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I started this for a Twins GB on KG144 in December 2023. Embarrassingly. Reposting here as I’ve not seen any of these kits built up yet and I’ve added some comments on the build below for reference in case helpful for others. Anyway I decided to attack this in earnest earlier this year. Partly inspired by reading “Damned Good Show” by Derek Robinson, a truly brilliant novel about the early bombing campaign - painfully funny dialogue, very sobering at times and very authentic in its flying sequences. Highly recommended. The Hampden was a quirky looking thing, the “Flying Suitcase” as the aircrew dubbed it due to its slender boxy fuselage. The Valom kit does a basically decent job at capturing this shape I think. I’m not looking too closely. I don’t think I’ve seen one of these built up on here before though a few people have wondered what the kit is like. In lieu of a WIP thread, a few pointers... - the fit overall is basically fine (Valom grade fine anyway), except for in two areas: 1) the wing to fuselage join where there’s a step - I widened the locating holes to effectively lower the wing so that it was flush with the fairing in the fuselage. But even so a bit more work was needed to blend this in. 2) the transparencies didn’t fit brilliantly. I had to deepen the openings and the nose transparencies were a touch too wide for the fuselage so these had to be scraped back. Overall, quite a bit of filling, sanding and scraping to get these to sit nicely and blend into the fuselage. I think actually the main pilot canopy does stand prouder of the fuselage than I have made it but frankly when I noticed this my levels of care were largely depleted. - Undercarriage legs are too short if fitted OOB. The Hampden had a very perky snout high attitude on the ground. I found I needed to add about 1.5mm to get it to look right to my eyeball. - Canopies are nicely clear and it’s possible to see the passable interior. The mask set from peewit helps enormously but I found I had to adjust it to make the canopy frames the right sort of thicknesses and also add some framing that was missing. - One obvious thing missing is the tube fairing/ducting on the top and bottom of the rear fuselage. This is very easy to add from half round Evergreen strip. - Additional bits I added were replacing the guns with narrower gauge aluminium tubing, the DF loop with spare etch, the pitot under the nose from wire and plasticard, the T fuel gauges on the engine cowlings, the nose gun from brass rod filed to the fairing shape and the towel rail antenna under the rear from Shelf Oddity. I also replaced the antenna with plasticard. Finally there’s a guard rail for the rear upper gunner to stop him chomping through the Hampdens twin tail in his enthusiasm. I added this from wire. - Decals weren’t the best. I used the Valom tail flashes but replaced the wing and fuselage roundels with spares with less vivid colours. Valoms decals were quite brittle. The lettering was also a very very dark grey rather than medium sea grey so some Fantasy Printshop decals came to the rescue here. - Many bomber Hampdens carried underwing pylons to make up for the fuselage’s meagre bomb capacity. Valom doesn’t supply these (although they do appear on the paint guides). I have each of the Valom boxings of this kit but figured this was probably the only variant that would have carried them (even though in wartime photos it doesn’t have them fitted). So I figured something together with some ex-Shapeways 500lb bombs. - Cowl flaps seem to have been connected by some sort of black tape or something - definitely not something that a pin wash was really managing. So I bit the bullet and cut many 2mm strips of decal and spent a highly aggravating evening shuffling these around the cowling. It does look right I think. What else would I change? Well if you peer too closely the engines aren’t the best. But I didn’t have any Aeroclub white metal replacements to hand and I’ll try not to notice. I think I’d also refine my masking efforts further on the canopy on take two. Otherwise I’m pretty happy with this. I have no doubt that some wizards on here could improve the accuracy and of this kit in many respects. But I’ll settle. As I say, I went with a kit scheme, but swapped in different decals. P1333 served with 49 Squadron based at RAF Scampton in summer 1940. This aircraft was actually lost on a raid on Merseburg’s oil installations on the night of 16/17 August 1940. Perhaps typical of RAF bomber command’s efforts at the time, only one Squadron aircraft claimed to bomb the target, the rest bombed “targets of opportunity” (or jettisoned their payload). Sgt Stratton, flying P1333, made a forced landing at Breda in Holland, though quite why I do not know. He and his crew spent the next five years as prisoners of war in Silesia. I did some weathering as I thought that by August 1940 this would have looked pretty shopworn. I enjoyed myself but I probably overcooked things on this front again. Finally the figures are Armorys high altitude bomber crew. A beautifully cast set of resin figures. Conclusion Overall it’s a nice kit. Definitely short run and if you go into it with those expectations and eyes open, then it’s fine and a jolly kit to build. There were definitely no aspects which I found so tedious as to put me off building this. The length of time was due more to other factors, such as my singularly poor attention span. Here with another fork tailed bird recently off the bench. And here with Valoms next offering on the bench. Thanks very much for looking.

Newcomer from Poland SabreKits (link) has re-released the Valom 1/72nd Handley Page Hampden B.Mk.I with AZ Model clear parts - ref. SBK7004 Sources: https://shop.sabrekits.cz/10502,cz_hampden-b.mk.i--9-decal-options-!!.html https://www.facebook.com/Sabrekits.cz/posts/130948712089922 V.P.

