Beaufighter Prototype - Hasegawa Mk VI conversion 1/72

[CedB]

Thanks Giorgio, Bill, Trevor, Roger and Håkan  

 

2 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Hi, the name of the programme was ' Secret Agent Selection Word War 2 ' and it was shown on BBC1 in April and May in five parts. I recorded it at the time and have only just got around to watching it, although my Freesat box only recorded the first 3 episodes ( out of 5 ) so I'm going to have to find an alternative way of watching the last two, rats. Don't you just love modern technology?

 

John

PS  there was a Lysander in it, but I think it was the silver Canadian rebuild.

Thanks John  There are only three episodes available on iPlayer too and Ep3 expires on Friday... I'll have a quick look.

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Nice work so far Ced and it's a Beaufighter so all good  

If it's not too late, or perhaps for future reference, the pre-war Mae West vests and very early war ones were the natural canvas colour. The yellow was only applied as a visibilty aid for downed crews by the crews themselves at first due to bitter experience early on in the Battle of Britain.

Thanks Col  Good info. Too late for me but in the file for later.

 

 

I filled the fuselage ejector ports with Humbrol and then tried Vallejo on the blocked off cannon locations:

 

 

Hmmm. Too shallow for that - it just rubs out. How about the very little used Mr Dissolved Putty?

 

 

We'll see.

 

In better news the Colourcoats is now resilient on the AK:

 

 

Let's try some Ultra mask, gently rubbed down and then removed:

 

 

 

Rats. Funny how it came off more cleanly on the Klear coated area. Oh ha ha ha.

What about de-tacking the mask on the back of my hand?

 

 

 

That's it then, can't use the AK under the areas I'm going to spray roundels and serials on.

I'll have to spray those with some Tamiya aluminium.

[Procopius]

On 6/1/2018 at 4:29 AM, CedB said:

But mainly due to the fact I got stuck on the first Beaufighter page of the SAM guide. I got fixated on this:

 

 

The first prototype. NMF with aluminium painted fabric. Nice.

Holy hand grenade of Antioch, Ced, you don't play about, do you? This is some proper modelling to be sure!

[Killingholme]

6 minutes ago, CedB said:

That's it then, can't use the AK under the areas I'm going to spray roundels and serials on.

I'll have to spray those with some Tamiya aluminium.

 On the plus side you've discovered an excellent way to achieve the chipped effect seen on WWII Japanese aircraft!

 

Will

[CedB]

Thanks PC (especially for the gift of the kit)  Hopefully I'll make a good job of it (gulp).

 

Thanks Will  Not sure it's consistent but worth a try I reckon - certainly easy to achieve and you can always dot some more paint on...

 

John I'm watching "Secret Agent Selection: WW2" from episode 3. I wonder if the other episodes have been deleted as they cover "guns, explosives and silent killing techniques". Crikey.

The iPlayer versions are 'Audio Described' so you have to put up with a guy waving his hands in the bottom right corner and a woman describing what's going on.

Still worth a watch though. The historical bits are interesting although I'm finding some of the recruits a bit irritating... flippin' snowflakes 🙄

[neil5208]

Why not spray the red first mask off and then black gloss, mask serial no then spray the ak? Reduces the chance of failure

[Navy Bird]

Just catching up, Ced. Nice work so far - I really like the mark and scheme you've chosen. Is this really your first Hasegawa kit? Wow, that's as weird as me not building a 109 during the first 50 years of my modelling jaunt. Some people just have to be different I guess.  

 

I have the Hasegawa Beau Mk. 21 waiting in my stash, and my Aussie Beaufort is still crying for a hangar mate. Some day (which is what I say an awful lot nowadays).

 

Cheers,

Bill

[DaveyGair]

Great work so far Ced. 

 

I take it that the flat tail-planes weren't included in the kit? The MPM boxings provide both tail-planes, well, all the parts in each box to construct MK I, MK VI and 21? 

 

Looked back over some of your past builds and I like the way you get the NMF, getting lots of tips 🙂

 

Davey.

[S5 modeller]

Nice work Ced. Looks like you're well up to the job. Hmm might need to get me some Hasegawa kits, they look a joy to build. 

 

Matt 

[bbudde]

Helo Ced. Wish you luck with the tail. Some more chiseling then. And yes: Hasegawa kits are very prominent for their good fit, shape and fine engraved panel lines. The best ones in the `'90 . The main problems were to get them and the prices you have to pay for them. Otherwise they are great.  Looking well so far.  Cheers

Edited June 3, 2018 by bbudde

[Courageous]

Making good headway with ye olde Beau, looking good except for those cockpit decals, a bit in your face. Not your fault, just saying.

 

Stuart

[bbudde]

1 hour ago, Courageous said:

except for those cockpit decals, a bit in your face. Not your fault, just saying.

Agreed, but under the ceiling nobody would bother of the interieur then again.  The only minor point on the Hasegawa kits (not their 1:48 ones, which were fabulous on that). Cheers

Edited June 3, 2018 by bbudde

[S5 modeller]

Just a quick thought Ced, sat here at 2:45 looking over your build, no sign of sleep. How's the canopy on your kit? I've heard many a builder on here moan that Hasegawa have a tendency to mold a seam line down the middle of some of them on their kits. 

