Vulcan Models Guide
Created by Adam Poultney
Skybolt blisters on the 2021 Airfix Vulcan B2 kit
Full Skybolt Blisters
Twin, rear and coolant
Vulcans were fitted with various blisters coving mounting points intended for use with Skybolt, which was cancelled so they went unused for most of their service life. Different batches of Vulcans had different combinations of blisters, some had none at all.
The full set of blisters include the twin mounting blisters, these are the largest pair which are teardrop shaped, the coolant blister, this was small and dome shaped just in front of the twin blisters, and the rear mounting blister which was also small and dome shaped, about halfway back along the wing.
Aircraft with the full set of blisters (* fitted after it was built):
XH538*, XL391, XM597-612
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XH537 had a unique configuration, lacking only the coolant blister
Twin Blisters Only
Refits
A number of Vulcans that were built without any skybolt attachment points were later refitted with only the twin mounting blisters at the front of the wings. These modifications were made after the 1962 cancellation of Skybolt between 1964 and 1967. Aircraft that received these as a later modifications are marked with *. Some late Vulcans were built with this configuration of attachment points:
XH534*, XH554-XH563*, XJ780-784*, XJ823-825*, XM645-657
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Note that XH serialed B2MRRs had another, smaller set of twin blisters unrelated to Skybolt outboard of these ones
Vulcan B2 MRR XJ823 with only twin blisters
Lone coolant blister on XM594
Coolant Blister Only
Repurposed Skybolt Vulcans
Some Vulcans intended for Skybolt were repurposed for Blue Steel, they only have the coolant blister installed. These aircraft are:
XM570-XM576, XM594, XM595
No Blisters
Not intended for Skybolt
Vulcans which were never intended for Skybolt (primarily Blue Steel or early Vulcans) had no blisters under the wings. Aircraft which were later fitted with blisters are marked with *:
VX770, VX777, XA889-913, XH475-483, XH597-506, XH532, XH533, XH534*, XH535, XH536, XH537*, XH538*, XH539, XH554-563*, XJ780-784*, XJ823-825*, XL317-321, XL359-361, XL384-390, XL392, XL425-427, XL443-XL446, XM569, XM596**
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**incomplete fatigue testing airframe
XL319, an ex-Blue Steel Vulcan which has no Skybolt mounting blisters