Special Hobby 1:72 DAP Beaufort Mk.VIII

[Navy Bird]

Hi mates,

 

Time for a new project! I finished the last project yesterday, so time is a wasting. I asked my fellow Britmodellers to have a digital look at my stash and tell me what to build. The Bristol Beaufort won a tightly contested battle, 2 votes to 1 cast for the de Havilland Sea Hornet.

 

The kit is from Special Hobby, and represents the DAP (Department of Aircraft Production) Beaufort Mk.VIII. This is the version license built in Australia for the RAAF. At this point, I like the markings and camouflage scheme for A9-486/QH-K "Scotty's Homin' Pidgin," piloted by Off Bill Scott, 100 Squadron RAAF, Tadji, New Guinea, in 1944.

 

 

This will be my first model of an RAAF aircraft, and the scheme of Foliage Green and Earth Brown over Sky Blue. Nick Millman, please stand by - I have a feeling I will have a question or two for you!

 

Or I could do it without any paint, like this:

 

 

The kit has an impressive number of resin components, plus a good-sized fret of photoetch parts. It doesn't look like any aftermarket is necessary, but knowing me I will probably find some reason to buy some. I've already had a look at an additional PE fret from Brengun that looks quite nice. Oh, man, there goes my wallet again...

Here are the raw materials:

 

 

 

 

I won't get much accomplished in the next few weeks, as I have some medical things to attend to, plus a week at the cabin. In the woods! With beer! And the dogs! And lots of fishing! And hiking! And the family, too, can't forget those guys! Oh, and the hobby shop in Jamestown and the Antique Mall in Salamanca (where there are several stalls full of old model kits, where I found some great bargains last year)! As you can tell, I'm anxious for the short holiday to start.

 

Cheers for now,

Bill

[Procopius]

Oh man, I would have been equally excited to see you build the Hornet, but THIS will be something to see!

[woody37]

Look forwards to it Bill, as I do all your builds, but a break will no doubt be a priority

[Martian]

The natural metal scheme looks very interesting Bill!

Martin

[tonyot]

Me too Bill,.....I`m really looking forward to this one, I have a real soft spot for the Beaufort, especially Aussue ones,

Cheers

Tony

[PlaStix]

Great stuff Bill! Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one!

[Stew Dapple]

I'm in Bill, start when you're ready

Cheers,

Stew

[Navy Bird]

On 8/11/2014 at 22:29, Procopius said:

Oh man, I would have been equally excited to see you build the Hornet, but THIS will be something to see!

 

Translation: Mother, come look what he's gotten himself into this time!

 

On 8/12/2014 at 04:23, tonyot said:

Me too Bill,.....I`m really looking forward to this one, I have a real soft spot for the Beaufort, especially Aussue ones,

Cheers

Tony

 

Glad to hear that, because I have you on my list of people to annoy with questions on this one! Can we start with the colours? Foliage Green and Earth Brown over Sky Blue. The only fan deck I have is the silly FS one. I don't suppose any of those colours are close, are they?

 

Special Hobby have you use Gunze H302 (FS34092) for the Foliage Green, H323 (FS35526) for Sky Blue, and a mix for the Earth Brown. Going by my experience with previous Special Hobby kits, those Gunze colour matches won't be quite right.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Michael louey]

Hi Bill,

Great choice of subject. I plan to use the High Planes kit which I've been advised is better shape wise but will be a whole lot more work in getting to fit (Old fashioned short run plastic with vac canopies and white metal detail parts) and less detail than the SH (without any updates).

Regarding the colours - Earth Brown (Gary from Red Roo has recommended Humbrol 10 Service Brown in the past. I tried using this but the 'old' Airfix paint made in China was shocking and ruined my Boomerang - I replaced it with Chocolate from Humbrol which is not as accurate but at least lays down ok. I have bought the new 'British' Service Brown and will test it out to see if it is better. I use the WEM colour for Sky Blue though I think there may be a Humbrol colour (Israeli Blue?) which is close. For Foliage green I've used both FS34092 and FS34079. I don't use much acrylics so can't give you Gunze or Tamiya matches unfortunately. I find the WEM Foliage green too 'bright'.

Best of luck

Michael

Edited August 13, 2014 by Michael louey

[Navy Bird]

Thanks, Michael.

 

I found a Gunze colour in my stash called "Cocoa Brown" and it might work for Earth Brown, at least based on some of the model builds I've seen here and on other forums. I'd describe it as a rich chocolate colour with a touch of red.

