monsjmse Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 Thanks for the advice Kent (and the link to that build thread - your Defiant looks brilliant!) - now closed: I'll also check out those steel belts for my next effort if they have more bend than these brass ones. Done some more PEing in the wheel wells too. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Here is what appears to becoming my weekly update. I've managed to put most of the turret together now and given in a coat of black paint. The Mr Paint black has quite a glossy finish which I'll change to semi-gloss once I've finished and stick the varnish coat on. There is a bit of pre-painted PE to add to the turret as well which will go on after painting is complete - the main control panel at the top and another panel on one of the side pieces. I've also cut from the sprue most of the remaining pieces and cleaned them up ready for some paint and assembly. I added more of the PE to the undercarriage parts and the radiator. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Good progress there, especially with the turret. How do you find that Mr Paint in use? I've only just moved to acrylic from enamels and much prefer the ease of clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted June 15, 2018 Author Share Posted June 15, 2018 I'm very taken with Mr Paint. It has an inky consistency and sprays nicely out the bottle; add a little Mr Leveling thinner and it sprays like a dream. It can be thinned to within an inch of its life and keeps a nice spray characteristic. On the jar it is described as 'acrylic lacquer paint' with lacquer being the key word.. They stink somewhat and clean up is with solvent. Their closest alternative is probably Mr Hobby. Having used them I don't think I'll be going back to Vallejo Model Air in a hurry. Model Air is very good and the clean-up is easy, but the MRP stuff is in a different class as long as you can cope with the smell. Let's see how long they last before the Wife bans them from the house . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Thanks, they sound good from your description. 4 hours ago, monsjmse said: Let's see how long they last before the Wife bans them from the house . Hmm, that might be an 'interesting' problem ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveyGair Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 15 hours ago, Robert Stuart said: Thanks, they sound good from your description. Hmm, that might be an 'interesting' problem ... I've been using MRP for the main colours on my Camel build. Agrree, they spray beautifully but clean up is a tad more involved. My wife has no sense of smell, I don't even have to blame the dog for certain other smells 😊. I did the 1/72nd scale kit, went together no problems. Looking good. Davey. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 Well, it doesn't look as though I'm going to reach the finish line on this, at least not by 21st July anyway. It just hasn't progressed as I had hoped and the next couple of weeks are looking quite busy too. The current state of play is thus: The turret and the prop are also more or less finished. Looking at the very smooth surface of the Airfix plastic, I bought a Rosie the Riveter a few weeks ago and set about adding rivet detail following some plans from an MMP book. Once I had started I couldn't stop with it part finished, so this has eaten up most of my modelling time over the past couple of weeks. I'm pleased with the look - it is quite subtle and adds some interest, but it did get rather tedious. Hopefully a couple of coats of paint won't fill all those micro-holes. I will keep posting progress until the end and do my best to get it as far as possible. Mark. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrlx Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Hi Mark, Excellent work on display! I was quite interested in comparing this 1/48 kit to the 1/72 kit I'm building for this same GB. By the way, I'm building mine with flaps down. Pictures of parked Defiants with flaps down are rare but I managed to find one on the bottom of this page: https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Modeling-References/Camoflage-Markings/08-Boulton-Paul-Defiant/Boulton-Paul-Defiant-8-13-960 Cheers Jaime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 Thanks Jamie. You are a braver man than me tackling 1:72 PE flaps! That is a rare photo. I wonder how much the pilot got fined for leaving the flaps down . Interesting looking at your 1:72 build what details Eduard included in the PE set as some as missing from the 1:48 set. The rim detail around the lights on the wings, for example. I was thinking of maybe adding some with bits of painted tape. This build is now officially an epic fail in terms of meeting the deadline. I may get an hour or two tomorrow evening, but after that I'm away for a couple of weeks so it will have to gather some dust. Some progress was made over the weekend. Primed with black Mr Surfacer 1500 and was glad to see that the rivets still showed through. I would have cried if they had vanished. I've done the underside, firstly with a mottled, patchy coat and then blended it together with the top coat. There is some tonal variation in the finish which isn't showcased very well by the lousy photography. I've also done some more work on the turret - the seat and the rest of the PE is in but it still needs more work on the weathering front. Just noticed I still need to paint the leather padding at the back too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) Well I guess that everyone packed up and went home months ago, but I don't want to leave this unfinished. Work got a bit intense last year which led to a bit of a modelling hiatus. I'm just now trying to finish the 2 builds I started in 2018 - this being one of them, the other a 1:32 Spitfire which I stopped in order to start the Defiant. Anyway, let's finish this thing.... then onto the (now dusty) Spitfire. This is what it looked like last August. Painted with MRP dark earth/dark green and lightly gloss coated. The dark earth is a little too dark for my liking on reflection. Think I might lighten it a bit next time. Decals were from the kit apart from the serial number and code letters, which were from a very old FCM Battle of Britain decal pack I bought years ago. I was prepared to ditch them if they didn't behave, but they were ok. I really did not like the look of the grey decal for marking the walkway for cockpit access, so I made a stencil from it and painted it on instead. I did manage to get in a bit of modelling over Christmas, so did some weathering, mainly using oil paints. Also got a very handy 3-point stand, so the tins of enamel which had served as trestles went back on the shelf. Edited February 7, 2019 by monsjmse Remove a gap that was bugging me. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 That looks pretty good to me. Carry on good sir, and bring it to a satisfying conclusion. (I do exactly the same with GBs, finish them months or years after closing time. Or not at all, at times.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Thanks for the encouragement - much appreciated, especially as I thought I'd be posting these updates for my own benefit as I stumble towards the finish line . I've also now finished the turret and at first just placed it into the aperture without pushing it home. I'm really glad I upgraded to the Master gun barrels. Bit pricey, but a big improvement on the plastic kit versions. Landing gear legs and tail wheel on... Then stuck on the canopy piece between the pilot's rear bulkhead and the turret. The instructions called for this to be painted cockpit colour, but looking at some pictures it looks more of a darker green to me. The main canopy will sit on top of it anyway as I'm having both cockpit and turret open. Too late now anyhow. With some trepidation I then pushed the turret home. It's a little tight and needed more force than I felt entirely comfortable with, but thankfully nothing broke! I've added a few scrapes and scratches, but nothing too severe as this is supposed to represent a 1940 Defiant, not a totally battered later version. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacificmustang Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Terrific work. So glad you added the master barrels. They really give bang for the buck, I know they are expensive, but the kit ones just do not compare, and they are a lot hardier than resin barrels. Jaime, great find on the flaps down photo. I recently completed mine with flaps down too, as I d seen a few photos with them cracked open. Never say never! Good work going the extra mile with the riveting too Bruce 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Looking great. I think the Dark Earth looks good. I'd leave it. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 (edited) On 07/02/2019 at 22:31, pacificmustang said: Terrific work. So glad you added the master barrels. They really give bang for the buck, I know they are expensive, but the kit ones just do not compare, and they are a lot hardier than resin barrels. Jaime, great find on the flaps down photo. I recently completed mine with flaps down too, as I d seen a few photos with them cracked open. Never say never! Good work going the extra mile with the riveting too Bruce Thanks Bruce. Yes, the barrels were a good addition I have to agree. I'm convinced enough to add them to any future builds that call for them too. Might regret that if I decide to build a heavy bomber bristling with .303s of course . I had the Eduard PE flaps, but went for the easy option and omitted them. Kudos to Jamie - he did a great job with his and in 1:72 too. I saw your Defiant too in the RFI section - beautiful work! I adore your avatar BTW! On 07/02/2019 at 22:41, dogsbody said: Looking great. I think the Dark Earth looks good. I'd leave it. Chris Thanks Chris. Trust me, the dark earth is staying! This needs to get finished in 2019 . It actually looks a bit lighter in the pictures than it does to my eyes on the bench, but I'm colour blind, so what do I know anyway MRP do a 'RAF Dark Earth' and an 'RAF Light Earth'. I'm just wondering if I should try a 60:40 mix next time I do a temperate land scheme camo. I've made some progress on the bits that need finishing off.... Brake lines added with some lead wire.... Wheels on..... Undercart flaps on... The undercart flaps are really thick, but I can't face thinning them out at this point. There is no framing round the wing lights and no PE for this either (but there IS PE in the Eduard set for the wing lights of the 1:72 Defiant - see Jaime's work) . I added some using strips of masking tape coloured black, but it looked too thick to me. So I did some masking and painted them on. Also added some nav lights by drilling holes in the kit parts and adding clear red or green before sticking them on. Photo is awful though! Edited February 16, 2019 by monsjmse posted too soon! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 To my old eyes, your Dark Earth looks great. I wouldn't lighten it, unless your putting it on a 1/72 scale kit. Even then, I wouldn't lighten it too much. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 Nearly there. Just finished the exhausts - I replaced the kit version with some resin Quickboost ones. Stuck those in with some CA and added a little fading/discolouration along with some dark stains. Kept this fairly light. The photos of Defiants I've seen the exhaust marks are clearly visible but not too heavy. Also stuck the aerial masts on after re-opening the hole for the rear one that seemed to have almost vanished. I've added the aerial and IFF wires with some Uschi thread. Prop is now on too. I was a little nervous of the Airfix push in-snap in fit, but it works beautifully. Remaining to do: Attach the other ends of the aerial/IFF wires Stick on the front part of the canopy Add a little dust/dirt to the wheels Perhaps add a few more scratches with some pencils Paint and stick on the pitot tube Add the little light on the dorsal spine Almost there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Those exhausts look great. Larger pictures would be nice. These old eyes don't see as well as the used to. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Thanks Chris. I agonised for ages before tackling the exhaust stubs, but they came out looking pretty much how I wanted them. The exhaust photo above is a bit out of focus, so here are a couple of in situ ones (a little larger than before ). Just about ready for inspection - I'll post a link when I've got some pics together. Mark. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Thanks for the bigger, closer pictures. I'm going back to redo my Hurricane exhausts now. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsjmse Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 Done , only a few months behind schedule! RFI now posted here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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