Vickers FB-26 Vampire

[djuggie]

June 14, 2024

This model has left the Shelf of Doom at least twice, only to be returned, incomplete.  Now is the time to finish it.

A brief history:  The FB-26 was a throw back to the pusher days and was to be an armored trench straffer.  To increase firepower an Eeman triple gun mounting was used.   The development of the aircraft came very late in the war and it was never used operationally.  An order for six was placed but I do not know how many were built.  One problem was the placement of the radiators resulted in the engine overheating.

It is a basic vacuform with me adding machine guns, seats and belts and a four blade prop.  Aeroclub was in business at this time as the kit references some of his parts.  There is no Windsock or Datafile information but a good number of photos come up on the internet that will aid in building the kit.  I think the main reason it went back on the shelf was the Eeman gun mount.  I wanted it but had no idea what it looked like.  If anyone has any information this gun mounting, I would be forever in your debt.

Dennis

[DaddyO]

Following this one with interest Dennis since it's one of a few vacforms I have in the box. I like the look of the nacelle hanging form the top wing rather than being attached to the bottom although I can see how that brings its own problems 

Paul

[enathan]

Nice one Dennis! The FB-26 is one of my favourites, as you may see it's on my personal photo. It's the Bentley powered Vampire II, and though I have the Scaleplanes vac I've only now realized it's of the Vampire I.
Good luck with the build, I will definitely follow.   

[Dutch522]

Well, I'm certainly rooting for you, Dennis, I'll scour my references for the gun mount. You never know what'll turn up in WWI Aero... unless you have them indexed, that is :-D

Dutch

[djuggie]

Dutch,

Believe it or not, I have all of my WW1 material in a WIKI and I can find almost anything I own it.  It took about 3 months to go through each reference one page at a time but the results are well worth it.   It got crazy to just finish a model and only then learn I had reference material on it.  Problem solved.

I have both (that I know of) Vampires on the Shelf of Doom.  I would like to do the rotary engine 26a in the near future.  I will be building the Hispano Suzia version. 

Progress has been made.  A Se5a give up its exhausts and the holes have been drilled for the guns.  I reworked the radiators and added metal etch to them.    Do you think the handles would have been removed on the Lewis guns?  I would get a little crowded in there and they would serve no purpose as they were fixed into position.  I also wonder where spare magazines would have been stored.

Dennis

[NigelR]

When I saw the title I first thought it was one of these "other eras" projects....... Glad I clicked on it to see a very interesting project afoot.

[djuggie]

June 17, 2024

Some more bits and pieces completed and the interior is complete and closed up.  With the exception of a seat back and seat belts that I found in the scrape box, everything else is scratch built.  I cut the nose off so I could make some kind representation of the gun placement.  It probably detached on the real aircraft at this point to work on the guns.  Just a guess.  I will start the gun mounting system today. 

I think this was one of the areas of why the model spent so much time on the Shelf of Doom.  I could no find any information of the Eeman gun mount.  But after I close it up. who will know if its right or wrong.  I can trust you not to tell my secret, right?

Dennis

[enathan]

That would be easy compared to not telling of the missing engine Dennis 

[djuggie]

Engine?  What is this engine that you speak of?  When they are completely enclosed, you have to use your imagination.  I cannot bring myself to install an engine, especially when I have no clue how it looked.  Besides, my insanity has to have some bounds.

Dennis

[Dutch522]

Not to worry, Dennis, I have it on good authority that the FB-26 didn't actually have an engine, its love for England kept it aloft, in much the same way Lord Nelson stayed warm on his freezing quarterdeck...   

Dutch

[djuggie]

June 22, 2024

Took a few days off.  Here is my FB-26 progress.

Cut and snipped until the three guns fit to a reasonable degree and glued on the nose piece.  Radiators and exhausts were added.  The prop is not glued; just fit into place to check its location.  The wings are painted and ready for decals.  I do think the three gun installation was what caused the model to return to the Shelf of Doom.  We will soon see if that was the issue as I progress.

Dennis

[Dutch522]

This is a fascinating aeroplane, Dennis, can't wait to see it together! I was completely unable to find anything on the Eeman gun mount, not surprisingly, sounds like if there was anything available you'd have found it in your own collection. Oddly, there's a contemporary Estonian company making pistol upgrade parts that goes by the name Eeman, although there's almost certainly no connection.

Dutch

[djuggie]

Dutch,

Thank you for looking.  In retrospect, I should have drilled three holes, stuck in three rods and called it a day.  Even if I had info on the Eeman mount, there was no room to put anything.  Thank you for your comment.

Dennis

[NigelR]

This is quite some project! It's powered by Schrodinger drive..... (the engine is there but not there). Full of Dennis's dirty little secrets, this will be a totally unique build when it's done.

Very nice progress so far Dennis, keep going.

[Dutch522]

No problemo, Dennis. I love scrounging for obscure aeronautical details... a weird idea of fun, but I can deal with it when I have to

And Nigel writes: This is quite some project! It's powered by Schrodinger drive..... (the engine is there but not there).

I had one of those in my little Mazda roadster, but sometimes it worked and sometimes not; I ended up swapping it out for an Ultimate Improbability Drive off EBay. Much more reliable, as long as you really didn't care where you ended up.

Dutch