 

It's interesting that you mention Israeli Blue, as I've seen a few places that recommend Gunze H314 for Sky Blue. I don't recall the FS number offhand, but it's the underside blue used for the Israeli desert camouflage. FS35414 maybe? I think it would need to be a bit brighter, but nowhere near H323 which Special Hobby recommended.

 

Lots of time before I start painting. I just started assembling the cockpit pieces last night - typical for Special Hobby, but you're kind of left to your own devices to figure out how they go together. But I like challenges!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[general melchett]

Great subject matter Bill, look forward to progress as ever...enjoy your jolly old fella !, fishing, hiking, cabin in the woods, beer, dogs, family members, good lord sounds like the script to a movie to me, just don't forget your shaky camcorder !!

[Winenut]

Damn Bill!

Got me sucked in again!

Can't wait..

[Martian]

Great subject matter Bill, look forward to progress as ever...enjoy your jolly old fella !, fishing, hiking, cabin in the woods, beer, dogs, family members, good lord sounds like the script to a movie to me, just don't forget your shaky camcorder !!

Just make sure that Bigfoot doesn't get at the beer!

Martin

[Graham Boak]

It's my belief that the engine cowlings in the SH Beaufort are too large in diameter, being more appropriate for a Hercules than a P&W. Red Roo used to do cowling sets for the Beaufort (and the Hudson, same SH/Italeri problem) so you may be lucky enough to track a set down.

[Tomoshenko]

Looking forward to this. Not too late to change your mind and opt for the NMF version though. Would love to see one given your touch.

[Hamden]

Looking forward to seeing you work your magic on this.

Roger

[tonyot]

Hiya Bill,

Sorry mate I`ve just noticed your query regarding the colours! I`d say that you are right about the basic colours but remember that most of the camouflaged RAAF Beaufort`s flying on operations were extremely faded so I`d go for lighter shades and the blue ring of the upper wing roundels often faded to a light blue too,.......these were often repainted by hand to stop them fading too much! Standard RAF Dark Earth and Dark Green may look about right for a faded machine and Israeli Pale Blue could be a good option for the undersides as mentioned earlier but to be honest any green, brown and pale blue colours could be justified considering the harsh conditions and strong sunlight that they operated under?

Looking forward to this kit getting the Bill treatment and I`ll be glad to help if I can,

Cheers

Tony

PS- I think that the Twin Wasp cowling`s in this later release have been changed compared to the earlier RAF boxings so they should hopefully be a bit better. The main glaring error was the over large opening in the front of the cowling but even this can be altered by building the edges up with plastic strip and filler.

Edited August 15, 2014 by tonyot

[Navy Bird]

Hi mates!

 

I'm back from the woods, and anxious to glue some plastic together. But I can't just dive in, since this is a Special Hobby kit. This means no locating pins or alignment guides, and an instruction booklet that offers no, er, instructions.

 

I am currently taping the cockpit pieces together in several different ways, hoping that one of them will be the keystone that unlocks the Beaufortian mysteries within. Where is the Keymaster of Gozer when he is needed?

 

I think I should start with part E8 (a shelf of some sort on the port side of the nose) and work my way backward. I shall have to be careful that the instrument panel ends up in the correct location relative to the glazing. And, of course, that all of this will fit properly between the fuselage halves without any gaps or need for large amounts of sanding.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. While "deer-spotting" each night in the woods, I saw several red fox last week. I can now definitively answer the question "what does the fox say?" Nothing, absolutely nothing. Didn't even say thanks for the doggie treats (they are canine, right?)

 

PPS. Also found an antique bazaar of sorts, where one of the stalls had stacks of plastic model kits. I picked up The Roden airliner version of the He 111C, the Testors re-box of the Fujimi F7U-3 Cutlass, the Academy PBY-5 (would look nice in Coastal Command markings searching for the Bismarck, I think), and MPC re-box of the Airfix Short Stirling (from 1969, when the moulds were still fresh). All in 1:72 scale and all for about $30 USD. I actually had my hands on the Airfix 1:24 Spitfire (marked for $20) but upon opening the box I found that it had already been started (very badly, I might add), and several pieces were missing. Like the bottom of the wings. How do you lose that in 1:24 scale? That is one mighty big carpet!

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Bill

Great choice of aircraft, I'm reading a book called "Ship Busters" at the moment which is all about Beauforts in service, UK and Malta mostly. Really look forward to seeing how this one develops.

