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Airfix 1/72 Blenheim Mk.I - Red box ramble


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Hi folks. 


A little soirée through Airfix's MkI Blenheim in 1/72 beckons, after I went up into the loft to look for a side project I could run parallel with other stuff. Those red boxes and their beautiful artwork are often too much to resist and this time was no exception.

 

Blenheim.jpg

 

Tied to Xtradecals X72202 sheet and the 'UQ' desert scheme option, it should be great fun and a fine weathering target.

 

Blenheim_Decals.jpg
As folks here will already know, these kits, lovely as they are, need meticulous clean up of every edged surface before committing to glue - something that happily goes hand in hand with a bluetooth speaker and an extensive modelling playlist.


These days, I hang the entire kit out on pins tacked into the surrounding shelves. More complex kits have their sprues marked with their individual letters via taped Post-It notes, for quick ID.

 

image.jpg

 

 

TTFN


Steve

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Impressive work space! I make do with a couple of boxes and the kitchen worktop. The missus nearly had a fit when I unboxed the airbrush compressor that she bought me for Christmas 😁.

Edited by Harry_the_Spider
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6 minutes ago, Harry_the_Spider said:

Impressive work space! I make do with a couple of boxes and the kitchen worktop. The missus nearly has a fit when I unboxed the airbrush compressor that she bought me for Christmas 😁.

Hi Harry.

 

Yes, I'm lucky (and know it). We have a rendered, breeze block shed at the end of the garden some 12' x 6', so I created the classic photographer's 'L' bench set up (dry and wet areas). Being out and well away from the house, I can use 'hostile' paint thinners and deal with resin and so forth, without risk to wife, kids and pets.

 

It also means no time wasted setting up or taking down, so ten available minutes for modelling yields ten minutes modelling. Like I say, I never forget how lucky I am and I admire greatly the tremendous results others achieve in small, temporary set ups.

 

 

TTFN

 

Steve 

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L6670 (UQ-R) is one of the two I am currently working on. Looks like its time (in 211 Squadron service in Greece) was relatively short-lived, but it survived a wheels up landing to be repaired and eventually issued to the Greek AF. You may already be aware, but the IWM has at least two decent photos, showing both sides of the plane.

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An interesting subject but not one that floated my boat.....until I saw the 771 FAA option on the Xtradecal sheet! I shall tag along and watch how it all goes together, like you say these kits are great side shows when you start getting bogged down in larger builds. Love the idea of hanging the sprus up, never thought of that, although may get a bit crowded when you have several on the go at once!

Looking forward to more progress on this,

Cheers now

Bob

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5 hours ago, 06/24 said:

L6670 (UQ-R) is one of the two I am currently working on. Looks like its time (in 211 Squadron service in Greece) was relatively short-lived, but it survived a wheels up landing to be repaired and eventually issued to the Greek AF. You may already be aware, but the IWM has at least two decent photos, showing both sides of the plane.

Hi Jon.

 

Thank you for the images - wasn't aware of them, so much appreciated. The first highlights the need for the under cowl filters. I've had a gander at some aftermarket and Roy Sutherland's resin intakes and wheels (along with a mask set), will be dropping into Castle Croydon early next week hopefully.

 

The Xtradecals set depicts L6670 without the 'R' - I'm not sure if it was fitted with the upgraded filtration in the field or before shipping out. I'm going with the latter. 

 

 

TTFN

 

Steve 

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1 hour ago, moaning dolphin said:

An interesting subject but not one that floated my boat.....until I saw the 771 FAA option on the Xtradecal sheet! I shall tag along and watch how it all goes together, like you say these kits are great side shows when you start getting bogged down in larger builds. Love the idea of hanging the sprus up, never thought of that, although may get a bit crowded when you have several on the go at once!

Looking forward to more progress on this,

Cheers now

Bob

 

Thanks for that Bob - yes, the FAA option was also a potential 'go' this end. 

The sprue hanging frees up bench space (the original motivation for it) and most of the time there's no more than one on the go but two is always the max.

 

TTFN

 

Steve  

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1 hour ago, Dances With Wolves said:

Hi Jon.

 

Thank you for the images - wasn't aware of them, so much appreciated. The first highlights the need for the under cowl filters. I've had a gander at some aftermarket and Roy Sutherland's resin intakes and wheels (along with a mask set), will be dropping into Castle Croydon early next week hopefully.

 

The Xtradecals set depicts L6670 without the 'R' - I'm not sure if it was fitted with the upgraded filtration in the field or before shipping out. I'm going with the latter. 

