AIRFIX 1/72 BRISTOL BLOODHOUND Mk1 SURFACE TO AIR MISSILE

[adey m]

In 1960 Airfix brought out a model of the Bristol-Ferranti Bloodhound Mk 1 radar-homing surface to air missile which was in service with the Royal Air Force.

 

The Bloodhounds were deployed in Squadrons of 32 missiles at bases down the eastern side of the UK. The Bloodhound Mark 1 required permanent fixed installations and were not mobile. Their bases were built usually on disused wartime airfields and were sited to protect V-bomber and Thor missiles bases from air attack. They were part of an integrated air defence system incorporating Early Warning Radar stations, Tactical Control Centres and trailer-mounted Missile Guidance Radar units.

They were in service from 1958 to 1964 after which they were replaced by the more powerful and mobile Bloodhound Mark 2.

 

 

The permanent installations of the Bloodhound Mark 1 are shown in this photo of them protecting the Valiant base at RAF Marham. There were two batteries of 16 missiles each on each base with duplicated launch and power buildings, radar trailers and crew rest huts. The base also had a guardroom, offices, a technical site and hangar where missiles were serviced and a secure compound where spare missiles were kept, armed and refuelled.

 

 

The original 1960 paper header illustration.   " STOP, YOU CANNOT WALK YOUR DOG HERE........."

 

 

The white kit contained parts for a missile, launcher, trailer, Landrover, technicians, RAF Police and a dog. Wait a minute, do I see windscreen glazing on the Landrover ?

 

 

As can be seen in this Airfix catalogue advert the Landrover was a basic empty box with no glazing.   " WHO'S BLOODY DOG IS THIS ? " .........

 

 

The set later appeared in a box in Series 2. The illustration is wrong for the Bloodhound Mk1  in that it portrays the missiles as being mobile which only the later Bloodhound Mk2 was. There was also a mobile version built for the British Army called Thunderbird.

 

The scale of the kit was always shown as OO which is a railway modelling scale of about 1/76 scale. In fact the model is 1/72 scale.

 

 

For my tenth birthday dad bought me the new Airfix Lockheed Hercules and to my surprise the kit contained a complete Bloodhound set.

This is the actual Bloodhound model that I will be showing here. It is the oldest model that I built which I still have.

 

 

 

This catalogue photo reminds me of my attempts at loading the Bloodhound into my Hercules which had no nose weight and kept tipping up.

 

 

My Bloodhound being towed to its launcher pad.

 

To be continued ...................

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by adey m

[Martian]

A real blast from the past and I love what you have done.

 

Martian👽

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Now this is a bit of a classic.....I lusted after that Hercules & Bloodhound set as a kid, never did get one. 

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Oh Yes Adey, nostalgia reigns.  I too had the bagged version, the boxed and the C130 version.  I really like the extra detail and paint finish on your Land Rover and missile - shows what can be done with an old moulding. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[GrahamS]

Blimey, a blast from the past. Nice.

 

I too, got mine with the Hercules. Absolutely loved both kits.

 

And the Bloodhound still ranks as a favourite (it’s SO Thunderbirds!).

 

Graham

[Kev The Modeller]

I too had the first issue of the Hercules.

 

There is a camp on Cyprus called Bloodhood, when I visited (late 90's) you could still see all the missile hard standings and surrounding buildings. 

[Meatbox8]

Oh boy! Does this take me back?  Great looking Bloodhound.  I got my mum to buy me the Hercules/Bloodhound kit for a birthday or something circa 1974 on the strict proviso that I finished and painted it (I never did).  One amusing memory I have is forcing my visiting grandad, who knew nothing about model aeroplanes and cared even less, to inspect the model which he promptly (accidentally) broke within seconds.  So surprised was he at a large piece of Hercules coming away in his hands that his false teeth immediately shot out!

 

I remember the Hercules seeming a very complex and detailed kit for the day, with the interior cargo area detail etc.  That great Roy Cross? artwork certainly made an impression on me too.  This has definitely inspired me to get a Bloodhound.  I'm sort of toying with the idea of doing a 'deterrent'  display with the three V-Bombers, Thor, Bloodhound and Beagle. 

