Navy Bird Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Quick update - first, here's a shot from the side that shows how low the aerials sit. Right about where the exhausts are. I'll look through my photos and profiles and see if I can find verification of that position. I hope it's right! Next, I moved the antennae back a bit. Now it's a better match to the photos. Not perfect, because I think the antennae may be a bit underscale, but I think it will have to do. Lastly, I've started working on the top turret. Way back in the beginning of this thread there was a seat for the gunner. Somehow it broke off and fell inside and wouldn't come back out. It must have gotten lodged in something. Anyway, today it popped free and I retrieved it and glued it back in place. Weird. I'm not even sure if this will be seen when the turret is in place. Cheers, Bill 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 These bits might be fiddly bill, but there sure do finish it off, it's going to be mighty fine when done as long as you never pick it up again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 OUTSTANDING work Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Radar equipped RAAF Beauforts seem to be a bit varied in their antenna fit. Some had a small dipole under the nose. Those without the under-nose dipole had the twin nose whiskers fitted. Those with the rear fuselage side aerials did not always have the under-wing dipoles. So much variation! Chris Edited January 4, 2015 by dogsbody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TobyC Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 This is a really excellent build. I've been following it for a while as I've just started the same kit myself. If it gets to be half as good as yours I'll be a happy bunny. I shan't be going for all the PE stuff though. I don't play well with them so mine will be a somewhat sparse Beaufort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Stunning Bill simply STUNNING!! Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Bill, I dunno how you get the paint to stay stuck to the PE during all the necessary handling; I dunno how you get the PE so neatly stuck to the aircraft and.........Oh heck....I just dunno how you do it at all :) I agree it's simply stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 On 1/3/2015 at 21:03, dogsbody said: Radar equipped RAAF Beauforts seem to be a bit varied in their antenna fit. Some had a small dipole under the nose. Those without the under-nose dipole had the twin nose whiskers fitted. Those with the rear fuselage side aerials did not always have the under-wing dipoles. Some much variation! Chris Yes, indeed, a lot of variation. I learned one thing from studying the photos. In many cases the war time censors have removed the under-wing antennae - you can sometimes still see traces of it or the supports. Quite a few of the photos that show the fuselage aerials but not the under-wing antennae have been censored. But there are still quite a few that are exactly like you say. On 1/4/2015 at 07:06, TobyC said: This is a really excellent build. I've been following it for a while as I've just started the same kit myself. If it gets to be half as good as yours I'll be a happy bunny. I shan't be going for all the PE stuff though. I don't play well with them so mine will be a somewhat sparse Beaufort. Good luck on your build! The kit goes together quite well, and there are some schemes that don't require all the photoetch. One comment you hear quite often is that the canopy is too wide - I found this to be true. A thin shim in-between the fuselage halves will make the fuselage wider, so the canopy will fit well. It's a lot easier doing it that way than it is trying o make the canopy narrower. On 1/4/2015 at 10:56, Fritag said: Bill, I dunno how you get the paint to stay stuck to the PE during all the necessary handling; I dunno how you get the PE so neatly stuck to the aircraft and.........Oh heck....I just dunno how you do it at all I agree it's simply stunning. Thanks! Oh, I've had some paint come off of the PE. I just touch it up with a really tiny brush. OK, let's look at some more pictures. Special Hobby provide a resin gun for the turret, which is fair facsimile of dual Brownings. My understanding is that the later Aussie Beauforts had these guns in the turret, replacing the Vickers gun. Brengun provide some PE ammo belts, so I added these to the guns hoping that you'll be able to see them through the turret. I left the pieces long, planning on trimming them later. You'll notice that Brengun also provided a flat PE piece with the oval hole in it - I'm guessing this protected the gunner, and allowed him to see through to the sight at the end of the gun barrels. I mounted the gun into the turret, and found that I had to trim off all of the ammo belt that was lower than the bottom edge of the turret, otherwise there was interference. The turret ended up looking like this: The turret was then glued to the fuselage. You should be able to see the gunsight that I raided from the Magic Box of Fiddly Bits - it's at the end of the gun barrels. I have photos that show this kind of arrangement, and others that show a different one. The