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Mark's Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter TF.Mk.X - Completed


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Mark’s 1/48 Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter TF.Mk.X

 

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Surprisingly, this is my first ever Tamiya build and it will be interesting to see if the kit engineering lives up to all the hype, especially given that this particular model is held in such high regard with comments including “falls together” and “shake and bake” being quite common, well we’ll see how it fairs in the hands of a very average modeller.

For the GB I intend to build the kit as supplied but with the addition of some scratch built detailing for the interior, possibly the rockets and rails, torpedo plus cradle, and the engines.  What I do hope however is to try out some new to me painting and weathering techniques which hopefully a larger model such as this will allow even me to do.

I have decided to complete the kit as the 236 Squadron example; NT950 ‘MB-T’ with invasion stripes, mainly because I’ve never done a model in such a scheme before plus I have an ICM 1/48 Mustang Mk.III in the stash which has a similar (316 Sqn. Polish) scheme and it would be nice to display them (eventually) side by side.

 

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Just a small fly in the ointment. Beaus carried rockets OR bombs OR a torpedo, Got that gem from 'A Separate Little War' which is an excellent read. Apparently the crews specialised to some extent.

 

Nice idea to put it with a Mustang.

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Good choice. I have one on the go at the moment and to be honest adding interior detail may not be worth it (certainly in the rear) as it won’t be seen. For the cockpit I would add the red grab rails above and behind the pilot.

 

And yes, it’s a good fit. The underside central wing piece is an ingenious piece of engineering.

 

Trevor

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28 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

Good choice. I have one on the go at the moment and to be honest adding interior detail may not be worth it (certainly in the rear) as it won’t be seen. For the cockpit I would add the red grab rails above and behind the pilot.

 

And yes, it’s a good fit. The underside central wing piece is an ingenious piece of engineering.

 

Trevor

Yes it is quite tight when closed up, so I will concentrate on the cockpit for most of the extra detail and just add some vague shapes for interest rearwards of that. The canopy is quite large and open so I think it'll lend itself to a few tweaks and additions in the front office.

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Hi All,

 

First bits and pieces done, added some control levers to the left hand console of the cockpit, a bit over-scale but a bit of an improvement.

 

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Plus the two maps cases? on the side of the left hand console, also the hydraulic pump lever and elevator trim indicator to the right hand console and the elevator trim wheel chain in the shape of some detailing wire. I've also added the ramp thingy and supports behind the pilot's seat.

 

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I have also started to add some rough detail the fuselage interior just behind the cockpit.

 

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Finally for today, although I admit to starting it a couple of days ago, started scratching a detail for the final display, hopefully....can you guess what it is yet?

 

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That's all for now

Cheers, M

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Afternoon all,

 

Added a bit more detail to the cockpit/front fuselage including what I believe is the fuel tank selector assembly at rear of the left hand console, two further supports at the pilot entrance/exit and some grab handles and a box of some sort on the starboard side.

 

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Additionally I have finished construction of my take on the Torpedo handling trolley scaled up from it's baby brother Airfix version from the 1/72 Swordfish kit, plus some balsa wood chocks also for the finished display.

 

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I seem to be working the wrong way around but you get an idea and just go with it,

 

More later, M.

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Evening all,

 

Added some rough details to the starboard side fuselage interior,

 

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Hopefully I can get some primer on in the next few days. Also masked the cockpit clear part inside and out plus added some of the internal framing.

 

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That's all for today.

 

Cheers, M.

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Afternoon all,

 

Thank you Max H for the link above, interesting details contained therein.

 

On the subject of details, I have been trawling through the internet, posts on BM and other sites and now my Beaufighter modeller's datafile has turned up I'm proper confused innit! I know there has been exhaustive discussion on the subject of 236 squadron TF.X NT950 'T' Tommy paint scheme around the time the Tamiya kit supposedly represents but I get a different take on it everywhere I turn so what's the consensus from the BM10thGB massive in respect of the colour scheme or in other words which would be the biggest faux pas in your books? EDSG or DSG + Dark Slate Grey or solid DSG upper surfaces.

 

Something else will have to be changed as I seem to have made a representation of the wrong type of Fuel tank selector according to the Datafile, glad it did turn up today.

 

Be interested in your thoughts chaps,

 

Cheers, M.

