Special Hobby 1/72 Boulton Paul Balliol T.2 -Royal Air Force College (Shelf of doom refugee #4)

[Truro Model Builder]

The latest refugee is Special Hobby's Boulton Paul Balliol basic trainer, a subject that I was very pleased to hear was being released. I wasted no time in getting one when it came out and, true to form, it spent the next couple of years sitting in the stash until I got round to it. Oh, the fickleness of the modelmaker.

 

Balliol T.2 1 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr

 

The kit lies in between the older SH short-run models and the likes of their Gnat and Mirage F.1, still a little chunky but with much more refined detail. There were no locating pins, but slots and tabs for the wings and tailplane were included. The radiator housing had no locating marks either and required a lot of repositioning until I was happy. All of the navigation lights were included as clear parts, and fit perfectly with a little sanding.

 

Balliol T.2 2 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr

 

The fit was good, with not much filler required. Resin and PE parts were nicely detailed, though with the heavy cockpit framing of the Balliol and the fact that the interior is painted black not a huge amount can be seen in the cockpit. Oddly, the seat harnesses were grossly overscale, so are now in the 1/48th spares box and I used some generic RAF harnesses instead. PE undercarriage doors offer the correct thickness, and are an excellent idea.

 

Balliol T.2 3 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr

 

It was painted with Vallejo Model Air and Tamiya acrylics and varnished with Alclad Klear Kote. The canopy framing took forever to mask up, unsurprisingly, but it was thoughtful of SH to include the anti-dazzle panel on the decal sheet. The decals themselves were crisp and thin, and went down very well. The very thin dark blue stripes bordering the fuselage band required no trimming and fit perfectly. And yes, the band itself is not the correct shade of Cranwell blue, I know -as one of the Truro Model Build Night attendees, who underwent flying training at Cranwell, has not let me forget.

Balliol T.2 4 by Martin Schofield, on Flickr

 

[CedB]

Very nice Martin, definitely on my wish list

[Max Headroom]

Oh I do like a nice Balliol and that is a very handsome example.

 

Regards

 

Trevor

[tomkil]

Nice job!

[WildeSau75]

Wow - like it a lot. Great build.

 

Cheers,

Michael

[kapam]

Beautifully done!

Not Spitfire-beautiful but still rather a solid looking plane to my eye.

Thanks for showing us.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I really like your Balliol 👍 ... I have an appreciation for trainers and this is good. 

[ivand]

Pity if that's not the right shade of blue, as it looks very good on that kit! 

[tonyot]

I really like the Balliol and your`s is a beauty. I`d been put off building mine due to reports of the canopy being an impossible fit,....... but you seem to have managed fine so it might be time to dig the kit out and have a go after all,.......once again,.....lovely job,

Cheers

         Tony