1:48 Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I

[monsjmse]

My first Group Build and I will be putting together the 1:48 Airfix Defiant. I've admired this aircraft ever since I built (if built is the right word) the old Airfix series 1 1:72 night fighter version a long time ago.

 

The new Airfix kit looks amazing - it's the first new tool Airfix I have bought since getting back into the hobby and first impressions are very good. Haven't yet decided on what markings to use, but needless to say I can get going and decide a little later on. I've supplemented the kit with Eduard masks, the PE kits for interior/exterior details and flaps. Not too sure about the flaps now though, as I think Defiants were parked with flaps up and I intend to have the wheels down.

 

 

Finally, just to note to say it's been fun so far looking at all the WIP threads starting up for this GB. The subjects will truly cover the RAF's 100 year history and should provide an interesting and varied gallery by the conclusion. Happy modelling everybody .

 

[Robert Stuart]

Welcome to the wonderful world of group builds. 

 

I'll watch with interest as the Defiant is a bit special to me (my first build, ever, was the old tool Airfix 1/72 version).

 

And, to echo you - Happy Modelling

[monsjmse]

Thank you Robert. For anyone with an interest in Defiants, make sure you check out this extraordinary collection:

 

Back to my single Defiant and I made some progress last night getting the cockpit parts ready. There's not much to clean up on these parts, just a little tickle with the knife here and there. I've opened up the hole in the rear bulkhead to accommodate the seatbelts. Not bothered with the 2 marks on the bulkhead piece as these will not be visible behind the seat.

 

 

And before I start snipping, here are the PE parts from Eduard which should add a little more interest:

 

 

[stever219]

I hope you enjoy building this kit; I have two in the paint shop with a third still in its box and, apart from self-inflicted snafus, they’ve been a pleasure to stick together.  The Eduard masks will be a God-send to you, especially for the turret.  

 

One thing that I failed to appreciate is that, if you’re building your model with the canopy open, you need to glue the fixed section between cockpit and turret inside the sliding hood and then glue the latter to the fuselage, butting up against the two small horns at the front of the turret aperture.

[monsjmse]

Well it has been nice to put together so far. With some of the pieces it seemed a waste of glue - they almost just clipped together. Thanks for the tip on the canopy.

 

I have managed to get some sticking in this week, so some of the PE parts have gone into the cockpit. The seat assembly hasn't been glued in yet as I think I will at least prime this part separately otherwise it will be awkward to cover.

 

 

 

I've also started scraping the detail from the plastic cockpit sides ahead of applying the PE, which is a little awkward. The PE is pre-painted mostly though, so I'll probably stick it on after laying down the grey-green interior colour on the other parts.

 

[dnl42]

Looking forward to seeing this! IEspecially the Eduard PE, which I didn't get. I did get the Yahu IP, so I'm curious about the rest of the PE bits, which are adding nice interest so far... 

Edited April 11, 2018 by dnl42

[monsjmse]

The Yahu IP does look spectacularly good from the pictures I've seen. The Eduard PE version is nowhere near in comparison. I will try to remember to post a close-up of it once I've put it together. The other after market I considered getting were the Master Model Browning gun barrels, but I still haven't decided if parting with over 7 quid for 4 tubes of metal I can barely see is really worth it .

[Robert Stuart]

I've seen two different Yahu instrument panels, both are excellent, much nicer than others that I have seen.

[dnl42]

Indeed, Yahu IPs are truly amazing. Master barrels, pitots, &etc. are also amazing, but I too will make a judgement on whether they're called for. I used their MiG-21 pitot for an Academy build, and the Master bits were truly stunning and readily built.

[Torbjorn]

I have 2 Yahu IPs - I’d buy them for every model if it wasn’t for the fact that you can barely see them once the canopy is closed anyway.

[Paul_B]

I will be following this with great interest since I plan to be starting a Defiant imminently.  

 

 

[monsjmse]

I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else's Defiants go together .

 

Some progress this weekend. Doesn't seem much, but it used all of my available modelling time. Adding PE takes me a while. The cockpit sidewalls were stuck in after scraping all the raised detail off in preparation for the PE. As these panels are pre-painted, I'm going to paint the rest of the cockpit first before adding them. I did add all the unpainted stuff and this is now ready for some primer.

 

Port side....                                                                                                                                     Starboard side.....

 

 

I've also done the Eduard IP, but struggled to get a decent photo. About the best I could manage is below. The details aren't nearly as sharp as the Yahu, but to the naked eye when it's half buried in the recesses of the cockpit I don't think I'll notice too much.

 

 

 

 

[Robert Stuart]

You are making good progress there.

7 hours ago, monsjmse said:

Doesn't seem much, but it used all of my available modelling time. Adding PE takes me a while.

Me too, and especially in the cockpit where there is so much small and fiddly work to be done.

 

Your IP looks fine too.  Given how good that looks, going for a Yahu one probably isn't justified.

[zebra]

Nice work. It’s a great kit OOB, will be brilliant with a bit of PE

[monsjmse]

Wow. A month has gone already so I really need to be getting a move on. Not much progress to report recently. Primed the interior black last weekend. There were a lot of areas that the spray seemingly couldn't reach very well without me flooding the thing with paint, especially with the PE parts. I touched it up here and there with a brush.

 

 

Not very exciting I'm afraid. Hoping that the Bank Holiday weekend will bring more time for some modelling action.

[monsjmse]

Right. A bit of progress - 'bit' being the key word in the sentence. Finally got the time to add some colour to the cockpit. First I added some white to the black base in some areas to vary the tone of the grey-green for some shadow effect.

 

 

Then on with the RAF interior grey-green.

 

 

I'm using MRP's Mr. Paint for the first time. First impressions are very good - it's gorgeous stuff .

[monsjmse]

Realised that I'm going to have to get a move on with this, otherwise the shelf of doom will claim another victim. I have made some progress on the interior, but haven't posted it yet. I'm almost at the point of closing the fuselage .

 

After my last painting update, I added the rest of the pre-painted PE to the cockpit

 

Bit of shading and a wash to add some shadows and grime. The reflection from the gloss coat makes it a poor picture, unfortunately.

 

In other developments and moving to the turret, I succumbed to the Master Browning gun barrels. These made me £7.40 worse off but more than made up for that once I fitted a pair and compared them to the originals. I think.

 

 

There is a little more - I'll take some more pics and give another update tomorrow.

[dnl42]

7 hours ago, monsjmse said:

In other developments and moving to the turret, I succumbed to the Master Browning gun barrels. These made me £7.40 worse off but more than made up for that once I fitted a pair and compared them to the originals. I think.

Yeah they are!

[Erwin]

My favourite WW-2 plane. If only Airfix would do this in 1/24 th scale.

 

 

Good progress so far.

[monsjmse]

A 1:24 Defiant - now that really would be something.

 

I've added the seat belts to the cockpit along with some chipping and stuck the floor/seat/bulkhead assembly to one of the fuselage pieces.

 

The 'chipping' looks a bit crude when blown up in a photo - looks more subtle to the naked eye. I tried a dry fit of the IP and 2 fuselage halves and ended up bending the PE on the panel, so that needs fixing before I go any further. The PE panel might need filing down a tad.

 

 

Speaking of which, I managed to get a slightly better picture than the last effort..

 

[Kahunaminor]

Great start!

The cockpit looks excellent and a very good decision to with the Master barrels!

 

Regards,

[Robert Stuart]

That pit is looking good.  

Which seatbelts did you use? The brass ones on the Eduard frets?  

I ask, because they look very natural, better than anything I've achieved.

[monsjmse]

Hi Robert, yes they are the Eduard brass belts. I struggled a little to bend them to conform to the seat and had to touch up some of the pre-painted surface. Once they were in place I shaded them a bit with some Tamiya black panel liner as they were looking rather too clean. After trying the HGW fabric belts on my last build (still not finished), I prefer them to the brass ones.

 

I've run into my first real problem with the fitting together of parts. The fuselage won't close up due the the IP (closes fine without it). I've filed it down a bit as the PE panel wasn't quite flush with the plastic, but it still needs some more attention. More fiddly filing ahead - I was hoping to get it closed up this evening.

 

 

[Kahunaminor]

13 hours ago, monsjmse said:

Hi Robert, yes they are the Eduard brass belts. I struggled a little to bend them to conform to the seat and had to touch up some of the pre-painted surface. Once they were in place I shaded them a bit with some Tamiya black panel liner as they were looking rather too clean. After trying the HGW fabric belts on my last build (still not finished), I prefer them to the brass ones.

 

I've run into my first real problem with the fitting together of parts. The fuselage won't close up due the the IP (closes fine without it). I've filed it down a bit as the PE panel wasn't quite flush with the plastic, but it still needs some more attention. More fiddly filing ahead - I was hoping to get it closed up this evening.

 

 

I had the same issue during my build. Your IP looks to be sitting a bit high and I think that was my issue as well. I solved it by cutting a notch into the fuselage sidewalls. Here is my build from 2016, the IP fix is on The bottom of the page:

 

http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11703&hilit=Airfix+defiant&start=20

 

Regards

[zebra]

I always seem to have that problem with PE instrument panels too. Sometimes thinning down the kit panel works, sometimes have to cut a notch as kahunaminor suggests.

 

Another alternative to the normal Eduard PE seatbelts is the Eduard steel range. I’ve never been happy with the normal ones but the steel ones are really flexible and quite nice to work with. There’s a set of RAF WWII belts with 5 or 6 in - the outlay seemed worthwhile since it will be used over several models.