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1/72nd Airfix Blenheim Mk.IV, Group de Bombardment 1 "Lorraine", Free French Air Force, Syria 1941-42.....FINISHED


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Hiya Folks,.... the first coat of Dark Earth camouflage went on today!;

41333433195_f2b7c3b6da_k.jpgDSCF3490 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41512744134_1c1cee0750_k.jpgDSCF3494 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Had a good afternoon & evening yesterday,.... but the old back has been suffering today! Our Son is at university in York and phoned up at lunchtime asking us to drive over,..... so bang went my afternoon of pre FA Cup TV coverage followed by the match itself! Anyway,...as he lives less than 5 miles from Elvington and as the Halifax was supposed to be parked outside the hangar this weekend,.... we took a slight detour on the way;

41512851304_a14740b374_k.jpgDSCF3473_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42188239182_f5cddfe674_k.jpgDSCF3471_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42188238442_f43ec582a6_k.jpgDSCF3476_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

Shame the sun was right behind it,.... but brilliant to see it outside in its element,.....like thousands of other Halibag`s were around Yorkshire during WW2! Here are some of the other aircraft too;

42188237612_979b7cf7b4_k.jpgDSCF3478_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

41333509435_811d9af093_k.jpgDSCF3479 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42188239552_06c3c99b34_k.jpgDSCF3468 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Then we picked Rob up,.... who was suffering from a case of pre exam blues caused by days and days of revision,..... and took him for a run in the car over the beautiful North York Moors followed by fish and chips in Whitby,.... which seemed to do the trick!

42234439501_1c8c60527f_k.jpgDSCF3488 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

As I said,... lovely day,.... but feeling it now!

Cheers

          Tony

 

 

Edited by tonyot
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Another masterpiece on the way. I’ve said before, quality AND quantity. I’ve just started a Mk.IV so I’ll be taking notes if I may.

 

I noticed that both blue and red crosses are on the transfer sheet. Did some fly with the Red Cross I wonder?

 

I went to Evington ‘x’ years ago when the Halibag’s wings were still fresh off a Hastings and waiting to be attached. One thing you need to note though is that the propellers rotate the wrong way for a Hercules........

 

Trevor

 

 

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Cheers Fella`s,....

1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

Another masterpiece on the way. I’ve said before, quality AND quantity. I’ve just started a Mk.IV so I’ll be taking notes if I may.

 

I noticed that both blue and red crosses are on the transfer sheet. Did some fly with the Red Cross I wonder?

 

I went to Evington ‘x’ years ago when the Halibag’s wings were still fresh off a Hastings and waiting to be attached. One thing you need to note though is that the propellers rotate the wrong way for a Hercules........

 

Trevor

 

 

Oh I know Trevor,..... the blades are reproduction and not real,..... also,..... look closely at the exhausts,..... they are made from a workman`s plastic hard hat and a length of plastiv tubing,..... with triangular `things' attached,..... and the cooling gills are cut from a length of metal sheet with cuts along the edges!!! Seems they were rushing to complete it towards the end and never got around to sorting these bits out!

41512850244_b15037bb86_k.jpgDSCF3477_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Cheers

        Tony  

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2 minutes ago, stever219 said:

Which chippy did you go to in Whitby?  Hadley’s (IIRC) just up the road from the swing bridge on the abbey side of the river was usually good.

We went up behind the fishing quay,... it was an award winning one and the fish was lovely,.... a bit pricey,.... but did the trick! 

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Blenheims looking good Tony and it will be nice to see this one all glossed up and ready for stickering. Not the first time I've had to put the modelling tools down to come to the aid of a family member, however in my case it's due to some help with schoolwork or the wife thinking up the most inappropriate household chore to attempt without any ounce of pre-planning. 

Anyway nice to hear your young fella lifted his spirits after a quick feed and a hug from mum and dad. Good work. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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3 hours ago, tonyot said:

so bang went my afternoon of pre FA Cup TV coverage followed by the match itself!

think you dodged a bullet there, Elvington and Whitby would be far more rewarding. Hope the back sorts itself out tout suite...

