

The day I took most of these photos I was looking through old modeling magazines and found an ad for the Warpaint series of books - one of which was the RA-5C Vigilante! There was a short write up about it so now I know more than I did.



It was supposed to be the US Navy's nuclear delivery system but they decided to go all sub launch instead. The plane was so good, and fast, that they came up with the recon version and it served well for some years during the Viet Nam war.

Here is a diagram of how the nuke was delivered. Butt launched for the win!



This is the kit. Not too many parts and all of them have very fine raised panel lines. Maybe I'll re-scribe them. Or not.





















The original decals. Those will have to go.



Here are the new markings I got. There is a choice of gray and white, gray and white, and gray and white. I'll be using the gray and white RVHA (recon heavy attack squadron) Enterprise 'Bats" markings.

[chief5437]

very cool! always like this aircraft when i was a kid, never knew why it wasnt used much. after reading your thread, i now know!!
love the idea of it sh*&&ing a nuclear bomb!

good luck with the build

[Tomcat64]

Thanks for dropping in DBM

Looking forward to seeing this come together - I love the shape of the Vigilante even if it didn't last too long in active service.

[DBMiller]

So, baby steps at first. Starting with the landing gear for a change since I always leave them to the end and rush. Just primer for now.





Check out this cockpit! That's what I like to see - the minimalist look. You can't see any of it once the fuselage is together anyway.





The little guys!

[DBMiller]

Here is a little treat for you until I get my next update together. It's a pretty good video but the computer generated narrator is a bit odd.

[DBMiller]

Look - little guys! The back seater is invisible though the thick window pieces and the front seater won't be much clearer. Painted them anyway.





Cockpit ( ) glued in. I clipped the two fuselage halves together to keep it square. It sits so far to the right that I had to slide it over to the center to dry. Now there are gaps between the cockpit ( ) and fuselage sidewalls. Can't see it so it's OK. I added fishing weight to keep the nose down. The wings sit forward enough that in might not tail sit but I'm taking no chances!








With long stretches of seam and only a couple of locator pins I added strip to support the edges for gluing.



The panel that holds the arrestor hook doesn't have any backing and with the gaps after gluing in the hook you could see right into the empty fuselage. I puttied it up and closed the two little doors that go over the hook end.





And the wings.

[Tomcat64]

Nice progress DBM and thanks for sharing that video - there's some fascinating footage in there, although as you said Robo-Narrator is a little funky!

[DBMiller]

Moving along.
These Hasegawa kits of a certain age aren't too bad but the fine raised panel lines and the fit are not the easiest to work with!

I glued the fuselage in segments to try to keep it square and lined up. I was only partially successful. The tabs I glued inside in hopes of keeping things aligned would have worked better if the two halves were the same thickness! You can just make out the rear seat windows, installed from the inside, and filled with super glue on the outside.





Here are the fuselage seams. Not too good and required a lot of filling and sanding. And maybe even some more later!









Here is the 'hump' between the wings and cockpit. Another superb fit...not.



Well, this is why we have clamps. And sprue goo.





The engine housing / butt launcher attached! And there was much filling and sanding.



The nose cone. I think it speaks for itself.





This is the camera pod. It will cover much of the belly seam - so that will work out nicely!



There was only one clear part that needed to be glued to the inside. The rest go on from the outside. It should be flush with the housing so I'm slowly filling it with super glue and will polish it smooth when done. I painted the inside with Testors Chrome Silver.

[pourquoi61]

Yep interesting aircraft and what a looker she will be once done.

[Tomcat64]

Nice progress - although those seams seem purposely designed to cause problems.

Looking forward to seeing the "butt launcher" come together!

[DBMiller]

More adventures in older model kits.
Port wing on! The fit was pretty good too.





Wing root filling and sanding. But not too bad.





Still working on the arrestor hook area.



The starboard wing insert didn't fit as well as the port so needed more filling and sanding.



Nice fit. Not.







You can just make out my paint rack through the gap in the wing root. Nice.



I'll let it cure then tackle the gap.

[DBMiller]

Oh, look, a Vigilante! I can't seem to get my seams that smooth though.

[Tomcat64]

Will you look at that fuselage!

