Special Hobby Bristol 1:72 Beaufort Mk1a in Malta colours

[StephenCJ]

Coming along very nicely Simon

[SimonL]

Thanks @caseyjones!

 

Not much done today. I dealt with the challenge of the rear turret, that needed a square of plastic removed.

 

 

First some tape to protect the plastic.

 

 

Some guide holes drilled using one of my smaller drill bits.

 

 

Chain drilling with a larger bit.

 

 

Yikes, that's ugly - but I left the hole deliberately small, intending to use some cut down sanding sticks to tidy it up. You can probably see the crack :-(, luckily should be hidden behind the coaming when fitted.

 

 

 

Close enough is good enough.

 

 

I then attached the rear part of the transparency with a very thin coat of Tamiya thin  cement. That's it for today, I need a stiff drink.

 

 

[CedB]

You're a brave man, a very brave man Simon - good job! 

I think I would have filled the part with BluTak before drilling to give it some support but you've nailed it. Nice.

[SimonL]

Blu-tak? excellent idea, maybe next time (next time? I must be mad).

 

by the way, here is the stiff drink - g'n't with a dash of bitters.

 

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by SimonL

[Vulcanicity]

Great stuff so far! I gave up with this kit some years back so this is inspiring me to dig it back out again sooner rather than later!

[SimonL]

Made some progress off an on over the last few days.

 

First completed the cockpit with some "impressionistic" daubs of colour and a raw umber wash.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a bit of a fiddle getting the cockpit parts to line up, but the top of the torpedo bay helped (with a bit of sanding)

 

 

And a shot showing the obligatory map of Malta. I used a scrap of left over instrument panel decal to give an impression of instruments on the navigator's panel. Lamp to come later as I am sure it will lend itself to being broken off. Also in shot, the completed propellers.

 

 

Then onto the wings. Same approach as others - spare clear plastic drilled for the bulbs, with a drop of green or red paint as necessary, the  glued in place. Then sanding and polishing followed.

 

 

 

Also in shot detailing the landing lights with some slices of plastic rod painted silver.

 

 

[dogsbody]

Judging by the pitch of the propeller blades, your kit is using the Bristol Taurus engines. If that is indeed the case, then the prop hubs would not be silver but black, the same as the blades.

 

 

Chris

Edited December 29, 2016 by dogsbody

[CedB]

Nice detailing on the cockpit Simon and I love the map and the lights - good job! 

Don't forget to check that the canopy fits before closing up - following Bill's build you might need some packing in the top of the fuselage  

[SimonL]

Thanks Chris, easy enough to fix :-)

 

Thanks Ced, already planning ahead for that :-)

 

Before I close her up, I need to sort out the rear turret. The resin "base" is actually too big, and also pretty firmly attached to a casting block, from which I have no confidence I would be able to remove it successfully. So a bit of lateral thinking. I  had the seat part of the turret left over from a previous Blenheim build. Some minor butchery and it fits nicely, held in place with copious amounts of Micro Kristal Klear. I didn't try masking the turret, but painted freehand instead, using sharpened cocktail sticks to tidy up. Not my neatest job, but I think it will do. Meanwhile I have started painting the main canopy, which I am doing the old fashioned way with strips of masking tape and taking my time.

 

 

 

 

I have also glued some clear plastic inside the fuselage to stop the windows from falling in when I fit them later.

 

 

Getting close to closing the fuselage 😁

[Navy Bird]

10 hours ago, SimonL said:

<snip>

Lamp to come later as I am sure it will lend itself to being broken off. Also in shot, the completed propellers.

</snip>

 

I can't even remember how many times I broke off my lamp. Excellent plan to leave it until right before you close up the canopy!    

 

Man, does @dogsbody know his Bristols or what?    

 

Cheers,

Bill

[TheBaron]

Lovely progress Simon. Having been browsing through the Ian Allen special on the Beaufort I'm most tempted to acquire one of these now as well. 

 

You beat me to it on Chris's comment Bill! 

 

Tony

[rob85]

Really nice work Simon, putting the effort in mate.

 

Rob

[SimonL]

17 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Man, does @dogsbody know his Bristols or what?    

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Yes indeed!

 

Made rapid progress today.

 

First I glued a 0.5 mm wide strip of plastic card along the top of the fuselage roof on one fuselage side, to take account of the canopy width issue alluded to above by @CedB.

 

 

I with the help of some blu-tack to hold it in place I fixed the turret into one fuselage half with some Micro Kristal Klear. I the glued the two fuselage halves together. I needed some additional plastic card strips as a spacer between the fuselage halves at the nose. Here is the completed fuselage after a little sanding.

 

 

 

Also in shot are the extra bits of plastic card that were needed to deal with the other canopy issue mentioned in previous builds - the gap between the canopy and the fuselage on one side. I had some added issues where the canopy met the top of the fuselage roof.

 

 

 

Just needs a little tidying up. The other side looks OK without any additional work.

 

 

The extreme nose needed some plastic card so that the fuselage halves meet properly there.

