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Simply jaw dropping cheers Erwin

Thanks @giemme, @Greg Law, @The Spadgent & everyone for following! Greatly appreciate the feedback--& I apologize for giving folks the heebies--I promise from here on out I will remove spinners from the sprue and airbrush with blue tac affixed to a tooth pick I wish I could say I used something cool like chipping fluid to achieve the scuff marks on the wing-- all I used was watered down kosher salt to create the random effect. In the future, I will "mask" off the area to be salted so surrounding areas do not get the salt effect--I found the salt solution was tough to control on a 1/72 scale aircraft. I used kid acrylic/water based craft paints for the wash--I got the idea from a Fine Scale Modeler article a while back--the key for me has been to mix the paints it with a little dish soap along with water to ensure the pigments get into the lines. The best part is the acrylics will not destroy the finish underneath to include white decals if you mess up--which certainly saved me once to twice on this build. I think the 2 hard parts of this technique are 1) getting the viscosity the way you like it & 2) getting the cloth to wipe off the excess the correct dampness (leaning more to dry). The tool I use for the photo etch is "The Bug" and a long straight edge--as pointed out its all about the gear! I also got the struts on, along with associated wheel bay & brake line photo etch on--thank you all for the awesome ideas on how to make me better--hope this is useful to others--best to all, Erwin

Coming along nicely Best Erwin

This is awesome work--following with interest! Best, Erwin

Hello everyone--between holidays & business trips, I have been WAY behind in keeping up with Britmodeller--but the Defiant is progressing. 1st, @Greg Law--absolutely spot on the recommendation with blue tac for the spinner nose cone--I used your method to paint the black band on the rear of the spinner--I didn't take a photo of that step, but trust me, I used it with great results. I have also been following @giemme & @The Spadgent awesome builds with fascination--still look up to these masters Anyway on to my work over the last couple months on the Defiant. After the Tamiya metallic under coat dried, I used Kosher Salt to create the scuffing/chipping common to the crew areas on Defiants and the best photos I can find of PS-U (to my limited knowledge away). I then used Tamiya's Panel Line Accent to highlight the panel lines. I also found some great pics of PS-U linked below for those who will build it in the future. I used them as resources for this build and will them use for weathering (apologize I was not able to get the pics to appear in the post--hopefully they work as hyperlinks to the images) https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212623?cat=photographs https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212624?cat=photographs Based on the linked pictures, Valiant Wing's books and the Airfix paint guides, I airbrushed Model Master Sky on on the underside, masked off the underside and airbrushed Model Master Dark Earth. Tried to thin it out more than a spray can as I totally agree with at @RidgeRunner that the weakness in my builds is the thickness of the paint which prevents the lines from "popping" &/or creates a monotone color. That said, I believe the thinned paint I used on the underside turned out a little better. I then masked with Top Notch's "Pattern B" came masks and silly putty based on references. I know Top Notch was controversial in my F-105 build, but their Defiant masks did follow the references I had really well and at the very least provided a great point to deviate from. After air brushing I applied a gloss coat and assembled the photo etch radiator tub and commenced decaling. I really enjoyed using the 1/72 drawings in Valiant Wing's Defiant book. Once decals were complete I spayed on 2 coats of Testers Gloss Coat to seal the decals. While this was drying, I also took this opportunity to foil the oleos--I felt this was the best way to a realistic contrast between the painted aluminum on the real aircraft. Finally, I used childrens acrylic paints (black/brown and a mixture of both) mixed with a dab of dish soap and plenty of water to create my wash--I don't have the courage to use anything stronger for this step I let this dry for about 1.5 hours and then gently rubbed off with a barley moist cloth. I was really happy with the result--next step will be exhaust stains and an airbrush coat of flat. Thank you all for your help and I apologize for being off the "net" for a while--Happy New Year & Happy New Year! Best, Erwin

Wow, how time flies--while updates have been thin, production on this build has been steady but slow. First up are a few more reference photos of PS-U--I have decided to go with the Airfix decals as I believe the lighter blue on the fin flash is interesting--sadly my research has not provided greater insight into the story of PS-U, (does any one have better info) never-the-less I believe from the instructions it participated in the Battle of Britain. The references I found are (this awesome build on Britmodler-- by @06/24--well done Jon! Leveraging Jon's research I found the attached photos https://www.raf-in-combat.com/downloads/july-2015-bp-defiant-the-early-days-22-photos/ Based on my research I decided the turret was black on PS-U and based on the turret references in Valiant Wing's Defiant book, I determined the turret interior was black as well. As I am crewing my Defiant, I made the decision not to install the gunner's lower body shield so that I could put the figure in the aircraft. I also installed Eduard's repainted photo etch. As many have commented I found the kit's weapons when dry brushed satisfactory--but they do require this effort OOB. The most tedious part of the turret was, not surprisingly, masking the frame. Once the frame had been masked, I masked the interior with silly putty and sprayed the turret Tamiya TS-14 and completed final touch ups with Tamiya X-1 black The next step was to put on the final exterior photo etch, mask the canopy, airbrush RAF interior green for the canopy frames and then prime. Following this I did touch up sanding--I found this model fell together really well I then sprayed Tamiya Aircraft Aluminum to support follow on weathering over the primer and I airbrushed white on the propeller and spinner Thank you all for looking and hope all is well! Best Erwin