large aerial mast was also added - and it is an ugly aerial mast indeed! I think that it really takes away from the appearance of the bomber. You'll also notice that I've added the D/F antenna in its deployed position. If you're really astute, you'll see that I've done it wrong! What a sod! I'll fix it later. While we're on the top of the fuselage, let's add the aerial wire. As always, I use 0.005" diameter Nitinol wire. The wire's natural state is straight, so you just have to cut to length and glue it on. Now you can see why I need to change the D/F antenna - it's too high. We're nearing the end. What's left? Right, the hole in the roof illusion. You may recall that several Aussie Beauforts had an upward firing gun that protruded out of the top of the fuselage near the main access door. Surrounding the gun itself there were several small windows and the entire framework sat proud of the surface. My plan is to replicate this without having to cut a hole into the fuselage. So first, we cut a piece of thin clear plastic to the proper size. Thanks to Fred and Ed for supplying copies of the drawing and a template that I scaled to 1:72. I rolled this against a large dowel in order to put some curvature into it. I then painted the inside Gunze H95 Smoke Gray. I let that dry overnight, and then masked the windows and painted Foliage Green (Gunze H302) on the framework. Finally, I added a decal of a black circle which came from a 1:48 scale ESCI Alpha Jet kit. I don't have this kit, I don't remember ever having or building this kit, but for some reason I have the decal sheet. Odd. Although the windows look black in this photo, when you catch the angle just right you get a nice reflection off of the surface of the windows. That's the illusion that makes it look like it's actually a window. I think it works well - if I had cut a hole in the fuselage you wouldn't be able to see much inside anyway. All right then, I think all I need now is a gun barrel to point out of this window, and that should do it. Stay tuned! Cheers, Bill PS. Oh yeah, I suppose the props need to go on, too. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 The unthinkable has happened! The model of the Beaufort is finished. And after all this time! Too late for photos tonight, but I shall set up the tripod tomorrow evening and make an RFI post. Then I can finally move on...to that stage where I sit staring at my stash with absolutely no clue of what to build next. It's the one part of the hobby that I don't like. If I only had one kit in the stash, this decision would be easy. But a man who has two watches never knows what time it is! Of course, I do have two partially built kits on the Shelf of Shame. I suppose a KUTA build would be in order. Cheers, Bill 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 If I only had one kit in the stash, this decision would be easy. ...but no fun! Looking forward to the pics Bill! keith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 ...but no fun! Looking forward to the pics Bill! keith No hurry Bill but jeez get the Box Brownie snapping and let's see her in all her glory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 From what you`ve shown us already your Beau looks amazing, so I cannot wait to see it in all of its finished glory in RFI,......you`ve done a splendid job Bill, Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Looking forward to the pictures of the completed model! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Looking forward to seeing pictures in RFI! The more I've looked at this build, the less likely I think it is that I will ever do my Frog Beaufort - although I might have to do it just to make Airfix do a new mould! As to picking the next kit to build, do what I do. Take a kit out at random, say very loudly "This is what I'm going to build next". At that moment you will think "Shame it's not the ...". Now put the random kit back in the stash and take out the kit you were thinking of. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenCJ Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 That is a very scientific approach, Adrian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Finished? Nooooo, there's going to be a void, what will you fill it with Bill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Thanks, mates! I couldn't have finished without you. You are all a constant source of encouragement and information that was vital to this build. The RFI post is live, please enjoy the photos. I think my next project will be something that is not green! And maybe a jet just to be different. We'll see, I have to clean the studio and workbench first. I always do that in-between builds - otherwise it would get completely out of hand. Cheers, Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 It's been a joy Bill. Don't take too long over the cleaning......... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 It's been a joy Bill. Don't take too long over the cleaning......... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmouredSprue Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 fantastic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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