Good evening, I will attempt to build a kit I have always wanted to add to my display case since 1976.... What took me so long... Anyway, here we are, with a box full of plastic, that the world's most famous Scottish Santa has kindly sent me... We all know Pat, aka @JOCKNEY and his legendary kindness. So I will try and do it justice. No pressure. And it will be mostly a kind of OOB, but not quite... Here are two photos of the box and sprues: Have a lot of fun, everyone! JR

Just a heads up if you buy this kit. The parts, although numbered, are all on different sprues which, I found, difficult to locate. Also, on my kit anyway, there was a lot of spare plastic to get rid of., and some of the parts did not fit flush together very easily. Section 2, there is a part that isn't numbered. According to an older version of the kit (2010 instructions from Scalemates), it is part 20, and has the guns numbered 21 and 22 attached to it. However, I could not find this part on any of the sprues that came with the kit. So, rather than contact Airfix for the part (and probably wait ages for it), I managed to cobble together a part that fits (there was an unnumbered piece on one of the sprues which fitted between the two fuselage halves (after some filing), so I just cut an old piece of stretched sprue, glued that to the part and then glued the guns to that. It seems to have worked. Also, despite parts being labelled with which paint to use, this was not the case for the 3 figures. I just painted them with Flat black for boots helmet and gloves (Humbrol 33), Tamiya XF-18 for the uniform and for the main pilot, trainer yellow Humbrol #24 for the breathing apparatus and flat white (Revell 05)for what I think is the life jacket. This pilot has got legs, despite the one in the instructions, not having legs and does not sit easily on the provided seat. The gunner on the lower gun turret also does not sit easily either). I haven't had much trouble recently with Airfix kits, so wondering if this is an old batch (2010?) that Airfix found at the back of a warehouse and decided to re issue them (at 2024/5 prices). Many thanks.

Another one blast from the past, completed over a year ago after unfair, fight for attrition. How stupid I am, must admit. Instead of putting it together with what was inside the box, with nice rivets, I've decided to "upgrade" this model. And it begun... First were the crew stations. Side walls were apty, so adding some stripes would be ok, but it turned out there was a lot going on inside the fuselage which had to be represented somehow. It's there, I can guaraantee 😇. But the fuselage walls were very thick, so simply adding plastich would make bombardier's station claustrophobic. Besides, the structure there was rather complex with ribs and struts crossing one over another, so Mr Dremmel was invited to the party. Next were the flaps. These were actually simple to assemble, just cut out, thin down the trailing edges, blue together, add some rods made of sprues, cut out the pockets for actuators, sand down into desired shape so it would fit the necelles.... You know, all that jazz. Once I started working on fuselage upgrades, the bomb bay doors somehow managed to get cut away from the fuselage, so adding bomb racks, ribs and actuators was forced on me. After hours of dry fitting and gluing the fuselage together, clear parts turned out to not fit at all. The only exception was that small rounded part where dorsal gunner was sitting inside (it was called as "bucket" by the crews apparently). I knew there were some issues with glasses from what I've read on the internet, but I didn't expect how bad it's gonna be. And you can see how crapy they are, I couldn't do anything better at the time. Decals are mixed: general insignias are from the kit, while code letters, serial number and popeye nose art came from AZ Model's Hampden (the same kit, but with upgraded clear parts) aquired from second hand (decals only) when it turned out I've painted reversed camouflage pattern on upper surfaces, so these decals were an emergency purchase to match with what was already done 🫣. If I had to build this kit once again, some things would be done differently (I've got Hereford somewhere in the abyss of stash, so...). If you don't have to, don't be this stupid as I was. It has lots of fit issues by itself already and adding some extra work turns it into a nightmare. Enjoy my misery 🎇

Valom is to release a 1/144th Handley Page Hampden B.Mk.I kit - ref. 14431. Source: http://www.valom.net/?page_id=1137 Box art V.P.

Time for another old favourite, and my RAF contribution to this build. As Airfix is re-releasing this kit in 2024 in the Vintage Classics line, it means there will be no new tooling in the near future. That's the bad news. The good news is that I can now build this kit, and then replenish the stash in a few months, as I like this kit. I hadn't intended keeping this for the Airfix GB later this year, as I already have more than enough to choose from for that. I bought this kit in June 1999 for 9 Irish Pounds, c. 11 Euro in new money. The box was larger than the standard Series 4 box, and a flimsy 1-part design. The artwork is very similar to the 1968 original, which I assume was by Roy Cross. The first time I built this kit in 1987, it came in the boring "completed kit on the cover" packaging. The only other time the original artwork was forsaken was for a 2010 release. The Vintage Classics re-release will of course revert to the original artwork (and presumably just the one subject). The only missing part (which may be my fault) is one of the cylindrical tail fairings for the bombs. Easy to deal with if it comes to that. The last time I built this I closed the bomb bay, and I still have at least some of those four bombs in the spare box, pre-assembled. Naturally, the Swedish subject is off limits for this build, but I'd like to build it in the future, which is one of the reasons why I will probably be getting not just one but two more of this kit. Of the two RAF subjects. my current preference is for the 106 sq. aircraft, which unusually (to me) has the top camouflage continuing below the wings. I hope to start this in a couple of days.

