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1/72 Halifax B.Mk.III from Revell in 2015


RZP

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The Z nose was shown on the original sprue views but oddly missing from the previous release. So it is good to see it here. Presumably in recognition of a mistake earlier.

It's a shame, if understandable, that they haven't corrected their ailerons or the bombbay arrangement (should be three abreast). These points show that what we have now is simply what was originally planned, with different parts of the tooling included/omitted. So there's no likelihood of a new clear nose - sorry Tony!

A different arrangement of omissions/inclusions would certainly provide the parts for a Mk.V - or indeed a Mk.II Series 1(Special) - and I really don't understand why Revell would not be planning such a release. Someday. A desert-camouflaged target tug would provide enough variety, I'd have thought.

Edited by Graham Boak
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Hiya Graham,

I wondered when you`d be along to mention the ailerons!! I agree,.....a shame that they weren`t corrected but understandable and my plea about the clear nose was more in hope than anything else,....I`d moticed that the incorrect Browning (apart from a Coastal Command Halibag) was still included and that the instructions still show it to be fitted in parts thanks to the thickness of the clear nose!

I do wish that some after-market manufacturer would produce a nice clear nose fairing for the Halifax,.....Colin can you hear me?

Cheers

Tony

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Well it looks as if Revell have gone and looked at the restored Halifax in Canada and finally redeemed themselves,......hoorey!!!

....,

Cheers

Tony

Hi

I seem to recall reading the canadian halifax has a few hastings parts fitted to it ? or are they the same thing ?

cheers

jerry

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Hi

I seem to recall reading the canadian halifax has a few hastings parts fitted to it ? or are they the same thing ?

cheers

jerry

Both the Canadian one and the one at Elvington have Hastings wing sections - I think they're pretty much identical to Halifax wings?

Simon

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Both the Canadian one and the one at Elvington have Hastings wing sections - I think they're pretty much identical to Halifax wings?

Simon

I was under the impression that the Canadian one was a complete Halifax as opposed to the Elvington aircraft which is a reproduction based on some Halifax parts with a Hastings wing and lots of new built sections? The Canadian Halifax was recovered from a Norwegian Fiord similar to the RAFM wreck.

Cheers

Tony

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Hi

i might be wrong then ?

Amazing what they achieved

Well my wallet gets hit yet again, gonna need two of these revell kits :)

Cheers

Jerry

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/halifaxregistry/images/halifax-na337-1.jpg

http://www.57rescuecanada.com/assets/preport35.pdf

http://wheelsca.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MAIN-Halifax-bomber.jpg

Edited by brewerjerry
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I was under the impression that the Canadian one was a complete Halifax as opposed to the Elvington aircraft which is a reproduction based on some Halifax parts with a Hastings wing and lots of new built sections? The Canadian Halifax was recovered from a Norwegian Fiord similar to the RAFM wreck.

Cheers

Tony

Yes, Tony, you are of course correct. NA337 was recovered from the Norwegian fjord and restored, but the Halifax 57 Project are collecting Hastings bits and bobs for their project.

Simon

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To be correct, the Halifaxes recovered in Norway were found in freshwater lakes. Not saltwater fiords.

The original release of the Halifax B.I/II does contain the Dowty main gear legs, and IIRC, only the Mk. V were fitted with these legs. If not an intended future releas, it gives a good base to convert the kit into a mk. V. The "Special" or "Tollerton" nose wil have to be sourced elsewhere. Or scratchbuilt. After all, we're modellers aren't we?

Stein M

Edited by Stein Meum
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To be correct, the Halifaxes recovered in Norway were found in freshwater lakes. Not saltwater fiords.

The original release of the Halifax B.I/II does contain the Dowty main gear legs, and IIRC, only the Mk. V were fitted with these legs. If not an intended future releas, it gives a good base to convert the kit into a mk. V. The "Special" or "Tollerton" nose wil have to be sourced elsewhere. Or scratchbuilt. After all, we're modellers aren't we?

Stein M

It looks like this new kit comes with a Tollerton nose option, so a bit of cross-kitting with the Mk.I/II kit will be possible.

Freightdogs does a resin Tollerton nose:

http://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=27_29&products_id=983&osCsid=79906b919ce1411817fd05a27047fd83

Now, if only someone would make some descent 4-blade props!

Chris

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Yes, Tony, you are of course correct. NA337 was recovered from the Norwegian fjord and restored, but the Halifax 57 Project are collecting Hastings bits and bobs for their project.

Simon

Here's a link to a more up-to-date website on the Halifax 57 Project http://www.57rescuecanada.com/

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To be correct, the Halifaxes recovered in Norway were found in freshwater lakes. Not saltwater fiords.

...

Stein M

Cold, freshwater lakes are much better for preservation than saltwater. I've seen some remarkably well-preserved aircraft pulled from Northern Russian lakes, such as a P-39 with largely intact paint, and even much of the fabric on the control surfaces preserved.

Regards,

Jason

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Stein,

I do apologise, the RAF Museum`s Halifax was recovered from Lake Hoklingen and the Canadian Halifax came from Lake Mjosa, so correct and not Fiord`s as I first stated,.....I did simply mean than they had been recovered from underwater in Norway!