 

 

[John_W]

That is the best RAF Hercules paint scheme ever. All the low vis stuff that came afterwards was always a bit meh...

[CedB]

Very nice Adey, a blast from the past indeed.

Who's dog? When I built mine last year he got attached to the Police bloke:

 

 

More please!

[Harry_the_Spider]

I remember my 10 year old self building a tail sitter Hercules.

[Gorby]

Yours scrubbed up nice. The one I did when I was a kid is probably still offending the landfill worms with its awfulness. Very entertaining write-up as well.

 

BUT.

Is the dog lost!

[sprue]

Goodness this takes me back. I can remember gazing in the window of our local model shop and wondering which kit to spend my pocket money on. In those days inspiration often came from The Victor Magazine especially " I flew with Braddock" or which ever film had been shown on Sunday afternoon. Angels One Five springs to mind and an Airfix 2 bob hurricane.

Lovely model and interesting comments.

Mike

[Buzby061]

Pure nostalgia. I was given the Hercules version for Christmas many moons ago.

 

Pete

[adey m]

21 hours ago, GrahamS said:

Blimey, a blast from the past. Nice.

 

I too, got mine with the Hercules. Absolutely loved both kits.

 

And the Bloodhound still ranks as a favourite (it’s SO Thunderbirds!).

 

Graham

it’s SO Thunderbirds

 

It is funny that you should mention Thunderbirds Graham............. here is a British Army Bristol Thunderbird being transported

 

 

" Come on, keep moving or a bloody traffic warden will be along soon ........"

 

regards,  adey

Edited May 4, 2018 by adey m

[adey m]

9 hours ago, Meatbox8 said:

Oh boy! Does this take me back?  Great looking Bloodhound.  I got my mum to buy me the Hercules/Bloodhound kit for a birthday or something circa 1974 on the strict proviso that I finished and painted it (I never did).  One amusing memory I have is forcing my visiting grandad, who knew nothing about model aeroplanes and cared even less, to inspect the model which he promptly (accidentally) broke within seconds.  So surprised was he at a large piece of Hercules coming away in his hands that his false teeth immediately shot out!

 

I remember the Hercules seeming a very complex and detailed kit for the day, with the interior cargo area detail etc.  That great Roy Cross? artwork certainly made an impression on me too.  This has definitely inspired me to get a Bloodhound.  I'm sort of toying with the idea of doing a 'deterrent'  display with the three V-Bombers, Thor, Bloodhound and Beagle. 

 

 

Very amusing memories Meatbox. That deterrent display would be interesting........... and big. One of our club members is building a 1/72

Thor on its launching pad with blast walls, hangar, trailers, tanks and everything............it is so big he will need a table to himself.

 

Do you mean Beagle Basset or are we talking about the DOG again .....................

 

regards,  adey

[adey m]

8 hours ago, Harry_the_Spider said:

I remember my 10 year old self building a tail sitter Hercules.

Ten was a good age to tackle an Airfix Hercules Harry ............ahh the innocence of lost youth

 

adey

Edited May 4, 2018 by adey m

[adey m]

as promised we shall continue  ............

 

 

The Bloodhound towed by a Landrover Series 1 arrives at the launch pads

 

 

The trailer is unhooked from the Landrover on its launch pad. The trailer is painted with Humbrol Matt 96 RAF Blue. The missile is sprayed with my favourite white, Halfords Appliance White.

 

 

The missile is manhandled on its trailer towards its launcher.

 

 

I detailed the launcher after taking photos of a real one on display at the RAF Museum at Cosford. In the background is a scratchbuilt launcher plant unit.

 

 

Cables ran from the launch control building to each pad and terminated at the Cable Termination Pillar which is the grey box at the side of the pad next to the larger Launcher Plant Unit.

 

 

A Valiant bomber taxies past in the background as the missile is readied for transferring to its launcher.