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You’ve got me there regarding colour schemes. Mine will be grotty Night with matt and glossy patches!

 

You've done a heckuvalot more cockpit detail than me! I have sort of stopped on the tailplane. As kitted it’s a ‘bitza’.

 

Here is my build thread so far. Feel free to cherry pick anything useful and don’t hesitate to ask questions if I can be of help!

 

Trevor

 

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1 hour ago, MarkSH said:

Afternoon all,

 

Thank you Max H for the link above, interesting details contained therein.

 

On the subject of details, I have been trawling through the internet, posts on BM and other sites and now my Beaufighter modeller's datafile has turned up I'm proper confused innit! I know there has been exhaustive discussion on the subject of 236 squadron TF.X NT950 'T' Tommy paint scheme around the time the Tamiya kit supposedly represents but I get a different take on it everywhere I turn so what's the consensus from the BM10thGB massive in respect of the colour scheme or in other words which would be the biggest faux pas in your books? EDSG or DSG + Dark Slate Grey or solid DSG upper surfaces.

 

Something else will have to be changed as I seem to have made a representation of the wrong type of Fuel tank selector according to the Datafile, glad it did turn up today.

 

Be interested in your thoughts chaps,

 

Cheers, M.

Tidy work so far Mark :thumbsup: 

On the subject of colour I'd suggest EDSG as a base for heavily faded and patchy paintwork due to the extreme weather and operating conditions these aircraft encountered.

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Thanks chaps for your comments,

Col; I agree that weather worn EDSG is the way to go, what do you think about the argument in some quarters that NT950 had a disruptive pattern upper surface and that Tamiya got it wrong? some have suggested that the 'disruptive' is visible in the well know air to air photos of the a/c, personally I have my doubts but would be interested to hear other views.

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Evening chaps,

 

Done a bit of spraying tonight, Primed, coat of Vallejo Aluminium, 2 coats of AK Interactive 'Worn effects' and then some Tamiya cockpit green which was brushed with water and then chipped and scratched to reveal the aluminium underneath and then finally a bit of dry brushed aluminium.

 

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                    Aluminium just about to be sprayed with 'Worn effects'

 

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Seats with cushions added

 

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Ready for a oil wash and some detail painting tomorrow

 

It was my first attempt at doing this and overall not too displeased, lessons learned; Vallejo metal colours are a bit delicate so a light touch is required when chipping and scratching away at the top coat colour. I used a toothpick in the end as it was a bit softer but I still needed to touch up a few places where I had gone through to the primer. AK is a good product though and definitely will use it again.

 

Cheers, M.

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Tidy work on the interior wear Mark :thumbsup: 

 

On 22/01/2018 at 7:42 PM, MarkSH said:

Thanks chaps for your comments,

Col; I agree that weather worn EDSG is the way to go, what do you think about the argument in some quarters that NT950 had a disruptive pattern upper surface and that Tamiya got it wrong? some have suggested that the 'disruptive' is visible in the well know air to air photos of the a/c, personally I have my doubts but would be interested to hear other views.

I can't see a reason why this machine would be any different from all other Banff Strike Wing machines. Having grown up and live a considerable portion of my life in the north east of Scotland and visited the area where these aircraft were based (even cycled along Beaufighter Road in Spey Bay a few times) I can assure you the weather conditions must have taken their toll on the paint very quickly and produced the patchwork of fading and wear seen in the photos.

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Hi all,

 

Had a day off today, supposedly to re-do all the bathroom silicone seals.....I guess that'll have to wait 'til the weekend then, ooops! Any road up I did manage to get a fair bit done on the Beau interior I just hope you're all more impressed with my progress than the missus is....

 

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General interior details painted and highlighted

 

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Cockpit panel, I really need to work on my photography!

 

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Cockpit from the right, I have reworked the fuel tank selector arrangement (back of left console) to be the right type for the TF.Mk.X

 

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Navigator/Observers seat. Seat belts made from rolled flat and knurled solder, Milliput cushions

 

All ready now to give it all an oil wash tomorrow.

 

Cheers, M.

 

 

 

 

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Built one of these beasties myself not long ago.

I reckoned that if left in the box it would probably assemble itself given time and a little shaking.

 

However, the extra detail you've put in takes it to another level - looks superb!

:yes:

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