This kit has been with me for so long I honestly can't remember when I bought it. The Build came about because I was bullied into it by @stevej60 . Actually I am really glad he did as it came out much better than I thought. The kit was built as part of the amazingly successful Classic Airfix Group Build here on BM. Moulded in the classic black plastic, the fit was much better than I feared. Work in progress below, I hope you like it, let me know what you think. cheers Pat

It must be the recent run of hot days, but despite the tales of woe I have read about the Valom Hampden torpedo bomber I am going to give it a go. Nothing to lose really as I picked it up cheap at a model expo. At the least it will be character building. 🤣 A box top top shot to start with. As this is intended as an out of the box build, I will be making this 489 Squadron aircraft, although I will be painting it with the Temperate Sea Scheme of dark slate grey and extra dark sea grey rather than the green and brown bomber colours, as I gather that is more likely. I made a start with the instrument panel, more to keep my fingers of my close to complete Beaufort (so I don't rush and spoil it). The panel is a sandwich of a plastic back part, a printed film and a photoetch front. Not done one of these before. I painted the back plate white, stuck the film to it with some Micro Kristal Klear. The photo etch I painted black, and dry brushed with some medium sea grey while still on the fret. I then carefully attached it to the rest of the assembly with Micro Kristal Klear. Looks pretty good to me, although not sure how much of it will be seen through the canopy.

Good evening Despite my best efforts to avoid joining this GB, I have been bullied into joining by @stevej60 ! I threw myself on the mercy of the moderators in this GB hoping for a reprieve, but those hopes were sadly dashed. Therefore despite numerous unfinished builds littering all the current GBs I will be entering the kit below. Its the black plastic version which was all the rage at the time. I have a horrible feeling this may be one of the kits I've had the longest, so all the more fitting to build it for this historical GB Good luck to everyone in this GB. cheers Pat

In a thread on white Hampden torpedo-bombers, Jan Polc of AZ makes it clear that work is being done on this subject, and that this is so far advanced that the torpedo-bomber conversion will be a "cut here and add" conversion. We can of course dream of larger things, but he hasn't said that it will be any more than the conversion parts, or that it will be a 1/72 tooling for AZ, or any other scale for any other company, or given any idea of possible dates.

I am currently looking for references and images on a Handley Page Hampden in Russian service fitted with a UTK-1 turret. The closest I can get is Wings Palette which quotes an Aviation World image of an aircraft of 3rd AE, 9th GvMTAP, VVS of Northern Fleet. My intention is to modify my Frog 1/96ish Hampden to go with the similar scale Frog Lanc which I did with a new nose to depict Russian service. Any help would be much appreciated.

So chaps! I plan to finish these ones off to clear the bench and my head before starting on some other projects. First up is a mkii hurricane, this is the hasegawa 1/48 mkii. A while back I did this http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234979665-148-spitfire-vbmalta/ This was started to be it's mate up on the boys ceiling but only got as far as this. I was going to do a SEAC hurricane but as is pal was a malta bird I thought it NEEDS to be a malta hurricane. ... can of worms opened I spoke to a chap who knows a bit about the place and he was very helpful, Mr Tony O'toole, thanks again for everything you gave me. In the end I decided to go with the classic There are lots of pictures of this crash landed around and Tony gave me a number of pointers on colours that it could be, but for artistic reasons I am going with the above. This will be nice and weathered just how I like them! Next is a tiffie which was started a bit back and did a wip for here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234983281-172-tiff/ This is where it was left So I stopped this one for the BofB GB (which I didn't finish, so close but so far) I also topped it as the paint, specifically tamiya's ocean grey. I think it must have been the thinner that I used? But anyhow the finish really needs some work. It will be finished out of the box as ZY-Y. Last one is a funny one, started as a conversion of an airfix hampden into the torp carrying version, then my nephew was born... another one! I have 28 nieces and nephews. For the last few chaps (I have offered for the girls but supposedly it's not the done thing, even the pink spitfire's troy let me know about! ) this one then turned into a plane for his room with his name on. It's at this point No pay load or weaponry on this as supposedly it's not a good look for a kids bed room.... whatever Nearly finished with this one. I hope I still have all the bits.... Hmmmm should have checked that first.... Anyway that's where these are at and what I need to finish Rob

Hi Folks, In the midst of my "other builds" I am looking at the Airfix Hampden that I have in my stash. I will sand down the good old Airfix bumps and scribe in the panel lines accordingly. My question pertains to the panel lines: I have (and am using) the Warpaint book on the Hampden (and Hereford) - and I know there are 1/72 scale plans within the book - would those plans be valid for determining panel line layout? The reason I ask is they seem, to me, a bit "excessive" (it appears as though there are a A LOT of lines on the wings for example). Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you kindly, Dave

Handley Page HP.52 Hampden. P5436 restored and now at The Canadian Museum of Flight at Langley, British Columbia, Canada. P5436 ditched on a training flight in 1942 and was recovered in 1989. Parts from other recovered Canadian Hampdens were used in its restoration. Pics thanks to Stephen Mills.