+++ FINISHED 06-09-2018! +++ Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I (Airfix 1/72 Dogfight Doubles)

[jrlx]

1 hour ago, CedB said:

Looking really good Jaime  

Have a nice holiday!

Thank you very much, Ced! I still have about 30 pictures more to post before the thread is completely up to date

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

As said in my previous update, unmasking the turret transparent part did some damage to the painting. The worst was yet to come: though I tried to be extra careful unmasking the canopies, using the tip of a nº11 blade along the edges of the masks to peel them off without damaging the paint, I wasn't successful and large parts of the paint came off:

IMAG5815

 

IMAG5816

 

IMAG5817

 

Repairing these damages made me waste several ours and this was the major setback preventing me from finishing the build last week. As I didn't have additional masks and didn't want to waste too much time remasking by hand, I decided to repair the painting of the transparencies by paintbrush.

 

First, I had to paint the interior green:

IMAG5821

 

IMAG5820

 

I let the paint dry for a couple of hours and then painted the dark earth and dark green colours:

IMAG5829

 

IMAG5828

 

It's not perfect but looks good enough at normal viewing distance and without the magnification of the digital camera.

 

While the interior green dried, I decided to improve the following raised detail on the spine between the turret and tail fin:

IMAG5822

 

As can be seen in these pictures of the real thing, the said raised detail intends to represent a navigation light:

 

 

So, I removed the plastic detail with a nº 11 blade:

IMAG5823

 

Next, I selected an appropriately thin stretch of transparent sprue and filed and sanded the tip to an approximate round form:

IMAG5825

 

The tip was cut with a micro-saw:

IMAG5826

 

The base of the cut piece was filed to become flat and the piece was glued to the spine:

IMAG5827

 

Looks much better now. The transparency of this piece was later improved with a bit of Aqua Gloss.

 

I also glued the exhausts in place:

IMAG5830

 

I'm particularly pleased with the exhaust colour:

IMAG5831

 

This colour was achieved by applying Alclad black primer, followed by Alclad burnt iron and, finally, Alclad exhaust manifold. I think it looks better than a direct application of exhaust manifold over primer, like I did in my Dornier Do-24 build.

 

That's all for today. I still need to post 20 or so pictures to bring the thread up to date.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

[CedB]

Good recovery on the canopies Jaime  

That navigation light is a nice touch too and the exhausts look smart.

Good work.

[06/24]

Wow! Excellent work, the repairs to the canopy are so good I wonder you didn’t hand paint in the first instance. Steadier hands (and eye) than me!

[Robert Stuart]

That does look good Jamie, I keep having to remind myself that this is ¹/₇₂.

[jrlx]

15 hours ago, CedB said:

Good recovery on the canopies Jaime  

That navigation light is a nice touch too and the exhausts look smart.

Good work.

 

15 hours ago, 06/24 said:

Wow! Excellent work, the repairs to the canopy are so good I wonder you didn’t hand paint in the first instance. Steadier hands (and eye) than me!

 

6 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

That does look good Jamie, I keep having to remind myself that this is ¹/₇₂.

Ced, Jon, Robert,

 

Thank you very much for the kind words and interest! I didn't paint the transparencies by hand in the first place because I do all main painting by airbrush and using masks allows a cleaner job than my hand painting them. I only do paintbrush work for small details and touch ups. But I'm glad the repairs on the transparencies turned out not too bad at normal viewing distance.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

some more work from last week.

 

I glued the main gear legs, tail wheel, the carburettor and the radiator in place:

IMAG5832

 

Here's the radiator with its flap open:

IMAG5833

 

A view of the back grid of the radiator, with the flap actuator in place:

IMAG5834

 

The PE stirrup was also glued in place:

IMAG5836

 

... as well as the rudder actuators:

IMAG5837

 

Next, I applied the brake lines to the gear legs:

IMAG5835

 

The main wheels had already been unmasked:

IMAG5802

 

The wheel hubs had also been weathered with a dark wash. So, I glued them to the gear legs:

IMAG5838

 

In the previous picture it can be seen that I glued in place the front mast of the antenna. It should be noted that in August 1940 the radio equipment had been changed and there was no external antenna wire installed between the underside masts.

 

The back mast was also installed. This one retracted for landing, that's why it's way shorter:

IMAG5839

 

Next, I installed the moving parts of the flaps. It really wasn't too difficult to do. Just had to make sure that the flap angle allowed the flap actuators to properly touch on the right points of the slots on the wing underside and on the moving part of the flap and that these slots were aligned between the wing and flaps. Here's a general view with the flaps installed:

IMAG5840

 

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Detailed view:

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That's all for now. The next post will bring the thread up to date.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CedB]

Mre precise, detailed work Jaime - this really is turning out to be another beautiful model  

[stevehnz]

I've just been sitting looking for the right words to describe your work but not wanting to sound gushy I'll revert to the old fall backs like stunning, superb , sublime etc, even they don't quite convey what I'm looking for, something more elusive, there is a completeness about pretty much every aspect of this that appeals just so much.