 

John.

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27 minutes ago, tonyot said:

We went up behind the fishing quay,... it was an award winning one and the fish was lovely,.... a bit pricey,.... but did the trick! 

There’s another one that was very acceptable at the root of the harbour arm below the west cliff that was our refuge one very wet and even windier lunchtime after committing my father-in-law’s ashes to the North Sea.

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3 hours ago, shatters said:

You went to Elvington a week too late, they had a re-enactment event on the weekend before.

 

resized_fe312098-494b-4bc8-a743-9a26cd21

 

Phil

Nice pic Phil,..... to be honest I was just glad to see it outside as I`ve always wanted to see it out of the hangar! 

 

5 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Another masterpiece on the way. I’ve said before, quality AND quantity. I’ve just started a Mk.IV so I’ll be taking notes if I may.

I noticed that both blue and red crosses are on the transfer sheet. Did some fly with the Red Cross I wonder?

Trevor

Cheers Trevor,..... I think that the red or blue cross thing is a matter of interpreting b&w photos wrong in the past,..... I`ve always believed them to be blue. 

 

3 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Blenheims looking good Tony and it will be nice to see this one all glossed up and ready for stickering. Not the first time I've had to put the modelling tools down to come to the aid of a family member, however in my case it's due to some help with schoolwork or the wife thinking up the most inappropriate household chore to attempt without any ounce of pre-planning. 

Anyway nice to hear your young fella lifted his spirits after a quick feed and a hug from mum and dad. Good work. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

Yeah hopefully be glossed up and ready in a few days, unless,.. as you say,...something `comes up' from her in doors! A good old feed up, a laugh, change of scenery and hugs did the trick,.... he`s back on all cylinders now... first exam on Tuesday! 

 

3 hours ago, johnd said:

think you dodged a bullet there, Elvington and Whitby would be far more rewarding. Hope the back sorts itself out tout suite...

 

John.

Hahaha,.... yeah I think you are right John,......got back home in time for Match of the Day and saw what you mean, shame as I always used to love FA Cup Day!! I said at the time that it was first proposed that the Premiership was a bad idea and it would kill the old British game,.... too many foreign players diving all over the place (although ours have caught the bug now too!) and prima donna`s,.... all about money now and boring football. Yeah we had a good time and it was well worth it,...... the back might take a few more days yet mind you!

 

Cheers

           Tony

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Hiya Folks,..... well the Blenheim has had its colour scheme altered slightly by amending the demarcation along the engine cowlings and adding Dark Green sections to depict the serial number still applied to the original DE/DG scheme after the finish was altered to the desert scheme,.... this is because I have found a good photo of a Lorraine Sqn Blenheim with the unit insignia on the fin,.... this will come from a Boston decal sheet! After this a coat of gloss varnish has been added ready for the decals;

42300910601_e4e54e0a76_k.jpgDSCF3518 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

28428405228_a91f34f709_k.jpgDSCF3519 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Cheers

              Tony

 

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This is the stage I like most, nice and glossy and ready for decals. Looking forward to seeing the final product and if time and permission allows Tony, it would also be good to see the new photo you've found of your chosen subject. I'm sure lurking deep down in my decal bank is an original set of Airfix FF decals, so I'm thinking about combining old decals (using the new blue crosses) with new kit to produce something to pay homage to the original classic artwork. Still need to splash out a buy the kit, however that could be as early as this weekend. The build and associated RFI however, might take me a bit longer! 

 

Cheers and two thumbs up from down under.. Dave 

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

This is the stage I like most, nice and glossy and ready for decals. Looking forward to seeing the final product and if time and permission allows Tony, it would also be good to see the new photo you've found of your chosen subject. I'm sure lurking deep down in my decal bank is an original set of Airfix FF decals, so I'm thinking about combining old decals (using the new blue crosses) with new kit to produce something to pay homage to the original classic artwork. Still need to splash out a buy the kit, however that could be as early as this weekend. The build and associated RFI however, might take me a bit longer! 

