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Another Blenheim! Airfix Mk IF *** Complete ***


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Time to put the lid on!

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Fit was generally very good, just leaving me with a very small gap at the rear of the pilot's hatch, which I've filled with MrSurfacer 10000 applied with a cocktail stick sanded to a very fine point.

As you can see I've already applied a coat of Cockpit Green, which has gone on nicely.

Next up were the engine cowls, the interiors and rears of which also received a thin coat of Cockpit Green that allowed the black to show through and create some shadow.

I wasn't happy with the cowling straps that Airfix molded in, so sanded them off and replaced them with plastic strip.

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After that I cleaned up the resin gun pack and test fitted it, which highlighted a problem. The QB Mk1 gun pack sits further forward than the Airfix one, which mean the holes I opened up in the bomb bay are now fully visible!

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Solution, chop a cocktail stick in half and CA the pointy ends into each hole, before snipping off and sanding flush. And here it is with the gun pack in place.

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I also rescribed the lost panel detail.

Some of the other parts were then mounted up for painting in my time honoured fashion.

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The rear faces of all of these have already had a coat of Cockpit Green. You can see where I filled the sink marks on the underside of the flaps.

I now turned my attention to hollowing out the ends of the exhausts, so new new scalpel blade inserted into the handle. Oh dear you see where this is going.....

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....suffering for my art.

What a plum!

It's not as bad as it looks, just bleeding a bit!

Now waiting for Mrs B to return from her weekend away with her craft buddies.

Karl

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That's look really nice Karl... not the finger (ouch!) but the gunpack and other detailing. :)

I shall resist the temptation to move away from OOB... oh, except the gun pack from the IV of course... rats :)

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After getting the Cockpit Green on the masked canopy, I decided I wasn't happy with the fit of the top of the canopy, as it left an eyebrow on one side.

I tried sanding it a little, but that wasn't doing it, so ended up prizing it off, fettling the fit a little resulted in a much improved fit.

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Everything got a bit of a polish before the masking went back on.

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Some of the Eduard masking was a bit battered after my sanding efforts, hence the patchwork of new bits of Tamiya tape to tidy up the edges.

The primer coat highlited a faint seam still visible under the cockpit, which got a coat MrSurfacer 500.

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A quick sand with a sanding stick, and a polish with a sanding sponge, and I was left with a nice clean joint with no seam line.

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Next up was another coat of Cockpit Green to check the fit, and general appearance.

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That lot was allowed to dry for half an hour, before I broke out the primer, and gave everything a quick squirt.

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Half an hour after that it was time for the pre-shade. I'm trying to get a wiggle on now!

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Quick and messy, but it'll look fine once the Sky starts to go on.

That'll do for tonight.

Tomorrow night I'll apply the Sky.

Karl

Edited by Bordfunker
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Thanks Craig.

Not a great deal of progress to show tonight, but I did manage to get a couple of coats of Sky on, followed by a coat of Humbrol Gloss.

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I've started masking up ahead of applying the top camo tomorrow night.

Karl

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Having had issues with overspray in the past, I've made sure everything on the underside is well and truly masked!

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The camo pattern for this machine differs from the one in the Airfix instructions, but thankfully is very close to the pattern on the instructions for the MkIV F.

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I'm beginning to realise just how many variations there were in Blenheim camouflage schemes.

No two appear to be the same!

As per usual, that little lot can dry off overnight, and then I'll start on the Green.

Karl

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With the Dark Earth dry, it was time to mask up for the Dark Green, however unlike with the MkIV, I changed the masking method, as the hard masks I used last time took forever.

Therefore out with the WhiteTack and Tamiya tape.

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That little lot took about half an hour.

Painting took about 10 minutes, and everything was allowed to dry for an hour before I removed the masking.

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Overall not too bad,but a few areas where touch ups are required, of where I've just plain cocked up!

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A bit of overspray, and the edges are a bit soft for an early war scheme.

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That's going to need sorting out!

This next one I managed to get the masking in completely the wrong place! Not sure how, but an easy fix.

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I might get some time later tonight to start correcting these last bits of main paintwork, but of to the cinema first to see Sicario.

Karl

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Just a quick update tonight.

Sorted out the areas of overspray, and my cock ups, after which everything has received a gloss coat ahead of decals.

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I also got some paint on the smaller bits and pieces, particularly the exhausts and their collector rings.

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That'll do for tonight.

Karl

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Thanks for the kind words and encouragement throughout these builds.

As promised here are some better pics of the Mk1 F, this time with the masking removed from the landing lights!

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And that vey nice QB gun pack.

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And that's that one complete.

Karl

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lovely! you didn't say where/how you sourced the decals? and what was the artwork reference please ?

The roundels are from this kit, and the MkIV F boxing, with the fin flashes coming from Carpena.

I struggled to find the correct size and colour codes, so ended up chopping up the Airfix codes from the MkIV.

Serials are courtesy of Ventura Decals, and all were applied with lashings MrMark Softener and Setter.

I used the Osprey Combat Aircraft series 'Blenheim Squadrons of World War 2' as reference for both builds as it provides profiles for both this and the 235 Squadron machine.

Karl

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