Jump to content

1/32nd scale Halifax - finished


Recommended Posts

I've been struggling to get my teeth into anything since I finished my 1/32nd B-29, but have finally settled on this as my next long term project.

I had considered a 1/32nd Vickers Wellington or 1/32nd Shorts Sunderland, but I have just built the 1/72nd Halifax from Revell and decided that as an unsung and often overlooked workhorse of Bomber Command this aircraft deserves some attention in a large scale (cue HK Models to announce a release in 2014!)

This model is now available from Tigger Wilkes, and is the old ID Models moulding. As usual with kits like this, there is no interior or surface detail - it's a blank canvass to work one's magic!

This kit is the MkI/II version with Rolls-Royce Merlins. There is the option to do a MkII Series Ia too as the later nose and square fins are also provided.

I may well do this as a MkII Series Ia, but am also trying to source some Hercules nacelles and engines so a MkIII could be a possibility. Either way, I plan to have at least one of the cowlings off so show off an engine, open bomb-bay (including the wing cells) and a fully detailed interior.


Here's what you get in the kit:


Fuselage:


DSC_0093.jpg


Inner wing sections:


DSC_0087.jpg


Outer Wings:


DSC_0085.jpg


Engine nacelles, stabilisers and early/late fins:


DSC_0089.jpg


Transparencies, including all turrets for a MkI and the later MkII Series Ia nose:


DSC_0090.jpg


There is no undercarriage or props with this kit, so as usual it'll be lots of head scratching and scratch-building to complete this. Decals are also non-existent so the majority will be done with masks and the airbrush. Scheme is still undecided, and depending on where the build takes me a decision will be made further down the line.

If my 1/32nd Lancaster project is anything to go by, I reckon this will take close to a year. I am also prone to getting side-tracked with other projects so this could be a long haul.

Wish me luck!

Tom

Edited by tomprobert
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about your VC1O, any progress on that

Not much I'm afraid - I've lost interest in it at the moment.

No doubt I'll get the urge again at some point and get it out again!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me to! Was very tempted Tom for your Wellington too, just have low funds at the moment.

It's on eBay now... Currently at £17... grab yourself a bargain!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Should be fun :) I presume you've already bookmarked Halibag Phil's WIP of his scratched 1:48 Halifax? He started it on ARC, but did migrate over here for a while. I've not checked back to see whether he's still working on it elsewhere, but I've not seen any progress on it for years. It was utterly mind-blowing :wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Should be fun :) I presume you've already bookmarked Halibag Phil's WIP of his scratched 1:48 Halifax? He started it on ARC, but did migrate over here for a while. I've not checked back to see whether he's still working on it elsewhere, but I've not seen any progress on it for years. It was utterly mind-blowing :wub:

Hi Mike,

Yes I have had a look, I don't think mine will be quite the same standard though!

I've also got a great couple of articles on the 1:48th Halifax that was at Telford a few years back, which was a mix of Fonderie and Sanger. That was a pretty inspirational build, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I'm still deciding what version of this aircraft to build, I've made a start on the inner section of the wings. These parts of the wing are very similar for all marks of Halifax, so when I eventually settle on a particular aircraft it will only take minor modifications to build whichever version I choose.

Once the parts were removed from the backing sheet, I removed the main undercarriage bays as well as the three bomb cells in each wing. If my memory serves me correctly, the MkI and MkII had all three operational in each wing, whereas the MkIII had the inner ones sealed and an additional fuel tank fitted, so if I do settle on a MkIII it'll just be a case of re-sealing the unwanted cell:

IMG_1921.jpg

This part of the model will need to be very strong as it will be the section supporting the main weight of the model once complete. Therefore, as there are no spars provided in the kit, it was a case of some thick plastic card, some careful measuring and lots of dry fitting to build the internal support structure for the wing. This had to be built around the wheel bays and the bomb cells.

Here are the undercarriage bays boxed in and the basic structure of the bomb-bays. You can also see in this picture I've removed the forward section of the left wing, as I plan to have the cowlings off and a detailed engine structure added. This will be modified depending on whether it's a Merlin or Hercules fitted in due course:

IMG_1924.jpg

IMG_1926.jpg

I then made the dividers for the individual wing cells. These will be stored for now and detailed at a later stage:

IMG_1919.jpg

The next job was devise a way of mating the fuselage to the wings securely when the time comes. To do this I inserted some plastic tubing, and into this slots some wooden dowel. This will make the main spar for the model, and provide a very strong structure to run through the centre section of the aircraft:

IMG_1937.jpg

And here is the wing with everything test fitted:

IMG_1914.jpg

(More to follow)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As well as having an engine exposed I also wanted to add a little more interest to the wing, so I have opened up the dinghy stowage hatch in the wing, as well as the three access panels above the bomb cells.

Using some plans I scribed the basic panel details onto the wing surfaces using my trusty dental scribe and bendy ruler, and opened up the dinghy hatch.