Very graceful - lovely lines.

[DBMiller]

Still here!

The wing seam was so bad I taped the underside and filled the upper with glue goo. Underside was next.







Clear coated with Future and glued on the canopy. Then pulled it off. Forgot to paint the anti glare panel.





Tail on.



Engines painted.





Canopy back on. Bad fit. Had to use a very thin strip of styrene to fill the seam.







First coat of primer! Spray can of auto filler primer. Great stuff!



Forgot to glue on the camera pod. Glued it on and primed with Badger gray.

[DBMiller]

Back after a long break.
Still working on the paint. I thought it would be easier to leave off the intakes for painting. I was wrong. After sanding the primer and gluing on the parts - and sanding smooth - I was ready to finish the painting.









I got the white done and have started masking for the upper surface gray. The dark gray is primer.



The kit says to use FS26440 - Lt Gull Gray. My K4 paint looks way too dark and too green compared to the photos I've seen so I looked online for a closer choice. It looks like FS36440 - Flat Gull Gray is a better match - and I have that in Model Master Acrylic. Re-sprayed the stabilizers and started on the fuselage and it looks much better!

Original Lt Gull Gray. It looks much darker in person.



I've started spraying the new gray but haven't photos ready yet.

[DBMiller]

So, here are the two colors I've tried. The Model Master is a better match.



Starting to re-color the stabilizers:



First light coat on the upper surface:

[Tomcat64]

Great to see you're still making progress on this bird

I always seem to fall in to the same trap with the air intakes and figure it'll be easier to mask with them off.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh, look, a Vigilante! I can't seem to get my seams that smooth though.

Wow, the fuselage is amazingly smooth and rounded and look at the armaments on this... uhhh plane yes on the plane

[DBMiller]

See - there are benefits to not cleaning up too often! This happened while I was away. I had it clipped to a shelf to dry but it fell off the support. There just happened to be a piece of foam on the floor. You can't make this up!





Here is the gray done. I just have to finish touching up the white then paint the leading edges and the nose!

[Tomcat64]

Nice save with the strategically placed foam block

[DBMiller]

Masked and ready for the white touch ups!



A little gray touch up after this then metallic bomb bay cover (the butt end).

[DBMiller]

And the tape is off! Not too bad.

[DBMiller]

Masked and primed for the metallic paint!

[Tomcat64]

Looking very tidy

[DBMiller]

Still plugging away. Boy, my work looks like crap up close! I messed up the butt bay (bad masking) and have to polish it out and re-paint. The leading edges aren't too bad and the nose is panted. I'm really liking the shape of this plane. I may have to get a better quality kit some day.









Main gear started.

[DBMiller]

See! Still playing!
Decals going on - with some difficulty. They have a mind of their own sometimes. Several times they have folded under themselves and almost caused me to terminate the build with prejudice! They start to lift off the backing in about 3 to 5 seconds so I just put them on a piece of plastic and drop some water on them. Then I place the decal on a paper towel then onto the kit. And hope it goes on flat this time!








My only concern is that I get 2 of the marking in the correct places. The "603" and the national insignia both have two sizes. One for the wings and one for the fuselage. The decal sheet doesn't mark which one goes where! It looks like the smaller '603' goes on the flap and the larger goes at the nose - which is what I did. It also looks like the smaller 'stars and bars' goes on the fuselage and the larger on the wings - and that is what I will do as well.
Fingers crossed. Or 'who cares'. It will look good anyway.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Super clean looking tail
Nice paint and decal work there

[TommyKillander]

Nice work !

Nice save with that piece of styrofoam - my heart nearly stopped for a second

Keep up the good work!


Tommy

[DBMiller]

I regret to inform you that this plane had to die.
I suffered enough with the decals folding under themselves and this last one was the final straw.
End of build.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I regret to inform you that this plane had to die.
I suffered enough with the decals folding under themselves and this last one was the final straw.
End of build.

It happens
Bury it an move on

[Tomcat64]

I regret to inform you that this plane had to die.
I suffered enough with the decals folding under themselves and this last one was the final straw.
End of build.

That's a real shame

But as Scott says - bury it and move on.

Thanks again for taking part