1/72 SPECIAL HOBBY Boulton Paul Sea Balliol T. Mk 21

adey m · March 3, 2018

The Merlin engined Boulton Paul Balliol was an advanced two seat trainer which entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1952. The Balliol was originally intended to be powered by a turboprop engine which is why the fuselage is so deep as the jet pipe would have been routed under the cockpit. The first prototypes were powered by a Mamba turboprop and were three seaters but Air Ministry policy changed and a more conventional powered two seater trainer was decided on. A total of 162 Balliol T.2s were built for the RAF which was quite a reduction in the original order for 400 as the Air Ministry had again changed their minds and were now favouring a jet powered advanced trainer.

Turboprop engined Balliol protoype

Meanwhile the Royal Navy were also interested in the Balliol and so a navalised version was built which became the Sea Balliol T. Mk 21. A total of 30 Sea Balliols were built and these first entered service in 1953.

The Sea Balliol which I have modelled taking off from HMS Triumph

A feature of the Balliol was that all of them had folding wings, even the RAF ones, which I suppose would have made packing lots of them into the hangars at RAF Cottesmore easier.

RAF Balliols waiting to be scrapped. The RAF ones had larger wing roundels than the Navy ones for some strange reason. The height of the roll-bar support is very apparent now that the canopy has been removed.

I have always had a fascination for the Balliol and was excited when Special Hobby announced a 1/72 injection moulded kit. They produced both versions and I decided on the Sea Balliol as I love aeroplanes that operate in sea environments. Also I had seen the only surviving example of a Sea Balliol at the RAF Museum at Cosford and was very impressed with it.

The only surviving Sea Balliol.

As with previous topics of mine I took a few photos during the construction a few years ago but the majority of photos will be of the completed model which is why it is posted here.

The presentation for the RAF T. Mk 2 version

The impressive box art on the kit that I built. Special Hobby have a superb artist in residence. Note the substantial tail wheel and arrestor hook fitted to the Sea Balliol.

Must leave it here for now as must get ready as my wife is taking me out for a birthday meal. Back soon.

Edited March 4, 2018 by adey m

adey m · March 3, 2018

I have borrowed this view which shows some of the parts as I only took two photos during construction of my Sea Balliol.

Plastic quality is superb and the surface detail is some of the best I have ever seen. Engraved detail is very restrained and the panelling almost seems to overlap.

I do not know if this is the sprue for one or the other versions or if it is a common sprue to all versions which is a common practice with these kits.

Both the RAF and Navy versions had folding wings.

The superbly drawn instruction sheet. This is the decal option that I chose.

Painting notes that I scribbled on my instruction sheet

The decals are superb but beware that they are very thin and curl up very easily when applying

The cockpit roll-over support structure is moulded too short and needs extending so that it meets the canopy. The whole reason for this structure was to prevent the pilots from being crushed if the aircraft flipped upside down on landing. It would be useless at shoulder height as it is moulded in the kit. The etched brass seat belts are way overscale, apparently they are 1/48 scale by mistake. The cockpit builds up into a superbly accurate and detailed area which is easily visible through the beautifully clear injection cockpit canopy so make sure the roll over support is correct.

So as usual with me there is no such thing as an out of the box build and I had this crazy idea about trying to make the undercarriage retractable. And so I concentrated on this before building the fuselage and as you can see I managed it as the completed wings with retracting wheels are ready.

Plastic card tabs applied to fuselage halves to assist with alignment and for correct placement of cockpit floor. Propeller spinner with brass rod which will slide into aluminium rod in place in the fuselage nose because I like my props to spin freely. Note the beautifully detailed etched instrument panel and the overscale seat belts. Wing landing lights await sanding flush with wing contours and then polishing.

Exhaust pipes hollowed out with a mini hand drill.

And most importantly for me an adapted AIRFIX pilot awaits impatiently.

Edited March 9, 2018 by adey m

adey m · March 4, 2018

The beautifully drawn instruction sheet with some of my scribbled corrections. Fuselage at rear of cockpit needs cutting back and roll-over support strut needs to be longer now that support is correct height. Note the resin wing fold bulkheads if you wanted the wings folded.

Cockpit assembly complete. Radio behind seats. A piece of sprue will provide some support for the instrument panel.

I painted the cockpit interior matt black.

The beautifully molded cockpit canopy had to be held down firmly with tape while the glue set to stop it leaving a gap at the rear of the cockpit.

On the right is the colourful decal option that seems to be the most popular.

adey m · March 4, 2018

Completed Sea Balliol in the markings of HMS Triumph's Ship's Flight. All brush painted. Hannants Xtra Color High Speed Silver, Humbrol Gloss Yellow training bands, painted anti-glare and walkway panels.

Close up of cockpit shows added windscreen wipers and canopy winding mechanism

That beautiful clear canopy allows much to be seen in the spacious cockpit despite it being all black inside.

Note the strengthened tailwheel on the Navy version and off course the arrester hook too. Footsteps added from brass rod.

If you look carefully you will see that the fuselage roundel overlaps a large oval shaped panel, this is where the jet exhaust would have been on the turboprop powered version.