 

Cheers and two thumbs up from down under.. Dave 

The photo is in a book Dave,..... I`ll try and photograph it and add it later with the model. I thought about combining the old Airfix decals with the ne crosses etc but I have not been able to find a photo of Blenheim 14, which is the old decal option!

 

Cheers

         Tony

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27 minutes ago, tonyot said:

I thought about combining the old Airfix decals with the ne crosses etc but I have not been able to find a photo of Blenheim 14, which is the old decal option! 

?? 

But you have kindly supplied us with a photo of '14' within this thread - see post #2, photo #6. 

For once it's not me who may be going mad!! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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8 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

?? 

But you have kindly supplied us with a photo of '14' within this thread - see post #2, photo #6. 

For once it's not me who may be going mad!! 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

I know Dave,..... I realised after I had turned the computer off last night,.....doh!!! I was going to amend the post this morning,....but you beat me to it!!

 

Regarding the Lorraine crosses,...... on flags and badges from the time the cross is generally red,...... and the early crosses on aircraft may have been this colour too,.... but I remember reading an order that the crosses should be blue on aircraft so that they were not confused with the red cross on Ambulance aircraft. Comparing the shade of the cross to the known colour of the roundels and rudder tricolor usually back this up.

Cheers

         Tony

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All good Tony. Thanks for the additional info regarding the colour of the crosses. It all adds up to help make a better and more accurate model. 

 

Cheers and looking forward to the next instalment... Dave 

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Hiya Folks,

                Got most of the decals on today,.... just need to dig out some generic serials for the serial which is said to be K7779 according to the French book in which I have found a photo of the subject aircraft,.... but I think that this was a Wellesley,... so a bit of a problem here! . The Lorraine badge on the fin came from a Special Hobby Boston kit;

 41425297645_91d7acb606_k.jpgDSCF3542 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

42279705602_8a93bb04f2_k.jpgDSCF3543 by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

Cheers

        Tony

                

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@tonyot,

Although my French is limited to a rude word involving three people, I think I might have cracked your serial dilemma?? Whilst looking for my old Airfix Blenheim decals I noticed that the FF serial was a Blenheim starting with the letter ‘Z’. Now if you search Z7779 you will come up with a few references for a FF Blenheim!! I know it’s not absolute confirmation, however my initial guess was that it’s a typo error and what was in your book was only one letter or number off. 

 

Hope this helps and the Blenheim is looking very pleasing to the eye at the moment. I’m going to buy one tomorrow. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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Yes, that serial is for a Wellesley.

 

From Profile Publication No. 256. It was with No.45 Squadron.

 

41608655284_01374c00fb_b.jpg

 

 

Chris

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

@tonyot,

Although my French is limited to a rude word involving three people, I think I might have cracked your serial dilemma?? Whilst looking for my old Airfix Blenheim decals I noticed that the FF serial was a Blenheim starting with the letter ‘Z’. Now if you search Z7779 you will come up with a few references for a FF Blenheim!! I know it’s not absolute confirmation, however my initial guess was that it’s a typo error and what was in your book was only one letter or number off. 

 

Hope this helps and the Blenheim is looking very pleasing to the eye at the moment. I’m going to buy one tomorrow. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

Thanks Dave,.... yes I have been thinking along the same lines and have searched V serials and am now looking at similar looking numbers,.... great minds think alike!

 

18 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Yes, that serial is for a Wellesley.

 

From Profile Publication No. 256. It was with No.45 Squadron.

 

41608655284_01374c00fb_b.jpg

 

 

Chris

Thanks for confirming it Chris,...... I`ll be trawling through similar looking serials and trying to find out some serials of Blenheim`s used by the Lorraine Group!

 

Cheers,

           Tony

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