 

 

TTFN

 

Steve 

Haven't decided what to do about the filters yet, presumably fitted in North Africa before going to Greece. I can't see the "R"  either, the only reason I quote it is that it's on the IWM caption.

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Guys, have a look at the pictures in this article.

There should be enough detail there for everyone.

 

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1514940029/World's+only+flying+Bristol+Blenheim+-+restorations%2C+from-the-cockpit+and+air-to-airs

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Freightdog do filters for the Airfix Gloster Gladiator that look like they would work on a Blenheim. They come two to a pack.

 

https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/military-products/military-aircraft-conversions/1-72-scale/freightdog-models/freightdog-1-72-gloster-gladiator-tropical-filter.html

 

 

Chris

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On 05/01/2018 at 5:12 AM, Tempestwulf said:

Don't suppose you're willing to part with the night fighter markings for a price?

 

Hi T.

 

You're welcome to them. Please email your full postal address to [email protected] and I'll get them out to you next week.

No cost and I wish you well with your build.

 

 

TTFN

 

Steve 

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18 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Guys, have a look at the pictures in this article.

There should be enough detail there for everyone.

 

http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1514940029/World's+only+flying+Bristol+Blenheim+-+restorations%2C+from-the-cockpit+and+air-to-airs

 

Thanks for that Pete - much appreciated!

 

 

TTFN

 

Steve

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On 05/01/2018 at 7:42 PM, dogsbody said:

Freightdog do filters for the Airfix Gloster Gladiator that look like they would work on a Blenheim. They come two to a pack.

 

https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/military-products/military-aircraft-conversions/1-72-scale/freightdog-models/freightdog-1-72-gloster-gladiator-tropical-filter.html

 

 

Chris

 

Cheers Chris.

 

Thanks for the link. I've already committed to the Barracuda resin option but the FD link is useful choice, so much appreciated. 

 

 

TTFN

 

Steve 

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Hi folks.

Regrettably, a rather painful back injury interrupted play in the immediate wake of my first post and finally being able to heed my paramedic son's advice that movement and not immobility is the key 'soon as' have managed to knock up some images (punctuated by numerous, self-pitying whelps and whiny noises.

 

image.jpg

 

image.jpg

 

1 and 2 - After circumnavigating all the edges and levelling out the imperfections, a taped test fit of the rear fuselage into the wing section was useful in throwing up the overly tight marriage that was clearly going to need easing.

 

 

image.jpg

 

3 - The consequence of this was visible underneath, with a gap between the rear and mid bomb bay sections. 

 

 

image.jpg

 

4 - In tandem with this, the upper fuselage carries tabs that need to slip over the 'spar' when the fuselage is able to slide further forwards.

 

 

image.jpg


5 - Changing tack briefly, this deliberately lit shot shows a raised lip of plastic that needs filing flat, as per the nacelle front face below it. These occurrences of surplus plastic are a feature of the kit and need to be ruthlessly eliminated.

 

 

image.jpg

 

6 - Seen from above, the mating surfaces along the wing join have been slowly adjusted with a little scraping from a No.11 blade and 1200 grit abrasive. Even so, comparison with the wing trailing edge and fuselage wing fillet still shows the need to enable the fuselage to slide forwards just a little more to produce a smooth curve, one into the other.

 

 

image.jpg


7 - A small surprise to discover the wing tip lamp covers are solid plastic. This will never do, so the errant portions will be amputated and clear sprue blocks glued in and filed and polished to shape a bit later down the build.

 

 

image.jpg


8 - Call me old fashioned but Francois Verlinden was advocating removal of the so called 'alignment pins' back in the late '70s and I still do it today. With everything 'loose', fit can be tweaked with much more abandon. In addition, the parts were rotationally sanded on a piece of 1200 grit on a heavy sheet of bevelled plate glass. This always leads to the closest possible joint and minimises the need for glue.

 

 

image.jpg


9 - A small incremental improvement is the removal of the moulded rudder actuators. A small hole will be drilled in the fairings and fine, stretched sprue used for a fully 3D rendition.

 

 

image.jpg

 

10 - The alignment pin massacre extended to the wings and gave an immediate improvement in fit.

 

 

image.jpg

 

11 - As the chosen decal option is a desert bird and carried tropical filters, some Barracuda Cast resin, along with their replacement wheels and a black vinyl mask set have since flown in from those folks in Lowestoft.

 

Expect glue and paint in the next thrilling instalment!

 

 

TTFN

Steve

Edited by Dances With Wolves
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