AdrianMF Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 I've got a bit stalled on my Fairey Long Range Monoplane and I've got an Airfix F-111 on the go in group builds, so I'm building this for some actual fun! It has been semi-started for a while now, and I painted up the cockpit when I was doing the old Airfix Blenheim. I was impressed by the etch instrument panels with celluloid backing. I tried an etch seatbelt for the pilot but the observer got a wine bottle foil and fuse wire harness instead. Not sure I will be able to tell the difference through the canopy... I kitted out the cockpit an extra seat and panel for the observer: The two transparent halves of the canopy worked well: ... as long as you check the width beforehand and add a wedge to the bottom of the fuselage: Thanks for looking, Adrian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossofiron1971 Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Nice! How to make a **** Kit look fabulous... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 I always enjoy your builds Adrian and loved the previous Blenheims. This will give you the complete set won't it? What scheme are you going for? Regards Jim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Excellent, anther Adrian build! Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 I really like the seatbelt you've done for the observer. Who needs photoetch? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 Thanks Chaps! This build comes as a blessed relief from the Fairey and I suspect will be a useful bolt-hole away from the Airfix F-111 too. I was thinking about the Airfix Molins Mossie for the DH GB but that would be yet another new start... I'm planning to do "EE-A" from 404 Squadron. This is reportedly EDSG/Dark Slate Grey over Sky (as opposed to Ocean Grey/Green). The only B+W pictures I have found on t'web show quite low contrast between the two colours in the scheme so I'm prepared to believe it. I may mask the codes because they are simple shapes, and I will piece the serial together from my Xtradecals sheet. Roundels and stripes from the kit. The kit is missing a lot of small details: venturi tube by the pilot, pitot tube on the nose, under-fuselage guns (forward- or rear-firing). The wheels are even smaller than the Frog kit, which is seriously under-sized, and the landing and navigation lights are moulded solid (and opaque). So there's a bit of work to do, and I have to decide how to beef up the wheels without raiding another kit. I will build a new gun pack because it seems that the kit ones are rather wide (they should fit over the middle doors only). And indeed when it is finished I will indeed then have old+new Airfix, FROG and MPM/Special Hobby examples. Not quite sure what I will do with two more FROGs and two more old Airfixes though! Regards, Adrian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 1 hour ago, Beard said: Who needs photoetch? Indeed! I am totally in awe of the teeny-tiny details in the belt and it would have been just as easy to paint up and fix the second, but I think the foil-and-wire approach is more in keeping with my modelling style, and the end result looks just as good through a distorted canopy covered in gluey fingerprints... I think that level of detail is wasted on modellers like me. I should send all that stuff off to Martin! (who scratch builds all his own details anyway to photoetch standard or better, so that's a waste of time too!) Regards, Adrian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 I've got several Airfix Blenheims in the stash so have some spare gunpacks and Romanian decals. Let me know if you want them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 That's a great start Adrian, looking forward to another Blenheim! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 Picked this up again after wrapping up an Airfix F-111 for the group build. Got the wings on and used a bit of Milliput to sort out under the cockpit: Thanks for looking, Adrian 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 17, 2017 Author Share Posted June 17, 2017 Drilled some holes and added some brass tube and rod for spinning propellers: The resin engines are breathtakingly detailed. Thanks for looking, Adrian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Like what your doing with this, looking forward to more of the same! Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 18, 2017 Author Share Posted June 18, 2017 Hello All, Here's a view of the wonderful engines again with a bit of paint on: And here's some casting: I've been using Oyumaru to make the moulds of larger Blenheim wheels from the old Airfix kit, and also to make moulds of the missing plaster decoration on our mirror! Thanks for looking, Arian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 This is coming along very nicely, just as we would expect from an Adrian Build. Martian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 I don't think Aires or Barracudacast are going to be quaking in their boots any time soon, but these will do for me: They are just slightly larger than the Frog wheels, which are in turn larger than the MPM wheels, and I can hide the dodgiest segments behind the undercarriage leg and door. Thanks for looking, Adrian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Oddly enough, I moulded the complete wheel assembly from the new Airfix Blenheim to use in tarting up ye olde Frog kit. Nice work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 20, 2017 Author Share Posted June 20, 2017 Thanks chaps! 24 minutes ago, The Wooksta! said: tarting up ye olde Frog kit No wheels were harmed or replicated when I had a go at it: It was a nice kit to build, with some really good features like interlocking wing tabs. Regards, Adrian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbudde Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Oh a Blenheim. Will wach that to see, what it comes out. Nice progress so far. Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 Unless it flips over the page, I just made it on page one . This is looking good Adrian. MPM at this time liked to use resin for the propeller hub and plastic for the blades. I guess they did it to try to get good detail on the hub. I've often failed in securing the plastic blades to the resin hub (let alone lined up correctly), but here yours look perfect . Do you have a particular technique that you use, to ensure they line up nicely and the two materials are well joined together? Settling in to enjoy this TonyT PS: Fairey .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 Thank for all the interest! Tony, I'm quite ashamed to say that my high tech propeller jig was a piece of balsa scrap with a notch in it, and I used the squares and the 60 degree line on my cutting board! I'm currently diverted from this (which is, OK, a diversion from the Fairey) to do a quickie Molins Mosquito for the DHGB. Normal service will be resumed... Regards, Adrian 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 That's going to be a busy 72 hours then Adrian, a real blitz build. I do like the Blenheim, looking forward to your Mosquito mit big pea shooter Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Hello All, I'm just back from a work trip and I wanted something to do while the silver on my Bristol 188 dries. I remembered I had this on the go - was it really last June? So I will add to the Blenheim Season! I cut out and lined the landing light well, reflectors made from circles of wine bottle foil shaped over the end of a brush, cover from clear sellotape: If a manufacturer gives you clearly marked frames on your canopy, I think it's a bit rude not to just paint them. Brush to put acrylics on, cocktail stick to scratch 'em off again: I followed the glazing lines lines and I've never noticed that the bomb aimer's window is asymmetric: There is some filling to be done to remove the steps and gaps between the parts that make up the cockpit, but nothing too bad. Thanks for looking, Adrian 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 BEAUTIFUL work and wine foil and metal looks great in the seat belts! EXEMPLARY work Adrian. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Nice to see this one back on the bench Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Tiny bit of progress. Gun tray from the old Airfix Blenheim with the slots masked off, barrels drilled out and the middle two shortened: I need to decide what to do about shell ejector slots and scribe the bomb bay doors before attaching it. Thanks for looking, Adrian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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