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Airfix Old Blenheim - Finished


AdrianMF

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Well, cockpit and crew done, fun is over, better get on and build the rest of the bloomin' plane now...

 

The fin profile is very subtly but distinctly wrong and the fin is too thin. So I have cut out a fin profile from 30 thou to sandwich between the halves. The correct tail wheel position has been marked with an indent and the edges have been coloured with a sharpie to show when to stop sanding. The front prongs have been tapered too.

IMG_3515.jpg

 

The fuselage is stuck together with lashings of Revell Contacta. There will be sanding and filling a-plenty and that will be the end of the rivets.

IMG_3516.jpg


Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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I'm out of likes. But I like what you're doing :).

 

Looling very good, the fin re-profiling is away from OOB, but a good move :thumbsup2: .

 

Best regards

TonyT

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Just for a laugh (ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha ha-har) I thought I would try out the canopy that came with the kit:

IMG_3519.jpg

 

It's just as I remember it. I wonder if Francis Bacon wore specs like that when he was painting? 

 

Fortunately my Falcon replacement is fresh out of its Future bath:

IMG_3517.jpg

 

I was too late to do any proper modelling tonight so I pulled out my MPM version and compared it to the old Airfix:

IMG_3522.jpg

 

i don't know how accurate they are but I will certainly be using the Airfix propellers!

 

I will be building the MPM one some time soon so I will complete a full set of Frog/Revell, old and new Airfix, and MPM 1/72 Blenheims. 

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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I love the clarity that Falcon stuff brings to a kit and that looks like it will complement those superb aircrew very well indeed Adrian. Does 'Pierre the Falsetto Gunner' get one as well so we can see the look of glum resignation on his face, poor chap?

 

Will you be painting those easy-peasy looking Croix de Lorraine's on?:whistle:

 

Smashing work!

Tony

 

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On 20/02/2017 at 5:55 AM, AdrianMF said:

And finally we have Pierre, the upper gunner, a recent recruit from Boite d'Allumettes. He used to chase girls like Maureen all the time but, since an incident with a sanding stick while fitting him around the upper turret stanchion, he seems to have lost all interest...

 

IMG_3514.jpg

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

 

Ouch.

 

:D

 

TonyT

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Thanks Gents. I will pass your commiserations on to Pierre. He will be getting the raised turret from the new Airfix Blenheim because I used the Falcon one on a Frog Finnish example. The new Airfix turret is pretty clear and has a big opening so he will be able to grimace en plein air.

 

6 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Will you be painting those easy-peasy looking Croix de Lorraine's on?:whistle:

 

I'm glad you asked me that! Well, kinda. I have two sets of decals for the croix, Airfix and MPM. However, they both have the cross in red whereas my internetting suggest that it was blue. So I should mask and paint. But I'm not going to mask over the white decal disc (r-r-rip followed by swearing) so I think it will be a painted circle of purest white, my favourite brushing colour...

 

Regards,

Adrian

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Hello again,

 

well I have sanded down the Milliput and done a comprehensive de-rivet on the fuselage. All the remaining filler is on the low side of the step! You can see the new tail fin and rudder sanded to an aerofoil section and the remains of the sharpie outline:

IMG_3531.jpg

 

The new profile is pretty close to the plan so I'm happy about that. I need to re-scribe the fin/rudder hinge line and the bomb bay, and I will see what I think about the plastic before I commit to doing any more:

IMG_3537.jpg

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Nice job on the tail. I must admit to having had reservations when you said you were going to add a fillet in the middle, but it's worked very well!

 

Ian

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Hi Adrian,

 

Love your cockpit interior work.  You're really going to town on this one.

 

Given the work you've done accurising the fin shape, thought you may be interested in the attached link, which mentions some of the other accuracy issues of the old Airfix Blenheim, if you're interested.

 

Regards

 

Martin

 

http://gregers.fr.yuku.com/topic/11650/Common-Issues-and-Problemsand-Solutions

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Thanks Ian, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. My main worry was delamination of the kit parts and the card but I had slathered it with enough Revell Contacta that it stayed stuck!

 

Martin, thanks for the link. I did the nacelles first of all (and I think you only need to make them more bulbous if you are doing a Canadian Bolingbroke) and I think I'm on top of the rest. Time will tell!

 

The French planes seem to have their own features too - a lot of the photos show an air intake on the top right side of he cooling gills for instance. I will have to stare hard at some photos before I work out what to build!

 

Thanks,

Adrian

Edited by AdrianMF
Mike -> Martin
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Hello All,

 

Not much visible progress, but I've re-scribed the fin and rudder, correcting the hinge line, and I've de-riveted the wings top and bottom. The ailerons are far too narrow so I've filled them in ready for re-scribing:

IMG_3550.jpg

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

Edited by AdrianMF
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Hello All,

 

I've re-scribed the control surfaces, bomb doors and entry hatch, and I think that's my lot. Quitting while I'm ahead! I've also inserted some shaped and drilled plastic for the wingtip lights and built the fragile little spar between the nose transparencies. Given that I'm not going to scribe it, I think we can assemble the components!

 

IMG_3551.jpg

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

 

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