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235 Squadron Blenheim IVF *** Complete ***


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Hurricane?

No!

Not a lot of progress today as ended up working late, despite working from home!

However I have at least managed to clean my desk up.

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You can just see 8 small items on cocktail sticks, these are small fragmentation bombs that go on the rear external racks.

I've started to clean these up and drilling out the tails so that they look more like bombs than bowling skittles.

I've also attached a number of the smaller items to cocktail sticks ahead of starting painting.

Day off tomorrow, so should be able to finish paint prep, and start paintwork at the weekend.

Karl

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The day started with finishing off cleaning up the bombs and drilling out the tails, so that they look like this.

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With all the cockpit seams cleaned up finally, time to apply a coat of Cockpit Green to the clear parts.

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Having done that I then realised that I'd forgotten to add the rails that sit behind the pilots hatch on the top of the fuselage.

Airfix have represented these as two indented lines which is incorrect, so I'll have to add these from styrene strip tomorrow.

The landing and wing tip lights also got a coat of Cockpit Green following masking.

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And seeing as I had the Cockpit Green out I attacked the turret interior and undercarriage doors.

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As per usual these had the centres of the panels lightened with IJN Green.

And finally an overview of the desk at the end of tonight's session.

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Now for a G&T and 8 Out of 10 cats.

Karl

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After feeling quite pleased with yesterday's progress, the cold light of day has revealed a less than steller join between the front and rear sections of the fuselage as a result of joining them in the manner advocated by Airfix.

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The port side is definitely the worst offender as the starboard doesn't look too bad, not great, but better than the other side.

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I therefore set about both sides with a sanding stick very gingerly, trying not to destroy the masking, as I don't feel like polishing the glazing all over again!

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That looks better, not perfect but we'll on the way to acceptable, as does the other side.

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I've since applied a coat of MrSurfacer to the seams, and will give them another sanding later.

Once that's done and its all neat and tidy, I'll tidy up the masking and add the hatch runners, then it's primer time, which is like Hammer Time, but greyer and without baggy pants!

Karl

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Great progress so far, got this kit new for me and after the study of the instructions and the parts, i asked myself how this part of the build will turn out.

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Thanks guys.

It's a lovely kit, it just has a few foibles that if I built one again I'd take more care over.

I'm calling the fuselage seams complete after a couple of coats of MrSurfacer and some sanding and a coat of Cockpit Green shows it to be OK.

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And the starboard side.

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Where I've re-scribe the panel line could do with a bit of a rub down, as its showing a raised lip, but I can do that before I prime.

I also gave all the major seams a squirt with the green to check for cracks etc, and I'll give it another once over tomorrow that dried and attend to any issues.

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Must remember to mask those wheel bays!

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It feels like its taking forever to get to the paint stage, but I'm almost there now.

Karl

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Thanks Sean.

Seeing as today is the 18th of August, 75 years ago today was the Hardest Day of the Battle of Britain, and this build was inspired by the book about that day, time for an update.

I managed to get a coat of primer on Sunday, and last night was spent identifying and rectifying all the areas that the primer had shown to be less than perfect.

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The panel lines inboard of the engines needed a rescribe, hence the sanding around the roots.

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The port engine nacelle also needed a touch of MrSurfacer to hide a stubborn seam, as well as a touch on the join in the glazing sections. You can just see a pale line on the canopy.

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All the other bits and pieces were mounted up on card and cocktail sticks and received a coat of primer as well.

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The rear fuselage also had a faintly visible seam, which got a coat of MrSurfacer and a good sanding which resulted in a much neater seam.

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Once I was happy that everything was as good as it was going to be, I gave the build a fresh coat of primer, Tamiya Sky Grey cut with cellulose thinners to ensure a good bond.

This is the first time I've tried acrylics with cellulose thinners, and I'm quite pleased with how the paint went on.

So pleased I went straight to the pre-shade.

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I'll let this harden off overnight, then polish it all back with an old sanding sponge before I apply the Sky.

Karl

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Thanks for the encouragement guys.

As you can see I'm not the world's neatest when it comes to panel line shading!

Still nothing that a a coat of Tamiya Sky won't hide.

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All the little bits and pieces got a coat as well.

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Tamiya Sky looks very green to my eye, so I've started to tone it down, first with an in fill of Tamiya IJN Grey.

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This was followed by a thin application of Tamiya Deck Tan, particularly around the engine nacelles.

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I know the difference is amazing isn't it?

Well maybe not, but it is slowly improving, particularly after another highly thinned coat of Sky.

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A bit more work required I think before I'll be happy with this.

Karl

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Great work, she's coming together very nicely! :)

I'm building a Revell 1/32 Spitfire Mk.II at the moment, and, I airbrushed Tamiya Sky onto my propeller spinner and thought that it was too dark. I airbrushed over it again using the Tamiya sky toned down 25-30% with XF-2 Flat White. It looked a lot better and I'll be using that formula for when I airbrush the undersides.

Enjoy the rest of your build1 :)

Cheers,

Martin

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Thanks guys.

I've ordered a pot of Gunze Sky as this is lighter than the Tamiya version, and apply a highly thinned coat over the Tamiya Sky building up the Gunze Sky over the extremities of the airframe.

This should mimic the weathering pattern I've seen in photos where the core of the airframe is generally a bit grubby.

I supposed could have lightened the Tamiya Sky as per Martin's suggestion, but having used the Gunze Sky before I know its a lighter hue, and might prove useful for a later build.

Karl

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Thanks for the comments all, much appreciated.

My pot of Gunze Sky turned up today, so despite the journey home taking 2 and a half hours tonight because of the M25, I was keen to put a coat on before I went out for my run.

The Gunze Sky is much lighter than the Tamiya equivalent, but I didn't want to lose the shading from the original Tamiya coats so mixed up a thin mix of Gunze Sky using cellulose thinners.

Here's the before shot.......

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.....and after.

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This was applied as a series of thin coats, with the emphasis on the airframe extremities.

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As you can tell I'm really liking using cellulose thinners with the Gunze acrylics, as it produces a wonderful finish, which is a joy to spray, if a bit smelly.

While I was waiting for the Gunze to arrive, I did some work on the other components, starting with the engines.

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I'm still not happy with the cowlings, and they need a bit of tidying up after putting them together, hence not repainting the Sky on these yet.

The undercarriage legs also got a coat of Tamiya Matt Aluminium, followed by a coat of Humbrol Gloss.

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Not sure yet if I'm going to add brake lines to these as I'm not sure how they were routed, or whether they were even visible.

Maybe a question on the Blenheim thread.

The wheel centres also got a coat of Matt Aluminium, and I started painting the props by applying the yellow for the tips.

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And here is a pic of everything drying off on my paint booth.

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Thanks for looking.

Karl

Edited by Bordfunker
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Thanks guys!

Not a lot progress to report tonight.

Spotted a couple of areas where the masking in the wheel bays had left bald patches around the edge of the bay, so these got a quick squirt of Sky.

This was left to dry while I walked the hounds, after which it was time for a coat of Humbrol Clear to protect the Sky before I start masking up for the top camo.

That lot is now drying off in the paint booth, so hopefully this week should see the painting done.

Karl

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