Giorgio, AWESOME work--just catching up--as many others have pointed out, your efforts on the tail's plastic surgery are yielding spectacular results with the paint! Best, Erwin

Updating this build is going slower than the build--but sharing is still worth it! Over the course of the last couple weeks, I completed the wing and wheel well subassemblies. Most of my efforts were spent finishing the landing flap wells and using Microsscale Kristal Klear for the navigation lights. I am really pleased with how the wells, flaps and nav lights turned out. While I have seen better on Britmodeller, this is my 1st "heavy" photo etch project and I am very satisfied with the results. This is also the first build I have attempted to use Kristal Klear & I am also very happy with the results. Special shout out to @jrlx and his fantastic 1/72 Defiant build--anyone seeking to tackle Airfix's latest 1/72 Defiant should check out his work-- Next step is sanding the fuselage, wings and mating these sub assemblies together. Thank you all for commenting! Best, Erwin

Jamie, even though it has been roughly a year, this build still inspires me as I work on my Defiant—step by step, I grow to appreciate even more what an awesome job you did on your Defiant—well done! Best, Erwin

Thanks @dogsbody & @RidgeRunner for your thoughts/advice—I am now looking fwd to attempting the nav lights—Chris, BTW, those lights came out phenomenally well! Best, Erwin

Was just thumbing through all the pages again in simple awe--really loved the reference photos you left for the rest of on the real thing and the awesome techniques you are sharing--finally noticed your yearbook--your builds are all spectacular!

Wow--looks awesome!

Wheel well walling complete. Very happy with the end result of the Eduard photo etch wheel well--I just bought another of this OOP set (I believe the zoom is still in production)--will save the full photo etch when I build a night fighter painted in RAF Night. Per recommendations from the forum, I airbrushed vice spray painted the wheel wells. I achieved what I believe is a pretty good "painted" aluminum finish with Alaclad Dark Aluminum, ALC 103--I airbrushed twice--once while on the fret/wheel well unassembled and then a once over mist to finish the job since these aircraft had an even color through out (you might be able to make out scratching/flacking in some of the pics before the final coat). I also closed up the fuselage--which felt very satisfying--i know there will be some groaning, but I am "crewing" this aircraft... only modification to the pilot was to cut down his boots due to some of sizing differences between the plastic/photo etch parts. I used the 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire instruction guide as a paint guide--all paints on the figures are Tamiya (I used Tamiya Khaki for the gunners jump suit--pics to follow during the turret build up). Once the pilot was positioned, I used Eduard photo etch to strap him in--it was very gratifying to see. I am now in the process of bending photo etch for the landing flaps--while the flaps look intricate, I believe they will look awesome when done. I also plan on making the wing tip lights out of spare sprue-- basically cut to shape and sand/polish with finer grits of sand paper/polishing cloth and finalizing with future--has anyone done something like that--I am thinking that I will CA glue the light to the wing before I start sanding the glass down, but am open to suggestions (in the back of mind I am thinking it would craze the plastic). Thank you all, especially, @billn53, @RidgeRunner, @The Spadgent, @dogsbody, @fubar57, @giemme, @Gene Kand @f111guru for your advice and guidance for over a year now--I do not think I would have even tried building a Defiant to post here, much photo etch back then. Best to all, Erwin

Awesome! Cheers, Erwin

Thank you @fubar57! Minor update tonight--pics below are of the surgery to the wings to support Eduard's landing flap upgrade. I found the "soft" plastic greatly assisted me in accurate cuts to complete this minor improvement. While I believe the Airfx kit is awesome, I am really glad I have the Eduard wheel well updates--as one can see the "roof" of the well is well detailed, but the "sidewalls" have a nasty seam--the Eduard set covers these convincingly--pics to follow later in the build. Also I included the period photo I mentioned earlier which drove the scoop color interior question--it appears to me the engine scoop interior is aluminum, but I could be off--in fairness it is not the rear radiator which is probably the underside color which I specifically asked about. Best and thanks to all, Erwin