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Airfix Blenheim Assembly


Paul A H

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I've given in to temptation and cut plastic on this one, but I'm a little concerned by the sequence of construction. Airfix suggest assembling the forward part of the fuselage (complete with glazing) separately to the rear fuselage and wing, and joining them together. Prior experience suggests that it might be better to join the front and rear sections (and glazing) before joining the two halves together (i.e. assembling complete port and starboard halves instead of front and rear halves). Has anyone attempted this method of construction, and does it contain any unexpected pitfalls?

Thank in advance.

Paul

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  • 4 weeks later...

Working my way through building the Blenheim at the moment, and I wish I'd done that and avoided unnecessary shimming and filling.

I've got Xtradecal sheet 72203 and it'd be a shame to let most of it go to waste, so when I build the next one, I shall attach the forward fuselage to the main body first, assemble the glazing in one (theoretically, it should then click-fit into the fuselage, care of the small side windows), and install the main landing gear before glueing the upper and lower wing halves together.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

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Setting up each side first reduces or eliminates gaps that could be awkward to fix because of the cockpit glazing (or risking damage to it), and the wing assembly should then slide into place from beneath the fuselage with a minimum of fuss. It's a more elegant solution than the assembly sequence in the kit instructions.

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Real modeller don't read the instructions. :winkgrin:

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Funnily enough, I was going to join the sides first, then I realised that trying to get the wing in from underneath would be a pest. I ended up following the instructions! Plenty of sanding, filing and test fitting is needed with this one!

As for the glazing I'd recommend doing it the way the instructions tell you plus lopping off the rear oval windows, putting them in seperately. That way you can get a more flush fit between the nose sides and the glazing. Trim the front glazing tabs as well as they don't help the fit if you've painted the interior.

I think the primary issue is the wing spar. It's a bit too chunky and the kit tolerences are just a tad too tight in that area.

Mike.

Edited by MikeR
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  • 2 weeks later...

Apologies for not having added to this topic since I started it - let me make amends now. In the end I following Darby's advise and assembled the port and starboard fuselage halves (including glazing) before joining them together. As a result the wings were a slightly tight fit, but nothing too troublesome and I didn't need any filler for this part of the build. I guess, therefore, you could call the experiment a success :)

My finished build is here if you want to take a look: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234972619-bristol-blenheim-mki-new-airfix-kit/

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  • 1 month later...

Got my hands on a Blenheim IVf, but am building it as a Blenheim IV.

This time round, I attached the cockpit sides (with side glazing) to the fuselage sides first, then slid the upper wing into place and glued it, Doing this let me get the undercarriage mounted nice and securely with plenty of room to get at the components as necessary. Having done this, I slid the lower wing into place and glued it to the upper. Result! Still had to do some shimming, though - there were gaps at the sides of the bomb bay and at the rear of the belly section A16, but some Evergreen strip soon sorted that out.

More modelling and less mangling this time round.

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I found that if you followed the instructions you had to pay considerable attention to the curve of the wing/fuselage fairing, otherwise the rear would not sit far enough forward to meet the front fuselage - and avoid a step in the trailing edge. Even so I had a small gap to fill at the top, the bottom parts meeting without a gap, but the three parts making up the bombbay did not provide a smooth bottom line. Nothing terribly difficult to fix. I placed the front fuselage without the canopy parts, partly because they kept falling off - I'd only glued them with Humbrol Clear Fix and it had little or no strength. I've yet to fix them on and proceed.

I'd also had trouble getting the undercarriage sub-structure to seat properly within the wing.

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