From Failure to Failure

[06/24]

The large glass of rum to my left makes me think this is the funniest thing I've read in a while. See it's not just the family who lead me astray.

[Procopius]

1 minute ago, 06/24 said:

The large glass of rum to my left makes me think this is the funniest thing I've read in a while. See it's not just the family who lead me astray.

Aw man, I wish I had rum!

[06/24]

So, shall I try and keep up with the procopii and do two? A dig in the stash found this:

 

MkI by jongwinnett, on Flickr

 

and a dig on the internet found this:

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE: OPERATIONS OVER ALBANIA AND IN GREECE, 1940-1941.. © IWM (CM 288)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

ROYAL AIR FORCE: OPERATIONS OVER ALBANIA AND IN GREECE, 1940-1941.. © IWM (CM 290)IWM Non Commercial Licence

 

At least two decal sheets include this machine, so it would be straight forward enough I think?

[Cookenbacher]

Yes, four!

 

Bless you both for this Blenheim bounty.

[corsaircorp]

4 hours ago, 06/24 said:

As you know, I enjoy a wee glass of something while I model, so what better than a beer brewed within sight of Leuchars, the wartime setting for my machine...

 

Modellers aid by jongwinnett, on Flickr

 

Meanwhile I thought I might share the quality workmanship of the pilot figure:

 

Blenheim IV by jongwinnett, on Flickr

Modelling and a good beverage ! 06/24 you're a man that I really appreciate !

Is this one tastefull ?? I don't know yet !

A Blenheim nest !! Goooood !

Sincerely.

CC

[corsaircorp]

Hello PC,

Your kids are bro for sure, Lord if not the difference in age they can be confused as twins !!

Next stage crawling and tryin' to know what lie in any corner !!

Good job on your other twins, I mean the winged ones !

Is there still some Colt .45 beer Conus ??

That was the only one I liked in 1999, more dinosaurish huh  ??

Sincerely.

CC

[06/24]

Glad we have so many at the bar for this one. Stung by Edward's rapid progress, I carefully (conscious that rum and modelling may not make ideal partners) stuck some bits of plastic together and deployed my limited clamp array

 

Clamps by jongwinnett, on Flickr

 

and then decided to quit while I was ahead! Off to research 211 Squadron, order placed with the East Anglian megastore for the decals and masks. (I have/had masks in the stash, but cannot find them. However, finding the Yahu IPs was an unexpected bonus.)

 

Night all

[johnd]

Excellent, this thread is cracking on apace! It's good to see a Mk.I in there too for the simple and selfish reason that I'll be told how to build the one in my stash.

 

John.

[dogsbody]

I've just found this build and have bellied up to ( literally ) the computer desk to follow the progress.

 

I have rum:

 

 

 

 and beer:

 

 

 

Chris

[Procopius]

Gah, does everyone have rum but me? Oh cruel world!

 

In any case, I made a discovery. The MPM Blenheim is missing the two resin blocks containing the prop bosses and god knows what else. Normally this would be kind of a disaster, BUT

 

Remember how I had an extra Sprue E from the Airfix Blenheim? You know what's on Sprue E? The props! 

 

However, the props on the Airfix kit have a female mating point to the engine, whereas the MPM ones apparently had a male connector. Also, there's no way to fit the Bisley-style spinners over the props on the Airfix pieces BUT

 

As you recall, I also have a Mk I Blenheim languishing sans clear part. I can use its prop bits (I think the doohickies that go on the front are the constant speed units? in any case, they're on Sprue E). But earlier Blenheims have no spinners! BUT

 

 

 

 

 

 

...it seems that in service, particularly in North Africa and India, it was not uncommon to operate the Bisley without the spinners. So I think we can work through this.

 

As a side note, I think the Bisley is by far the most beautiful of the Blenheim line, but I realize this view is not widely shared.

 

 

 

 

[Rob G]

You are not alone in being sans rum PC. I am not got any neither. (For a reason - me and the incohol are not bestest buddyfriends. Which makes me sads, because I loikes me some auld malt. Oh well.)

 

Both of you are doing very well with your Blenheims. I'll follow along quietly.

[Harley John]

Sorry chaps, a touch tardy of myself to arrive so late on Page 2. And for the record no rum either! Which is a shame as I was introduced to the delights of proper rum by a couple of ex-FAA lads

[Learstang]

I just wish I could get through one Blenheim build without a reference to Shoggoths! I suppose soon I'll have to endure yet another reference to Hastur the Unspeakable, or Azathoth, the Blind Idiot God*. Ahem, on a more serious note, nice jobs so far gentlemen; I may yet have to buy one of these Blenheim thingies. Sadly, I'll have to forgo the rum, as I have not been on speaking terms with alcohol in quite some time - we had a rather long and tumultuous relationship, I'm afraid.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

*With apologies to Howard Phillips Lovecraft, his heirs and successors.

[Procopius]

Jesus F...rancis Christ, I really hate the clear parts on the Airfix kit. Terrible fit and wonky engineering combine to make getting them in place a deeply unfun experience. Fortunately I had spare clear parts from the other Airfix Blenheim I, because I went through all of them, trying different combinations of tabs cut off, fettling like crazy. Even now, it's a bad fit and I'm worried they'll come apart when I have to put the halves together and plug them into the fuselage. What utter crap. I shouted so many vile imprecations while trying to get them together that my throat really is sore now.