I have the old Contrail vacform 1/48 one with added metal bits, which always gets returned to the bottom of the stash due to my cowardice in building it.

Cheers Pat

[Navy Bird]

More goodies arriving! In the post last week was the photoetch set from Brengun. It contains nice detail for the inside of the gear doors (which are completely smooth in the kit), as well some extra detailing for the guns and landing gear legs. Oh, and a boarding ladder, too. There's not a lot here, really, but every little bit helps.

 

Now, about all that glazing! Both Eduard and Montex offer painting masks for the Special Hobby kit. The Montex set appears to have masks for the turret used in the DAP Beaufort, Eduard do not. I've not used Montex before, can someone say how they compare to Eduard? I haven't found any US sources that have the Montex Beaufort set in stock, so I will probably have to buy from the EU. Any recommendations for a good source for Montex masks?

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

Enough talking! Let's start cutting some plastic - because that's what we need to do in order to change this from a Beaufort Mk.I (the original kit) into a DAP Beaufort Mk.VIII. The big changes are grafting on a new tail, and cutting away part of the fuselage to adapt it for a different turret.

 

First, the tail. Here is where we start - the original tail on top, and the larger Mk.VIII tail on the bottom:

 

 

Thankfully, Special Hobby have engineered the kit so the cuts are made along existing panel lines. For me, this is a double-edged sword. It makes it quite easy to cut in the right place, but it also means you have to somehow recreate the panel line. I don't have much success just cleaning up the cuts, gluing it on and saying that's a wrap. No matter what you use to cut - razor saw, scriber, memsahib's meat cleaver - you remove a certain amount of material. I usually fill the join with superglue and then scribe a new panel line into that. And I'm open for suggestions for improvement!

 

So let's cut away the old tail and see what we've got. Here is the new tail and the fuselage after old tail removal:

 

 

The fit is not too bad just from cutting. I used an RB Productions scriber, by the way.

 

 

The fuselage spine is a different challenge. Lots of curves in the cross section to follow, so extra care is to be taken. Special Hobby provide a new resin fuselage piece for the new turret, and unfortunately one of the triangular "gussets" broke off in shipment. I'll replace it with styrene card when we blend the new piece into the fuselage. Here is what we're starting with:

 

 

After the cut made in the starboard fuselage half, and removal of the pour block from the resin piece:

 

 

At this point, I think we can get a better appreciation for the modifications by taping the fuselage halves together and comparing the starboard (where I've made the cuts) to the port (which is still pristine, or at least as pristine as Special Hobby styrene can be). The turret modification:

 

 

And the tail - the Mk.VIII tail is larger than I expected when compared this way.

 

 

Back at the front end of the Beau, I've worked out my plan of attack. First, I will use the shelf as my "keystone" and base the placement of the rest of the cockpit on it. Once glued in, it will need just a touch of filler to make that seam vanish:

 

 

The cockpit consists of both styrene and resin components. The styrene floor has moulded in rudder pedals (rather rudimentary, but unlikely to be seen when the model is finished), plus the bulkhead for the pilot's seat and a second bulkhead at the rear. This is one of the more frustrating part of Special Hobby instructions. The rear bulkhead attaches to the end of the floor - but is it on the top surface or the rear edge of the floor? There is a nice raised bar for the location of the seat bulkhead, but does it attach to the top of the bar? The front edge? The back edge? The only way to know is to study the drawings in subsequent instruction steps and see if they've shown the assembly. In this case, I think I've gleaned enough to make a WAG and glue it like this:

 

 

Why all the fuss? As I learned with during my build of the Special Hobby Skua kit, the pilot's bulkhead may need to align with some portion of the canopy framework - so if you don't get it right, things look bad.

 

Luckily, we don't have that issue with the Beaufort, as the pilot's bulkhead does not connect in any way with the canopy framework. It's free-standing, for lack of a better term. I learned this by studying some great photos graciously provided by Ed and Tony - thanks guys!

The instrument panel and consoles are resin, as are the seats for the pilot and the bomb aimer. It's time to fire up the airbrush and start spraying some of that lovely interior grey-green. Really, it's lovely, I like it. Would you rather immerse yourself in a cockpit painted with that colour, or in one painted with ANA 611?

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Martian]

Nice start Bill!

Martin

[Beard]

I have a yearning to assemble a Beaufort, after reading Arthur Aldridge's 'The Last Torpedo Flyers', so I'll be watching this with interest.

[Viking]

This is going to be good! look forward to progess on it.

Cheers

John

[Navy Bird]

OK, let's see where we are. I must have done something all last week!

 

The cockpit consists of the styrene floor and bulkheads, along with resin components for the seat, instrument panel, control panel, yoke, etc. The instrument panel is designed to butt up against the back of the bulkhead just to the rear of the "shelf" for the bombardier, navigator, observer - whoever that guy is who crawls around up front. Like this:

 

 

 

Things line up well here, even when putting the fuselage halves together, so I think I guessed right on how to assemble all those pieces. To be fair though, I think this kit is a little more forgiving in this area than the Special Hobby Skua kit was.

 

This kit of the Beaufort also includes a torpedo, which apparently wasn't used much by the RAAF. The torpedo bay could be configured for bombs as well, but Special Hobby only provide bombs and rack for under-wing mounting. I think my option here is to close up the torpedo bay, and use the kit-provided bombs.

 

Two very long pieces of styrene are provided for use in closing up the bay, and I can see that I'll have to be very careful gluing these on so that everything fits together. I glued the first one on like so:

 

 

You can see that it doesn't reach to aircraft centreline, and this is due to the bay being offset. The following picture shows this a little better.

 

 

What are the chances I can glue the other part on and have everything line up? Yikes! I'll wait until later to do that, I'm too nervous to do it right now!

 

The cockpit sidewalls are completely devoid of any details. That's odd for a multimedia Special Hobby kit, I would have expected resin sidewalls. I guess I'll have to add something, as there is a lot of glass up front and some annoying IPMS judge is going to poke some high powered LED flashlight in there.

 

I had a look at as many Beaufort walkaround and close-up cockpit photos that I could find (Thanks Ed and Tony!) and I've decided on a plan. Like all of my cockpit "detailing" it's guaranteed NOT to be accurate. I prefer to add a bunch of fiddly gubbins that merely create the "mood" of the cockpit. Can you dig it, man? You can? Cool, let's do it!

 

First I added some pieces of styrene strips and rods to make some structural elements. I went to my supply of "Used PE frets that still have parts attached to them" (why didn't I use all the parts?) and added some small pieces to provide extra detail. Once the cockpit is painted, I'll be adding more.

 

 

 

OK, let's get out the Grey Green bottle and start painting this baby. I have a special, top secret blend of Gunze Sangyo (er, I mean Mr. Color Mr. Hobby Aqueous Hobby Color Water Based Acrylic Paint by GSI Creos - seriously, that's what it says on the label) paint that I use for "RAF Interior Grey Green." Oh, what the heck I can tell you the secret ingredients: I mix grey and green. I have no idea what proportions were used, I just started mixing different colours until I had something that matched Testors RAF Interior Green. And that it does very well, I can't tell them apart. Of course, I also have no idea if the Testors paint is a good match to the actual thing, but it's all I had to go on.

 

(Gunze makes the interior grey green colour, of course - it's H364 or C364 if you prefer sweet smelling lacquers. Neither of which can I find anywhere over here. Hence the drastic measure of using a Testors product as a calibration standard.)

 

So here is a bunch of stuff all nicely painted up - any comments about the accuracy of the grey green colour will be met with responses about my lousy camera/lighting/photo booth and most importantly photography skills! I don't know why, but these interior greens, and Sky come to think of it, never seem to photograph well for me. Someday I'll learn.

 

 

My special mix is glossy, as you can see, which I did intentionally since I know that I almost always use some kind of sludge wash inside the cockpit. That works best for me if the interior paint is glossy.

 

OK, back to the studio for me. We Yanks get an extra day off this weekend (Labor Day or some such nonsense) so maybe I can get some nice detailing work done up front.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Edit:

Photography 101 - If you're using "Daylight" rated photo lamps, it might be a good idea if you set the White Balance control in your "Smart" camera to "Daylight." Just saying, you know? And always look at that little dial on top - you know, the one that you rotate to "Auto" so the wife can use it? Try putting it back on "Aperture Priority" so that the heretofore mentioned White Balance setting is actually applied. Geesh, what a noob.

 

Have a look at this:

 

 

This looks a bit more like the way it looks in real life, other than being magnified a gajillion times. The photo is still not perfect. The paint should lighten up a bit when the clear flat varnish is applied.