Steve.

[jrlx]

4 hours ago, CedB said:

Mre precise, detailed work Jaime - this really is turning out to be another beautiful model  

 

2 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I've just been sitting looking for the right words to describe your work but not wanting to sound gushy I'll revert to the old fall backs like stunning, superb , sublime etc, even they don't quite convey what I'm looking for, something more elusive, there is a completeness about pretty much every aspect of this that appeals just so much.

Steve.

Ced, Steve,

 

thank you very much for your appreciation. I'm humbled by your extremely kind words and pleased that my work is of interest.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Robert Stuart]

Very, very nice Jamie - excellent work

 

Nice as in 'nice and precise'

[jrlx]

5 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Very, very nice Jamie - excellent work

 

Nice as in 'nice and precise'

Thank you very much, Robert! That's very kind!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

This is the last update before I return from holidays and it will bring the thread up to date.

 

The next step was installing the PE wheel well doors. As can be seen from the picture of the instructions, there are several tiny bits to install on the inner faces of the doors:

IMAG5844

 

Which I dutifully did:

IMAG5845

 

However, while test fitting the lower part of the doors, I noticed that the front hinge didn't fall in the right place. Here are detail pictures of the test fit, showing that the said hinge falls behind the gear leg:

IMAG5846

 

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As can be seen from this period picture (which I had already posted above), it is clear that this hinge is in front of the gear leg:

 

Pictures of the night fighter in the RAF Museum confirm this:

 

I guess Eduard decided to place the hinge behind the leg because there isn't really any room left in front after installing the PE bits in the well walls. Anyway, I decided to correct this error but as I was already short in time, before leaving on holidays, I opted for not rushing this work. Otherwise, I could make some last minute mistake.

 

Apart from gluing the canopy in the open position, I didn't proceed any further. I'll leave you, for the time being, with pictures of the model as is:

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This will be resumed early in September, hopefully.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

 

[Robert Stuart]

We will await your next instalment Jamie

Enjoy your holiday 

[CedB]

Looking gorgeous Jaime  

 

The forum won't let me quote your comment at the moment but "I'm humbled by your extremely kind words and pleased that my work is of interest."? Too modest Jaime!

My comments reflect your modelling and are not posted out of kindness, just well deserved!

 

Have a great holiday  

[jrlx]

Hi again,

 

I'm back from holidays and last week managed to finish this build. This should be last update before posting the RFI.

 

In the last post I mentioned that I had to reposition the hinges of the main wheel well doors. So, here are the doors, ready for installation, minus the hinges:

IMAG5918

 

I installed the lower part of the doors first (the part immediately on top of the wheels), as these will determine the positioning of the upper part of the doors:

IMAG5919

 

IMAG5920

 

Next, I installed the upper part of the wheel doors:

IMAG5921

 

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The corresponding hinge was installed right in front of the undercarriage leg:

IMAG5923

 

The smaller inboard doors were glued in place next:

IMAG5924

 

... followed by the corresponding hinges:

IMAG5925

 

These are the final views of the undercarriage doors completed in place:

IMAG5926

 

IMAG5927

 

The propeller and pitot tube were glued in place:

IMAG5928

 

There were still some final weathering touches to apply: pigments for earth and exhaust stains. Here's the set-up for that:

IMAG5929

 

I applied some earth staining to the wheel well doors:

IMAG5930

 

To the wheel wells:

IMAG5931

 

And to the wheels:

IMAG5932

 

Oil staining was also applied to the carburetor:

IMAG5933

 

The exhaust stains were the last weathering step:

IMAG5934

 

Finally, the machine gun turret was inserted in the fuselage and the model was finished:

IMAG5935

 

I'll publish the final pictures in the RFI area.

 

Thank you for all your attention and support

 

Jaime

 

 

EDIT: the RFI is here

 

 

 

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by jrlx
added link to the RFI

[CedB]

Lovely detailed work (as usual) Jaime - she's a beauty!  

[jrlx]

13 minutes ago, CedB said:

Lovely detailed work (as usual) Jaime - she's a beauty!  

Thank you very much, Ced! I'm very pleased with how it turned out

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

[jrlx]

I've posted the final pictures in the RFI here. I've also added the link to the last update, above, for convenience.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

[Robert Stuart]

Well done @jrlx , that looks great with beautiful detail.

[jrlx]

1 hour ago, Robert Stuart said:

Well done @jrlx , that looks great with beautiful detail.

Thank you, Robert! Much appreciated!

 

Jaime

[VT Red Sox Fan]

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 

[jrlx]

On 12/11/2019 at 00:03, VT Red Sox Fan said:

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 

Thank you very much for your kind words, Erwin! I'm glad you find my work useful for your build!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime