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A sacrifice to the Plastic Modelling Gods - Airfrog Beaufort- FINISHED


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On 07/01/2019 at 11:31, CedB said:

Marvellous stuff Adrian; great canopies, nice steps and, of course, the map light. What more could a man ask for? :) 

A working LED Map Light???🤔

Curious to know, how much of the final model is Frog, How much is Airfix and how much is your own work?

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21 minutes ago, 224 Peter said:

how much

Fuselage: Frog Beaufort, heavily modified

Cowlings and props: Frog Beaufighter, heavily modified

Seat, flying surfaces, undercarriage: new Airfix Beaufighter, heavily modified

Interior, nacelles, transparencies: home made

 

So it’s a long way from being a scratch build but it has been quite an involved “conversion”, using precisely two parts from the original kit. I’m actually looking forward to building the other new Airfix Beaufighter In my stash as itself, because it’s a lovely kit. But I might need a little rest from Bristol twins after this one...

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

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What markings will it be in? I have some Malta-based ones that you're welcome to (I'm never going to use them as I've given up on getting a SH kit and am too lazy & untalented to do the conversion you have).

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26 minutes ago, Beard said:

What markings will it be in?

I'm going for MW-R of 217 squadron, as featured in a series of well known in-flight photos and the front of the Warpaint booklet. It will be nice to do an example that wasn't shot down.

 

So it's TSS over black,. Hopefilly this will be the time I actually get the TSS shades the way I want them!

 

Grey codes will be either Xtradecal or hand painted if the font isn't right. I will use Xtradecal serials (or I may print my own to avoid fiddling with spacing) and national markings from Xtradecal or the decal dungeon, There's a little yellow "R" at the front that will send me scuttling to the decal dungeon but apart from that it's pretty straightforward.

 

Interestingly (well, almost!) the colour scheme for that airframe seems to be the reverse of other airframes in the same squadron, so I will paint it how it looks in the pictures.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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8 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Fuselage: Frog Beaufort, heavily modified

Cowlings and props: Frog Beaufighter, heavily modified

Seat, flying surfaces, undercarriage: new Airfix Beaufighter, heavily modified

Interior, nacelles, transparencies: home made

 

So it’s a long way from being a scratch build but it has been quite an involved “conversion”, using precisely two parts from the original kit. I’m actually looking forward to building the other new Airfix Beaufighter In my stash as itself, because it’s a lovely kit. But I might need a little rest from Bristol twins after this one...

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

I built the Frog Beaufort back in the day and always rather liked it.  

A 1/48th new tool from Airfix would be wonderful, but highly unlikely as it is a bit of a niche aircraft with a less than stunning career and less than 2000 built in the UK and Australia. 

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21 minutes ago, 224 Peter said:

A 1/48th new tool from Airfix would be wonderful, but highly unlikely as it is a bit of a niche aircraft with a less than stunning career and less than 2000 built in the UK and Australia. 

Which is 50 times more aircraft built than, for example, a Do335 Pfeil which seems to have a ridiculous number of kits issued! (I believe there are more kits issued than aircraft actually built!). I think it’s one of those overlooked aircraft that was important, but quickly overshadowed by more modern types, and soldiered on nevertheless. The Hampden is another prime example.

 

Back to the model, the list of things to do seems to be well on the way to completion!

 

Matt

 

 

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Wow this is a brilliant thread Adrian,......just found it and have enjoyed reading through it,..... what you are foing is truly amazing,... you do know what is going to happen now don`t you,.... a brand new tooling has to be around the corner now!!

 

I built a 1/48th Beaufort using a Tamiya Beaufighter and a Contrail Beaufort,..... but your epic endeavour is on a totally different level!

 

Cheers

           Tony

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On 09/01/2019 at 18:27, Muddyf said:

I believe there are more kits issued than aircraft actually built!

There's an interesting category to be defined there! Of course, all "paper planes" with kits would automatically qualify, but if you narrow the selection to "planes that flew that have more kit toolings than actual prototypes" I wonder what the list would look like. At least there would be some British entries: S6B (Airfix, Frog, Testors), SR53 (Airfix, Ursus, Freightdog, AZ Model, Simian Stuff), Bristol 188 (Dragon Model Works, various resins) - I realise I've built all three of them!

On 09/01/2019 at 19:48, Massimo said:

We don't need a new tooling!!!

I bet that's what you said about the Buccaneer mate...

On 09/01/2019 at 21:10, stevehnz said:

YEEESSS WEEE DDOOOOO!!!!!!!

Indeed! I fear the Beaufort was not Frog's finest moment, and I've never even seen a Highplanes or Special Hobby kit.

On 09/01/2019 at 21:38, tonyot said:

but your epic endeavour is on a totally different level!

I know panto season is officially over but "Oh no it isn't"!

 

I'm in awe at the way you roll out such a variety of beautifully finished models from what are quite often unpromising beginnings. Thinking about starting from a 1/48 vac fuselage makes me very grateful to Frog all of a sudden.

 

I have a work trip for a week starting at 0700 tomorrow morning, so I've had to pack the Beaufort away for now.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 


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2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I have a work trip for a week starting at 0700 tomorrow morning, so I've had to pack the Beaufort away for now.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

You could always throw a sickie..........

 

Trevor

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On ‎09‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 09:06, AdrianMF said:

I’m hoping against reason that there won’t be too much sanding...

Given the amount of plastic left, there won't have to be! (Adrian MF, sanding thin air since 2019.)

 

Martian 👽

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I should have done this a long time ago:

B2-BFCA38-22-A1-4380-ADDB-0-A0-B76-BCE77

The Airfix Beaufighter wings have really deep panel lines, even under two coats of brushed dark sea grey, so I’ve smeared some PPP into them to calm them down. I lost a fuel vent and the underside landing aerial in the process due to having too many thumbs...

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

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Slowly but surely...

 

I know what you mean about the deep panel lines, the new tool Airfix Me110 suffers similarly. Such a shame when the rest of it appears so good.....

 

Ian

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1 hour ago, limeypilot said:

Slowly but surely...

 

I know what you mean about the deep panel lines

Thanks Ian. I can still see them after the treatment but they look a lot less like trenches now. 

 

The 110 is indeed similarly endowed. I remember having to scribe a couple of extra ones as well because Airfix missed the line separating the aileron from the flap. That was my first encounter with “new Airfix” and I was amazed by the undercarriage detail. Sadly that was the high point of the kit for me!

 

Regards,

Adrian

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5 hours ago, limeypilot said:

I know what you mean about the deep panel lines, the new tool Airfix Me110 suffers similarly. Such a shame when the rest of it appears so good.....

 

 

And they keep doing it - the Phantom has woeful panel lines. 

 

Trouble I find with filling them with something like PPP is that it's the width that makes them look so bad and filling doesn't really address that....

 

Keith

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2 hours ago, keefr22 said:

filling doesn't really address that....

I think modern jets need quite specific treatment because the panel lines often are plainly visible and very sharp. So I sympathise with your Phantom dilemma. However, I’m quite pleased with lightly filling the panel lines for a WWII camo number.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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