1/72 Eastern Express Sea Vixen G-CVIX

by Steve 'Cloggy' Cladingboel

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If you’re the sort of person for whom model building equals Tamigawa bar none; for whom the very idea of using a file, putty, sandpaper, more putty, shaping knives and various other tools is the stuff of modelling nightmares, then don’t read any further, for what follows will surely lead to many sleepless nights!

I had long promised myself that I would one day build a model of the Red Bull Sea Vixen G-CVIX (XP924), ever since being kindly shown around the aircraft at it’s stable in Bournemouth freshly painted and ready to face the airshow-going public, a couple of years ago. A few months later I found the Eastern Express boxing of what I assume to be the old 1/72 Frog Sea Vixen at the fine model show at Yeovilton. Now all I needed was enough spirit of character to get started.

Click on images below to see larger images

 

Starting was quite easy however, it was finishing that proved to be the main problem with this one. I had no end of trouble with the markings: oh yes it seems easy enough, find some Red Bull logos on the net, save and resize them in Photoshop, print them and Bob’s your uncle.  Would that it were that simple. What concerned me was the white border that surrounds the Red Bull logo and name, and the blue that shows between the letters in the name. More complicated than you’d think (or certainly more complicated than I’d think).

So instead, I concentrated on building the model.  That’s where the tools and the putty and the sandpaper come into the equation – and plenty of it! No two parts seem to be of the same scale, certainly nothing fits the way it should. I had to make the two  pitot tubes on the wings (I assume that’s what they are) as the kit ones would, in real scale, resemble two small tree-trunks stuck on the leading edge. I took the unusual step (for me) of putting a pilot in to hide the emptiness of the cockpit….it goes on.

Then a revelation; at a model show I found some Red Bull car decals from Carpena. Expensive, but I might just be able to use some of these because they look to be just about the right size. I would discover much later on that these decals refused absolutely to stick to the model. I’d have done just as well if I’d cut out photos from a magazine. It didn’t matter, there were only one or two that were of the right size anyhow. I had to make my own. But first, I took a trip to London to visit Hannants and got myself some yellow decal film for the 'suns'; all that remained was the ‘bulls’ and the name. That proved easier than I had initially imagined: printed onto white Experts Choice decal sheet and very carefully trimmed with scissors, I had my white border! And the blue between the letters? careful use of a small paintbrush!

The combination of plastic and putty that looked roughly Sea Vixen shape was hand-painted with Humbrol 191 for the silver and Revell 51 for the blue. The decals were eventually carefully placed (the bulls on the top of the airframe had to be doubled i.e. one bull on top of the other due to lack of opacity). And then, the final indignity – not enough weight in the nose. Oh well, a carefully positioned ‘tree-trunk’ trimmed to size near the rear of the fuselage solved that problem – haha!

I’m not happy with the result. I set myself a big challenge and I think it has beaten me. But, I have a model of G-CVIX – and there aren’t many of those around.

Steve

Photos and text © by Steve Cloggy Cladingboel