1/48 Hobbycraft Vampire NF10

by Sean Carter

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Here are some pictures of my completed Vampire night fighter.  This was a fun build for me, I’m just getting back into modeling and decided to get “serious” about it, so I used this model as a test bed for some things I’ve never done before.  I also wanted something a little out of the ordinary and liked the look of the Vampire, especially the two-seat version.  The model was fairly simple, built out of the box and for the most part went together very easily.  The only problem I ran into was with the nose gear; the assembly is very weak and needed a lot of glue and time to set up so it could support the added weight needed to keep the model nose-down.  The front gear door is also longer than the strut, so it needed to be trimmed down to prevent it from acting like a kick stand.  The model came with two under-wing fuel tanks which I left off as they looked too plain and bulky.  I didn’t attach the canopy so it could be removed to see the cockpit detail (what little of it there is). All in all this was a nice model, and would look very nice with some extra attention to the gear bays and cockpit.

Click on images below to see larger images

The model is painted in Model Master enamels and acrylics, and sealed with two coats each of gloss and flat lacquer from a rattle-can.  This is my first airbrushed model (just the primer and gray basecoat, so it wasn’t much of a challenge at all) and also my first attempt at weathering/detailing the panel lines.  I used the water-acrylic-dish soap recipe and am very pleased with the results, at least for my first attempt.  I also used a pencil to highlight some of the shallower panel lines.  The decals aren’t 100% accurate and will be corrected later on.  I sealed the model with a gloss undercoat and a flat finish.  Hope you like it!

Sean

Photos and text © by Sean Carter