Before:

IMG_1928.jpg

After:

IMG_1930.jpg

I've scratch built the stowage area itself from plastic card - more detailing will be done later on in the build:

IMG_1932.jpg

And that brings you up to date for now - I'm hoping to get the basic structure of the inner wing sections completed in the next day or two.

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still working on the wings...

As this is such a large kit, they are moulded with the outer sections as separate parts, which will then need to be joined to the inner sections. This is actually advantageous, as it means you can set the dihedral yourself rather than having to correct any inaccuracies... e.g. Revell's 1/72nd Lancaster!

Once again I spent a few hours scribing on the surface detail:

IMG_1948.jpg

With parts this size, I find it easier to scribe them whilst still on the backing sheet. This way they flex a lot less and if you scribe when the wing parts are joined the pressure applied can split the seams. When the halves are together and sanded, it only means a few panel lines have to be redone on the leading edges.

Here are all four wing sections completed. Special care has to be taken on the trailing edges to ensure they are thin enough and in scale... the hardest part of vacform modelling I find:

IMG_1953.jpg

You can also see in the picture above that I've removed the flaps. More pictures than not show Halifax flaps dropped when they're parked, so that's what I've gone for. These will be scratch built and added later in the build.

Finally, a quick size comparison. Here is one of the outer wing sections with Revell's 1/72nd scale Halifax... she's a big girl:

IMG_1958.jpg

I'm now going to busy myself making the spar structure for these sections of the wings... :banghead:

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

I've been doing a little bit to this build here and there, and now there has been some progress I thought it was time for an update :)

I have been concentrating on the engines as I needed to decide whether to go for Rolls-Royce Merlin power plants seen on the Halifax MkI, II II(IA) and V, or the Bristol Hercules engines on the MkIII. The kit comes with Merlins, but I was seriously considering converting them to Hercules engines by modifying the nacelles and using 1/32nd Beaufighter engines as this would give me a wider choice of colour schemes, and even possibly do this model as 'Friday 13th'.

As it transpires, the Merlin nacelle is very different to the Hercules version, so I have decided to stick with RR power and save myself a huge amount of extra work on a kit that requires considerable amounts already just to get the bl**dy thing together!

The most common question I get about building vacs (and the thing that I think puts people off the most) is the removal or the parts from the backing sheet. The next series of pictures show how I go about this, and show that it is actually very easy.

Step 1:

IMG_1881.jpg

With a very sharp blade, I score around the part...

Step 2:

IMG_1886.jpg

Once you've been around the part a couple of times, I carefully break it away from the backing sheet...

Step 3:

IMG_1893.jpg

I then tape the parts together for a test fit to see how much sanding is required. You can see the rough edges here and these must be removed...

Step 4:

IMG_1898.jpg

Sanding is now complete, and you can see that the fit is now as good as most injection moulded kits... providing you're careful during the sanding process of course!

The next job was remove the very crude exhausts and carburetor intakes on the engine sides, as these will be replaced with my own scratch-built parts later in the build. I lined and backed the exhaust apertures with thin card, and backed the whole left by the carb. intakes as these will be filled flush in preparation for new ones to be added. It looks very rough here but once filled and sanded they should come up ok:

IMG_1910.jpg

I then opened up the radiator intakes and scratch built the radiator fronts, using plastic card, and for the radiators themselves, thin mesh. As you can see, I've gone for the late type radiators which are very similar to those found on the Lancaster as I didn't fancy tackling the early and far more complex set-up seen on earlier Halifaxes:

IMG_1906.jpg

The engine interiors were then sprayed black. You can also just make out in this picture that I've added the rear part of the radiator shutter to the bottom of the nacelle:

IMG_1909.jpg

S1034030.jpg

And the nacelle halves could be joined in preparation for adding them to the wings.

(More to follow)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm in awe of anyone who takes on a vacform project, but a 1/32 four-engined bomber...? :worthy:

Edited by MakingModelsAgain
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part Two.

The inner and outer wing sections were then joined, making sure the dihedral was correct by following the Granger plans.

The completed nacelles were then attached to the wing, with the fairings over the top of the wing added later. These were very difficult to get right - they were very oversized in the kit and needed considerable trimming and sanding to get a good fit. They're just about there now, but may well need some more re-shaping, which I will decided once I've got a coat of primer on.

As you can see, I've cut off the No2 engine at the firewall, as I plan to have this engine exposed and detailed:

IMG_2033.jpg

IMG_2036.jpg

IMG_2037.jpg

Here's the underside, and you can see I've also started detailing the undercarriage bays:

IMG_2039.jpg

IMG_2042.jpg

IMG_2044.jpg

This final picture shows the huge difference between the rectangular Merlin engine mounts and the circular Hercules engine and the amount of work that would have been required to mate the Hercules with the RR nacelle. Call me a wimp... but I didn't really fancy it!

IMG_2049.jpg

Now to do the same for the right wing...

Tom

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...