Model Airplane International – August 2019

Issue 169 - http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com 33

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fi tted into the lower fuselage half and after a

few instrument panels are added to the upper

half, it can be mated to the lower. Before

closing everything up, I took the opportunity

to do some chipping of the black fi nish using

Vallejo Aluminium on a piece of foam plastic

and then added some generic seat belts from

an Eduard set.

Most Vampire kits out there have an issue

with tail-sitting, a consequence of the twin-

boom tail and no engines! Adding nose weight

can be a problem however since there's

usually not much room in the nose of the

main pod. In this case, I started by adding a

false plasticard fl oor into the nose cone to sit

just above the nose wheel bay, and fi lled the

remaining space with Ripmax ballast granules;

a simple balance trial showed that this was

a long way from adequate so the remaining

space in the forward fuselage ahead of the

instrument panel was packed with lead strip.

To be honest, I've no accurate idea of how

much lead is in there, suffi ce to say I put in as

much as I reasonably could, and it was still

The intake fronts are quite well moulded, but benefi t from some

clean up with a sharp blade, and fi ne fi les as seen on the left

here.

Getting nose weight into any vampire model is always a

problem, particularly so in smaller scales. Here, a false fl oor has

been added to the nose and the cavity fi lled with Ripmax ballast

granules. More weight would be needed.

More weight than could be accommodated in the nose cone

was needed, this amount of lead strip was barely enough.

The wing tips are presented as clear parts, which helps with

depicting the navigation lights.

Very little fi ller is needed at the fuselage to wing joint, this is

part-way through clean up.

The PeeWit masks are excellent, although the clear canopy

parts are rather thick and distorted.

EL VAMPIRO.indd 33 08/07/2019 15:20