You are correct that the original kit includes parts for a Mk.V but the Merlin engine nacelles and propellers need replacing as they are a joke.

Tony

Edited by tonyot
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You don't like the Aeroclub ones?

Do you mean the Aeroclub 4-bladers for the old Matchbox kit? I have those. Did Aeroclub make a set for the new Revell kit?

Chris

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Aeroclub made replacement cowlings/nacelles for the Revell kit, both for the ser.1(Spec) and for the ser.1a. Memory (for what that's worth) tells me that the second option had 4-blade propellers.

Edited by Graham Boak
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Thanks, Graham. I'll have to look that up. Yes, I understand the memory thing well.

Of all the things that I have ever lost, I miss my mind the most!

Chris

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Yes! Looks very promising. But it is now time for Quickboost to come to the rescue with proper wartime props, for those of us that wish to model an actual wartime Halifax, as opposed to a modern museum version....

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Aeroclub made replacement cowlings/nacelles for the Revell kit, both for the ser.1(Spec) and for the ser.1a. Memory (for what that's worth) tells me that the second option had 4-blade propellers.

I saw a picture here and it looks good. Is it plastic or resin? What does it cost? Where would I get one?

My second question is about the bombbay. Is the arrangement with two instead of three pylons abreast totally wrong or was it used with bigger bombs. Or was the point in the middle there and free? Is the bombbay too small or are the points fixed narrower? Even the Eduard etched parts seems to have only two abreast, or am I wrong? What is with the WEM parts for the Revell kit? Can they be fixed without problems? For my MK II, I will close it anyway and put the other things plain as there is too much to do with he rest. But the MK III looks better to me by now. Eventually a new nose with a Vickers gun. But it looks better than the awful B-17 nose.

Cheers :):unsure:

Edit: Language corrected a bit. Sorry was a bit lazy while posting this.

Edited by bbudde
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Aeroclub has a forum on this site: also John will often appear in threads, mainly those dealing with the mid-war types. The majority of the parts are plastic, I'd have to check the smaller parts and come back to you on that. There were three abreast for the size of bombs in the Revell kit. To get three to fit across you have to modify the hinge parts to increase the clearance of the side doors: it is a while since I did that so don't remember the details but it wasn't hard. There are heavy duty fittings along the centreline, but only one configuration shows two abreast, and these are extra heavy duty points for the carriage of 4x1900lb bombs. Not a store I'm familiar with, but they look very similar to the 2000lb bomb - the prewar long thin one not the wartime can. There is a CD-ROM guide to the Mk.III from Flyingzone Publications which includes, amongst other goodies, a guide to the bombbay arrangements. This has been posted on a Halifax thread somewhere on this site. Not just the diagram but also a photo in the CD shows clearly the three-abreast fittings. I suspect Eduard simply copied the Revell arrangement. If you have them (the carriers are also in WEM etchings) it will allow you to fill the bombbay - mine is to be filled with SOE parachute supply packs so the finer detail couldn't be seen anyway.

The extra bombs will allow me/you to fill the bombbay of the Mk.III, although I'd expect to see some of the incendiary clusters carried as well - there are spare in the Airfix Bomber Support Set.

The problem I had with the WEM parts was that the etched wing bomb bay carrier structure sits a little proud, possibly being intended for a slightly deeper wing section. Most of the WEM parts are intended for modellers who look for rather more fine detail than I do. Equivalents to their replacement wheels etc. in resin are available from Freightdog, although as to the other Freightdog parts - minor inlets etc. - there is some overlap with Aeroclub, which to my mind are superior. Others may differ on this point. The main parts of the Freightdog kit improve the looks of the kit without addressing the mistake at the core of the problem, i.e. the excessive width of the nacelle. I did manage to narrow the undercarriage but overdid the work on the nacelle, so was glad to abandon this approach when the Aeroclub parts came out. Sadly by then enthusiasm had evaporated, leaving the changes to the upper wing fairings unaddressed, so I'm hoping that the release of the Mk.III will revive matters.

There are (now) at least three opportunities for decent spare Vickers guns. Kora are very expensive; Coastal Craft better value for money, and spare ones come in the Dragon SAS jeep kit. Memory says the new Airfix Airborne jeep also has Vickers, and although not intended as spares the kit obviously has many other uses freeing the guns.

Edited by Graham Boak
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I've checked from the instruction sheet, and the missing part numbers from the previous kit are all there now, illustrating that there has been no new tooling (or corrections) carried out, nor can we expect any version not covered already by these parts. OK, maybe we can hope for Preston Green fairings, BP Type D turret, Village inn, panniers, etc, but I wouldn't put any money on it.

One point they've missed is that the starboard outer exhaust on the Mk.VII was moved to the inboard position. The same is true of the Mk.VI, if you fancied doing one of those.

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I think, Revell will only do these two kits as I said earlier in this thread, like they always do with popular variants. For a very correct Halifax, you will have to wait for Airfix or so. I can live with these two variants, if I can get them into a correct shape and good looking appearance These are my childhood memories on the Halifax, likely to the Lancaster as a merlin staged strategic bomber or the dambuster variant. After all, I agree that the Halifax could have been much better with a good research.

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