 

20180101_205542 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

And more clear part woes are in my future, because the goddamn MPM clear parts have such indistinct framing that it's proving almost impossible to mask them freehand, which is not in any case my strong suit. I have dropped many big, big "F"s tonight.

 

Credit where credit is due, however, the MPM kit has the only PE instrument panel over film dials placed on a plastic part set-up to fit perfectly, in the entire history of the human race. I wasn't expecting that.

 

20180101_205604 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Here's the current state of play of the kits, with even more hot clamping action:

 

20180101_205549 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

This places both aircraft at roughly the same stage of completion. It's anyone's guess as to whether the unfettered crudity of the MPM or the overcomplexity of the Airfix will prove the bigger challenge when it comes to fitting the nose sections, which I suspect won't happen until Wednesday at the soonest. We'll see.

 

I thought also you might like to see the current state of my grotto's work area, which I think is at present the best it's ever been:

 

Here we see the desk (and the yellow bulge of my paunch, mercifully enclosed by a t-shirt, sorry about that):

 

20180101_205704 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

And then, to the right, the improvised table I made from old dining room table leaves and two sawhorses:

 

20180101_205713 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Working well so far! For the first time, I'm mostly sitting as I model.

 

 

[Stew Dapple]

1 hour ago, Procopius said:

I shouted so many vile imprecations while trying to get them together that my throat really is sore now.

Just so long as you're having fun  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[06/24]

2 hours ago, Learstang said:

I have not been on speaking terms with alcohol in quite some time - we had a rather long and tumultuous relationship, I'm afraid.

Apologies, no insensitivity intended, to you or Rob. I'll tone it down a bit.

 

The time zone differences mean we seem to proceed leapfrog fashion, plus PC is just so damn quick, but hopefully today I can deploy the Scotsman's secret weapon - a second public holiday. Also this way PC is acting as my pathfinder, and alerting me to pitfalls ahead, such as the glazing.

 

[AdrianMF]

Fantastic build thread! The Airfix moulds seem to be rougher than I remember. On the MPM - I inserted a 1mm tapered shim between the fuselage halves because on the MPM Mk IV the canopy was 1mm wider than the fuselage (as in here). It might be worth checking the Mk V for similar issues and digging out the razor saw to avoid aerial blueness...

 

regards,

Adrian

[CedB]

Great progress PC but bad news on the new Airfix quality...

How about using the painted Filmoplast trick for the MPM framing?

Jon it's going to be hard to keep up but I'm sure you're up to it

[Whofan]

20 hours ago, 06/24 said:

Note the "Made in UK" logo, does the return of manufacturing to the UK signify an increase in quality?

 

Not on first inspection, the plastic is a darker, strangely mottled grey, reminiscent of the shiny stuff in Airfix kits of yore. It has a subtle, grainy texture on the surface, not clear if this is the plastic or the mould faces.

 

It does not seem as cleanly finished as the Asian competition, and in places looks quite poor indeed, the pilot may take more than a little effort for example. First impressions do not bode particularly well, but we shall see.

 

Are airfix definitely manufacturing in the UK now, or is it more "packed" in Britain?

 

Apologies for swerving slightly off topic.

[johnd]

I saw this link to an IPMS build article on the Airfix Blenheim IV in a BM thread but can't now find it to give credit to the poster. It may be useful.

 

John.

[06/24]

Thanks all,

 

While PC sleeps, perchance to dream, I have cracked on a bit this morning before our bank holiday family outing claims my time.

 

You will be pleased to know that, true to our thread title, this morning saw my first cockup of the build. Do not, as I did, fit the forward wing spar before fitting the undercart doo-hickeys - because if you do the undercart doo-hickeys do not fit

 

Wing spars etc by jongwinnett, on Flickr

 

I then "borrowed" some clamps from the washing basket:

 

Wing spars etc by jongwinnett, on Flickr

Edited January 2, 2018 by 06/24
spelling!

[06/24]

As I’m now building two, I presume I shall do one sans crew, and one with a crew in place, assuming I can shrink a variety of plastic people enough to fit them in the cramped interior. For now I have stuck the bits together, fiddly but immensely satisfying.

 

Cockpit by jongwinnett, on Flickr

[06/24]

1 hour ago, Whofan said:

 

Are airfix definitely manufacturing in the UK now, or is it more "packed" in Britain?

 

Apologies for swerving slightly off topic.

It definitely says manufactured in UK. Not a bad thing and presumably there is a steep-ish learning curve involved - one can but hope for improvement over time 🇬🇧 

[Whofan]

6 minutes ago, 06/24 said:

It definitely says manufactured in UK. Not a bad thing and presumably there is a steep-ish learning curve involved - one can but hope for improvement over time 🇬🇧 

 

Jolly good! On with the  ....  errrr  ... four builds!

[Procopius]

My kitchen sink's p-trap appears to have frozen this morning (it's -8 F / -22 C outside, and the pipes run close to an uninsulated exterior wall), so that's what I've been doing this morning. Exciting! I am always ready and willing to emigrate.