 

 

This is how it was done for real.

 

 

Missile on its launcher and trailer pushed clear.

 

 

RAF Whitecap on patrol. I think the dog has been rolling in the grass.

 

 

 

" Just pretend to be busy while he takes the picture and for gawds sake don't touch or pull on anything ............"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/144 CORGI Valiant taxies past in background

 

 

1/144 CORGI Valiant doing a low flypast

 

 

" Smith !  It's one of ours ........... "

 

 

The RAF Police and Landrover. The Landrover is painted with Humbrol Matt 157 Azure Blue.

 

 

A number of years ago I carefully prized off the Landrover roof and installed an interior. I then glazed the windows with clear accetate. I replaced the bumper and added the exhaust pipe and wing mirrors.

 

 

I hope that is not a coolant leak

 

 

 

I built the launch pad from card and used information I obtained from visiting surviving Bloodhound pads at Breighton airfield.

 

 

A photo I took of a Bloodhound pad at Breighton about 1983 showing the bolting points for the launcher. In the distance can be seen the power generator building on the left and the launch control building on the right with the small square window protected by a steel shutter.

 

 

Here I am on my way to investigate a Launch Control building.

 

And finally ............. how our American Airfix friends illustrated their Bloodhound kit .................

 

 

Jeez they've launched the missiles with their covers still on ...............and they've frightened the dogs ................

 

Hope you have enjoyed this

 

regards,  adey

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by adey m

[CedB]

Very nice Adey - thanks for sharing

[John_W]

8 hours ago, adey m said:

 

And finally ............. how our American Airfix friends illustrated their Bloodhound kit .................

 

 

Jeez they've launched the missiles with their covers still on ...............and they've frightened the dogs ................

 

Hope you have enjoyed this

 

regards,  adey

 

 

 

 

Look at those mountains. Are the Soviets attacking Wales?

Edited May 5, 2018 by John_W

[cngaero]

I really like your nostalgic builds and the Bloodhound is no exception.

Wonderful stuff Adey, please keep them coming.

[adey m]

11 hours ago, John_W said:

Look at those mountains. Are the Soviets attacking Wales?

Yes John, they have even had to levitate the launchers to get some launch height  ................... but I am not sure what Mark of Landrover that is

 

cheers, adey

[adey m]

8 hours ago, cngaero said:

I really like your nostalgic builds and the Bloodhound is no exception.

Wonderful stuff Adey, please keep them coming.

Thank you Chris, how does an Airfix Sunderland with scratchbuilt interior sound ................

 

cheers,  adey

[cngaero]

4 minutes ago, adey m said:

Thank you Chris, how does an Airfix Sunderland with scratchbuilt interior sound ................

 

cheers,  adey

 That'll do nicely, very nicely indeed.

[Meatbox8]

On 5/4/2018 at 7:17 PM, adey m said:

Very amusing memories Meatbox. That deterrent display would be interesting........... and big. One of our club members is building a 1/72

Thor on its launching pad with blast walls, hangar, trailers, tanks and everything............it is so big he will need a table to himself.

 

Do you mean Beagle Basset or are we talking about the DOG again .....................

 

regards,  adey

Good question Adey.  Hadn't thought about that.  I think it would have to be both although I don't suppose a Basset Hound guard dog would deter a really determined KGB saboteur!  Yes, a big display. Definitely one for the wide angle lens, especially now I've seen your Bloodhound launch pad. Based on that I'd imagine the Thor one would be massive.  Maybe I'll pose one on its trailer instead.  I might even add an Oxford Diecast Commer Commander or Standard Vanguard.  Your model displays are a real inspiration Adey.  Please post some more.

[malpaso]

I have a 70s boxing of the Bloodhound.  I like that the box art is updated to a Series II Landie, though the plastic remained approximately series I.  

Would an SI Landie be capable of towing the trailer loaded with a missile?  Maybe it’s the RAF policeman’s one, taking the dog for a trip out?

cheers 

Will