Cutaway Beaufighter

[pbhawkin]

This is a current Works in Progress.
I have decided to give the Marabu designs (http://www.marabudesign.com ) PE set for the Beaufighter a go.
I have a 1/144 Mk.1c from Mark1 that I will probably do in RAAF colours of Foliage Green and Earth Brown over RAAF Sky of a 30Sqn aircraft based in PNG in 1942.
I am not one of those modellers who takes satisfaction in building items that can not be seen by others only 'knowing they are there'!
I plan to detail this kit with the PE (and maybe some other items depending on how my time and sanity go) and allow it to be seen.
I have had a few suggestions as to how to do it but as I am not that big on dioramas and the exploded view although intriguing (and something I may do at a later time), leaves me with more of a "instructional 'cut-away' display as they used to do with weapons when training soldiers.
I am using the SAM Publications. Modellers Datafile number 6 "The Bristol Beaufighter" as my main reference
So the pieces involved;
PE set:

 

Mark1 kit Described in detail in other threads but nevertheless a great kit with some areas that need addressing (in my opinion):

 

Floor pieces:

 

Glued together and the two exits cut out:

 

Pilots entry well sides made with two part putty. I plan on having the front hatch open and so need to make the walls of the entrance well between the floor and the fuselage (otherwise the space under the floor will be seen). I am not planning to open the rear one as yet (but may change my mind!) :

 

Some of the interior parts including 20mm cannon ammo boxes, radio and table, and side fuselage pilot consuls (I have added a box (APU) already to the floor that can be seen in the above picture):

 

Starboard fuselage interior being prepared by thinning away a little of the plastic where the PE side will sit up against:

 

Port fuselage side with some PE interior side panel pieces added and a large section dremelled away to allow for viewing:

 

And the outside of the Port fuselage (I have also cut out the observer's hatch surrounds as this will be a PE part and displayed open):

 

I will have to do painting as I go (both interior and exterior (as I am afraid that I might not adequately mask the interior when I come to spray the camo!!)).

Edited April 9, 2017 by pbhawkin

[pbhawkin]

painted the interior in the base Interior Green and added some of the PE details from the set as well as some from my spares box. The floor has the ammo bins added and the seat base and I have decided to have the rear observer's entrance open as well so I have made the walls of the entry:

 

I have finished the Starboard side wiring loom. It's made from thin wire from a loom and held together by tinfoil folded over the wires (to represent the cable holders):

 

 I have progressed to almost finishing the interior walls. I have some wiring, tubes and gauges to add. Then it will be onto partially covering the opening in the fuselage with some ribs and longerons.

 

I have decided to cover the fuselage cut-out with 'Bare-Metal' foil, so that I can spray the outside camouflage colours without risking any overspray getting inside (and then cut out the foil to expose the insides).
The plan was to use thin foil to represent the thinness of the actual fuselage skin and some exposed ribs and longerons (made from 1/700 ships railings). However, it may be too thin(!) as the ribs show through easily and it concaves in rather than convex out, perhaps I should have used a thicker foil like the inside the lids of Milo tins! I will try some of the Perfect Putty to smooth it out prior to spraying.

 

I have also countersunk the two underfloor exit door recesses as per this shot:

 

Perhaps not as neat!:

 

You might note that Mark1 forgot to add in the scribing for the 20mm cannon cartridge ejection slots (but they have done it for the .303 slots(!). Something I will need to add.

[Lawzer]

Very nice work!

 

I'll be following this with interest

[Troy Smith]

very neat, this is 1/144th?

 

the RAF museum used to have a the front of Beaufighter with some of the skin cutaway, don't have the datafile so this maybe in there anyway.

 

cheers

T

[brewerjerry]

3 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

very neat, this is 1/144th?

 .....

cheers

T

 

Hi 

    Seems to be from the link

      Wish someone did this in 1:32 

        cheers J 

[Work In Progress]

Er...

 

Loads been built and shown on here

 

[brewerjerry]

1 hour ago, Work In Progress said:

Er...

 

Loads been built and shown on here

 

 

Hi

    maybe i should have been clearer  

 

  I meant the PE

 

  for my 1:32 beaus i have

    cheers J 

      

[pbhawkin]

It's not all PE. There is a lot of scratch building in there as well!

At 1/32 you should be able to make it fly!!

[brewerjerry]

Hi

    no chance of it flying with my eyes,

     I graduated to 1:32 now as anything less than 1:48 is a challenge, even with magnifiers 

 

    but the ladies look prettier nowadays more 10's around

 

    cheers J 

     

[Work In Progress]

6 hours ago, brewerjerry said:

Hi

    maybe i should have been clearer  

 

  I meant the PE

    

 

Maybe I should have figured that out

This 1/144 one is an awesome effort, though like you I don't think my eyes are young enough for superdetailing in this scale any more.

[Julien]

Moved to Work In Progress. Pls post in the correct area.

 

Julien

[pbhawkin]

Sorry. Thanks for moving it to the correct forum.

 

Anyway, some more pictures.

The previous picture of the underside shoed the recesses I carved to allow the PE underside doors to be countersunk (rather than just stuck on the outer surface of the model as the instructions have you do). Note the fuselage halves are not glued together at this stage.

This picture shows how I will have the doors (I decided to display them open). So as the entrance can be seen I had to make side walls for the entrance wells out of Tamiya putty to box them in:

 

I think I have finished the insides now (except for the radio unit to be put on the floor adjacent to the pilots exit on this side of the picture):

 

 

[pheonix]

Only just found this - excellent modelling in the very tiny scale. Very impressed at the amount of detail that you manage to get in - I have to keep reminding myself of the size when I look at your pictures.

 

P

[pbhawkin]

Work started on one wing ready to install the PE flaps and I have also drilled out the four MG spent cases ports.:

 

However, as you can probably (above and below) see this is what Mark1 would have as the interior of the wheel wells:

 

And this is what it should be like (best picture I could find to show the well without the landing gear in the way):

 

 

 

[pbhawkin]

And here is my effort to reproduce it using Tamiya epoxy putty:

 

 

And with the fuel dump pipes and protective boxes in place:

 

It should look better when painted! Still some detail to be added and cleaning up to be done.

[Oddball]

I'm liking this! Great effort so far, should be interesting to see once she's finished.

[TheBaron]

And I thought 1/72 taxed the eyesight... 

This is pretty cool.

Tony

[pbhawkin]

Finally got around to joining the fuselage halves together:

 

Some tidying up to be done and a little touch up of the interior Green in the exit wells AND I still need to scribe the 20mm cannon ejection ports that Mark1 forgot! Do I also scribe the cannon housing cover as well? Maybe after I fully hide the join down the middle!!

[Jaffajake]

Wow. This is coming along nicely. The extras you've added really set it all off. How about perhaps placing a pound coin next to the plane so we can have a better clue about just how tiny this is?

[georgeusa]

Can't believe you are doing this in 1/144 scale!  Very nice so far. 

[k5054nz]

You're absolutely mad, and I absolutely love it! Your interior work is gorgeous.

[pbhawkin]

Wings are on and fit very nicely (maybe a little Perfect Putty in the seam).
Painted the reworked interiors of the under carriage which shows it better than the previous pictures of the Yellow and white putty.

 

Masked the wheels:

 

And decided the front of the engine nacelles is wrong. It is far too flat and so had to thin it out:

 

to something a bit better:

 

Although now there seems to be too much 'space' in front of the engine! I am toying with the idea of adding the two exhaust tubes from the front of each cylinder (although the rear ones join into the front ones so that there are only two tubes going into the collector ring per two cylinders) into the collector.

[pbhawkin]

So after a bit of a holiday to Broome I have added some PE cowling vents.
These needed to be slightly curved to fit the curve of the cowling and so I gently rolled over them with a paint brush to give them a slight curve as seen in the foreground of this picture:

 

and finished:

 

Then I tried to address the overly large opening at the front of the cowl by adding in the exhaust collector (still needing a little putty and sanding) and of course the two exhausts from each of the cylinders :

 

I used some fine thread painted in a suitable dark Brown colour and glued a small piece on to represent the two exhausts that come from adjacent cylinder heads.

 

Now each engine has a total of 37 parts so far!

[Gorby]

Amazing! You don't like to make life easy for youself do you!

I'll be following this one.

[Bandsaw Steve]

Nice work!