 

 

Then on to gluing the wings. The plastic seems to respond well to Tamiya Thin Cement, so I decided to go with a simple butt joint. I needed to use a little sprue as a spacer in the wings to prevent a step at the wing root.

 

 

Just needed a smear of Mr Surfacer at the joins, with the excess cleaned off with a cotton bud soaked in nail polish remover.

 

 

A test fit of the partially painted canopy - glad added the map!

 

 

[CedB]

Good job Simon - the extreme nose on mine was badly moulded too and you've certainly sorted that and the canopy fit.

Very nice work Sir!

[SimonL]

Thanks Ced!

 

Today has mostly been spent painting, although first I had to add the resin "extensions" to the back of each wing. They were a bit tricky to fair in as well, I went as far as I could without breaking them!

 

First couple of coats of azure brushpainted on to the underside (Italeri acrylic) and then the topside colours of Dark Slate Grey (Tamiya XF22) and Extra Dark Sea Grey (Tamiya XF24). I also spent some time masking and painting the engine cowling. In the background you can see the ongoing tediousness that is the canopy painting!

 

 

 

 

 

A test fit of the engines, although they are such a tight fit I suspect I will leave them in rather than risk damaging them.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by SimonL

[SimonL]

Glosscoat on.

 

 

Then time for the transfers. The kit roundels and tail flashes are rather bright, and ever so slightly out alignment, so instead I used some spares left over from a Airfix Beaufighter. I have also at last finished the front canopy painting, a trial fit looks pretty good.

 

 

I was contemplating removing the excess resin at the base of the engines, but they appear to fit quite nicely into the nacelles. Not sure if this is intended but i decided to take advantage of this and glued them in place with some Micro Kristal Klear.

[CedB]

Great progress Simon - looking good!

I had the same thought with the engines - the 'mounts' seem to be 'excess' but, like you, I left them on after a couple of dry-fits so that the engines looked right in the nacelles.

Love the glazing - good job.

[dogsbody]

Is that white painted onto the front of the cowling exhaust collector ring? If so, this is incorrect. It should be just the natural metal colour of the collector.

 

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205126543

 

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205218894

 

 

Chris

[SimonL]

Chris, I was sceptical as well about the white ( which is in the instructions), but I found this image (which happens to be a 217 Squadron aircraft). 

 

http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Beaufort/Bristol-Beaufort/pages/Bristol-Beaufort-MkI-RAF-217Sqn.html

 

I also found this completed 1:48 Sanger kit by @tonyot:

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/38662-148th-scale-bristol-beaufort-mki/

 

So I think I am on safe ground. 

Edited January 5, 2017 by SimonL

[dogsbody]

Well, there it is. I've probably seen that Sanger build before on this forum and I know I've seen that photo too, but I didn't see it as white.

 

 

Chris

[stevehnz]

That is looking great Simon, some excellent modelling on display here.

Steve.

[SimonL]

Thanks Steve.

 

With the main airframe done, it's now down to the extra bits (I.e. Easily knocked off fragile stuff).

 

Torpedo done, just need to sort the MAT.

 

 

I fashioned a lamp from a staple and some plastic rod.

 

 

 

Before fitting it I first made the airframe a bit grubby using a sludgy wash of dishwashing liquid and watercolours. Looks gruesome but gave a nicely used look once wiped off with some tissues. The watercolour was then sealed in with some Humbrol Mattcote

 

Here is what it looks after that treatment, with the lamp now fitted.

 

 

I then ran into a problem. Although I followed the instructions, it looks like they actually have you putting in the front "wall" of the undercarriage bays upside down, so there is nothing for the main part of undercarriage to actually rest on. After scratching my head a bit, I glued in some plastic rod to act as a "shelf" for the undercarriage legs. 

 

 

I am on the last lap now, so I must resist the temptation to rush. However I did want to see if the map and lamp are still visible under the canopy.

 

 

yes they are 😄

 

Also visible are the two holes carefully drilled into the canopy to take the two Vickers guns (spare from an Airfix Blenheim kit) in the nose.

Edited January 6, 2017 by SimonL

[CedB]

Nice work Simon

The torpedo looks good - well done with the fiddly PE. What's the "MAT" - the 'air rudder'? I had trouble glueing mine as the joins are very small.

The now obligatory lamp also looks good - a staple, why didn't I think of that! Much easier to bend and shape that plastic.

I like that weathering too - subtle but effective.

[SimonL]

Thanks Ced,

 

MAT - monoplane air tail

 

and yes, I am a bit nervous about fitting it....

 

 

[SimonL]

Assorted bits and bobs as I approach the finish.

 

I fixed the guns in place in the nose of the canopy using some Micro Kristal Klear.

 

 

I continued with gluing various sticky-out bits as well as sorting the undercarriage , which in the end worked out ok.

 

 

 

The kit provides the Yagi aerials and supports as photo etch, not my favourite medium. Obviously the aerials will need to stay, but I didn't fancy making the supports. There appeared to be the appropriate parts on the sprue, so I used them with some plastic card to make the supports. Now I just need to dig out a protractor to make sure they are fixed at the correct angle under the wings.