elger Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Elger.... I am fairly certain that HX333 had "Jane" nose-art although I have not specifically asked that question of the pilot, Doug Robinson. I soon will ask him and let you know. I was asking him last year about Percy, the parachuting penguin because I wanted to know if he or any other of the crew had good luck talismans. He said he only knew about "Percy" but he, had his own ritual before each flight and that was to reach out his cockpit window and "do something rude" to the image of Jane painted on the nose. He was somewhat ashamed to tell the tale since his daughter was sitting at the table with us and he admitted he had not told anyone about that for years! From this story I was assuming several things. One, that it was not the same "Jane-paint" as we see in the photo posted in this thread -- unless his reach was quite extensive. I also assume that the latest image of Jane was considerably larger or more extensive. Unfortunately, none of he photos that were taken by the Luftwaffe of the downed aircraft showed that side of the fuselage (I, too was excited to find those dutch Archival photos! -- and Douglas Robinson was truly amazed to see them over 70 years after his "wheel-up" landing) if you could ask him, that would be amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 The build continues, slowly but surely. I added wires and cables to the landing gear retraction mechanism. Landing gear bays assembled. Added some detail from the Eduard detail set intended for the mk I/II and some scratch built items. I will be replacing the air intakes on top of the engine cowls with left over white metal parts from Aeroclub. I accentally bought these a few years ago when I was building a mk V. They're a little wider and look a little better to me than the original Revell parts. Thanks for looking! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian airman Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Those cables look really 'fine' on the U/C leg, such an eye for detail. Well done Elger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Just caught up on this. I love Halifaxes and agree with those that think they're the most attractive of the 'heavies'. Grandad will probably be rolling in his grave as he was a navigator on a Stirling! I have an Airfix Halifax in the stash that I just don't know what to do with now this Revell is available. Really great work on the interior, looking forwards to the rest. Best regards Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 I have an Airfix Halifax in the stash that I just don't know what to do with now this Revell is available. Save the propellers and use them on the Revell kit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSAR Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Excellent detail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 (edited) For some reason it took very long to finish the wings. The engineering isn't bad - everything fits and although with all the details the parts count is relatively high the sub components aren't needlessly complicated but it felt like it took me a very long time to get it to this stage. Inspired by woody37's fantastic Manchester (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991747-blackbird-avro-manchester-mki-airfix-lanc-conversion/) I wanted to try to get a similar kind of black finish. I first primed the parts with black Mr Surfacer 1500. Then I masked some of the panels and added white 'shading'. Next, I painted all panels with a dark gray. Finally, the parts were misted with highly thinned black. The engine cylinders and exhaust system were painted with Vallejo's metal range. I added the support brackets which I made out of stretched sprue. Preshading for the top surfaces as well. Underside. Thanks for looking! Edited May 6, 2016 by elger 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Marvellous. Great work there elger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Wow, great job on that black. Looking gorgeous already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Lovely work. This kit looks very nice indeed. The black and pre-shading is superb. Thanks for the tip for the propellers from the Airfix kit. Best regards Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 WOW! Great work Elger! I just found this thread, and as I have the Mk I/II version in my stash I'll be taking notes, not that my skill level is anywhere near yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Very nice indeed,...you are doing a superb job, Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted May 15, 2016 Author Share Posted May 15, 2016 Thanks for all the replies everyone! Today I finished most of the paint work. I used dark green and dark earth from Mr. Paint. The dark earth is more brown than I'm used to but I like the overall look. I sealed the paints with Tamiya X-22 thinned with Mr. Color leveling thinner. This does seem to react with Mr. Paint so if you're thinking about trying this combination be careful. I will wait a little while with the decals; cotem is trying to get in touch with Doug Robinson the pilot to see if he remembers anything more about the nose art. In the mean time, I'll work on the propellers which need to be reshaped (one of the let downs of the kit). Thanks for looking! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(ex)Sgtrafman Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 Hi Elger Love it! Great stuff mate and a very fitting tribute to some very brave men. Cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) Decals are on. Although Cotem hasn't been in touch I went ahead and modified and combined Printscale's decals for Halifax LV937 "Expensive Babe" and Halifax MZ913 "Jane" into an approximation of what HX333's nose art might have looked liked, based on his earlier description in this thread. The Printscale decals are gorgeous but they were the most difficult I ever worked with. The carrier film is very thin and the decal for "Jane" crumpled up as soon as I tried to slide it from its backing paper onto the model. Wrestled with it for about 15 minutes trying to unfold it almost to no avail. In the end, the first four letters were legible again but the final letter E had completely folded up on itself. I ended up carefully painting over it with some Vallejo off white and I think it looks acceptable now. The code letters and serial number are from an Xtradecal generic sheet. National insignia and stencil data from the kit decal sheet. I did modify the J; the photos of the crash landed aircraft appear to show a round font for the J; the J supplied on the decal sheet is squared off. I used an "I" for the top half and half of a top half of an 8 for the lower bit of the letter. I had a go at fixing the shape of the kit propellers. Original item on the left, modified item on the right. Not perfect, but it'll do. I finished all the props, going slightly overboard with the weathering although it doesn't look quite as heavy in real life (rather than in the photo). The next steps will include putting the model together, weathering and finishing. Thanks for looking! Edited May 23, 2016 by elger 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted May 29, 2016 Author Share Posted May 29, 2016 heading for the finish line 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 That looks very, very nice Elger. One tiny thing that you might like to check, sorry this is the 11th hour, I've never seen a 158 Sq Mk III with the 'towel rail' aerial under the port nose. Great work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnerdad Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Absolutely fantastic thread, interesting history, top class modelling and decent pics. It's got everything, just read entire thread. Following this now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 That looks very, very nice Elger. One tiny thing that you might like to check, sorry this is the 11th hour, I've never seen a 158 Sq Mk III with the 'towel rail' aerial under the port nose. Great work. I think you're right - I missed that. I'll remove it before I call it finished, caught it just in time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 Thanks for all the input and support everyone! I finished it today. One final thing left to do was to remove the antenna that Vicarage Vee pointed out earlier. It put up a bit of a fight at the end - the landing gear and the doors gave me some trouble and the antenna wires weren't much fun either but it's done! RFI here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235003564-halifax-hx333-np-j-revell-172/ 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Great build and the finish results are stunning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Lovley build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicarage Vee Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 Superb stuff Elger, superb and greatly appreciated too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Great build, great read! Cheers, Andre (Groningen resident) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian airman Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Great finish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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