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Airfix 1/72 De Havilland Vampire T.55 Finnish AF


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An easy kit from Airfix? You got that right! These new Airfix kits seem to be little gems. Nicely done and fit like a dream. Although this is supposed to a fast stress-free build, an OOB build it's not gonna be. Just doesn't suit me... A small PE set comes from Kuivalainen (a local hobby store) and markings probably from Galdecal.

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The inspiration for this build came from a small museum about 130 km from where I live. Sad sights, but very inspirational nonetheless.

The remains of VA-3 (a single seater, later modified to an ice remover by cutting off the wings and tails) and VT-6, one of the nine two-seaters. Extensive use of wood is very evident. As is the bad shape of these planes. Luckily well preserved examples exist as well.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The cockpit has been ready for a week or two already, but only now I found time to take some photos. At the moment I'm joining the fuselage halves together.

The pit would probably benefit from throttle levers, but they might not be very visible on a finished model. Some wiring added for the seats, clear acetate for the gauges, otherwise pure and simple without extensive over-detailing.

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nice progress!

I've got some Finnish decals from Amodels Vampire, if you'd need them.

You've got? I didn't even know it comes with them! At the moment I've got nothing, so I might be interested.

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Nothing dramatic here. The pieces just seemed to fall in place without much effort. Some sanding obviously needed for the fuselage halves, but with careful dry-fitting much of it can be avoided when joining the wings and intakes. I didn't go fully according to instructions when installing them. This way one can minimize or totally avoid seams or steps on the intakes. My advice is to do it a couple of times without glue and that way find out the most suitable order when installing the parts.

It was very easy to mask the canopy since the edges of the windows are so sharply done. A piece of tape over a window, a toothpick to reveal the frames underneath it and a new Olfa blade for cutting along these lines. What a pleasure! Like doing a freakin' Hasegawa kit! Just what I needed for getting some of the (almost) lost mojo back. :)

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Trojan Thunder, I don't remember the number as I don't have the sheet. As a matter of fact, I might find the bort numbers from my spares as they are the only decals I need for this bird.

Thanks, Guy! Good to see you here!

Edited by janman
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  • 1 month later...

Hello Jan,

very interesting build! Is the Airfix T.11 the same as the T.55? I'm building one in Rhodesian AF colours but because of the very good quality of the kit I would like to build some more, and a Finnish AF one is on top of my list :) Are there any more modifications necessary when I buy the Airfix T.11 + the Marti Kuivalainen PE set (which luckily is also available here)?

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These two versions (T.11 & T.55) are pretty much the same - or so I've understood. At least the local modifications were very minor, if there even were anything to be mentioned. There's one in-flight photo in the Finnish book I have that shows some details on the belly, which - it seems - are not present on the kit.

Steve, thanks for your kind words!

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