[CedB]

10 hours ago, neil5208 said:

Why not spray the red first mask off and then black gloss, mask serial no then spray the ak? Reduces the chance of failure

Thanks Neil - great idea!  I've planned to use Stynylrez black primer so I can mask the serials and just rip the masking off at the end - I like that. I'll also spray the roundels first and, I think, have extra 'one circle' masks to protect them during the rest of the painting. Thanks!

10 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Just catching up, Ced. Nice work so far - I really like the mark and scheme you've chosen. Is this really your first Hasegawa kit? Wow, that's as weird as me not building a 109 during the first 50 years of my modelling jaunt. Some people just have to be different I guess.  

 

I have the Hasegawa Beau Mk. 21 waiting in my stash, and my Aussie Beaufort is still crying for a hangar mate. Some day (which is what I say an awful lot nowadays).

 

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill  Yes, my first Hase but not my last!

9 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

Great work so far Ced. 

 

I take it that the flat tail-planes weren't included in the kit? The MPM boxings provide both tail-planes, well, all the parts in each box to construct MK I, MK VI and 21? 

 

Looked back over some of your past builds and I like the way you get the NMF, getting lots of tips 🙂

 

Davey.

Thanks Davey  Nope, no flat bits in the kit, sadly, but PC included the AM when he sent it to me, kind fella.

9 hours ago, S5 modeller said:

Nice work Ced. Looks like you're well up to the job. Hmm might need to get me some Hasegawa kits, they look a joy to build. 

 

Matt 

Thanks Matt, very kind  We shall see if I'm up to the job later!

7 hours ago, bbudde said:

Helo Ced. Wish you luck with the tail. Some more chiseling then. And yes: Hasegawa kits are very prominent for their good fit, shape and fine engraved panel lines. The best ones in the `'90 . The main problems were to get them and the prices you have to pay for them. Otherwise they are great.  Looking well so far.  Cheers

Thanks Benedikt  You're right that the Hase kits are expensive... but they're worth it IMHO for special subjects. I wonder if that's why Airfix 'new tools' are more expensive than the old?

6 hours ago, Courageous said:

Making good headway with ye olde Beau, looking good except for those cockpit decals, a bit in your face. Not your fault, just saying.

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart  They are pretty grim aren't they. That said I don't think scratching this was an option for the ceiling:

 

 

(Thanks to the Apple team by the way for storing downloaded image addresses in the file info - handy)

5 hours ago, bbudde said:

Agreed, but under the ceiling nobody would bother of the interieur then again.  The only minor point on the Hasegawa kits (not their 1:48 ones, which were fabulous on that). Cheers

Thanks Benedikt - my thoughts entirely!  

2 hours ago, S5 modeller said:

Just a quick thought Ced, sat here at 2:45 looking over your build, no sign of sleep. How's the canopy on your kit? I've heard many a builder on here moan that Hasegawa have a tendency to mold a seam line down the middle of some of them on their kits. 

Thanks Matt  I'm up with the lark so feel for you... 

Luckily for me the canopy is pretty perfect:

 

 

Trouble is, as you can see from this photo:

 

 

… (I love it, just love it) the prototype had and extra frame and no little windows. Micro-mesh to the rescue, I hope. And Bare Metal Foil.

 

You'll also notice the gear doors in that photo, not the complete ones fitted to later marks, or the ones in the kit:

 

 

Some surgery will be required. I re-read the SAM Datafile and it's confirmed that the production versions had enclosed main wheels and wing mounted oil coolers. 

It's also told me that the first test flight was undertaken by Cyril Unwins, Bristol's chief test pilot. Wish I'd known that when I painted the figure. Ho hum.

[Stew Dapple]

Cyril Unwins? Deep joy to the eardroves

 

Oh, no, wrong Unwin.

 

Nice work so far Ced - I got lost when the title changed but have caught up again  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[TheBaron]

That kit looks truly horrible Ced. 

Never buying it. 🧐

I mean really - your necessary modifications returning it to a prototype aside  -  it looks well moulded, the bits fit accurately together, a crystalline canopy...the appalling litany of high quality components just seems endless. 

I shudder to think of it, I really do....

 

Have been following your AK / CC tests with empathy as I'm facing a similar conundrum regarding the mixture of Alclad and Tamiya colours that I'm intending to daub the Iron Chicken with. The only way I can discern to avoid 'tape-lift' is to spray and mask all the various colours first before splashing the beast with Alclad mixtures as the Final Act. Given the complex range of shapes and lettering this involves for said colour work I'm looking forward to it with all the excited anticipation that one normally reserves for getting a hand shut in a car door.

 

The one thing we have in common is a certain cutting device to assist with the necessary production of masking - however Sisyphean the challenges involved. Can't see a way round it (as the vet said, examining the whale's wedding tackle...)

 

[AdrianMF]

Looks good. So you are going to spray the markings first and mask them to do the overall silver? Just saying that hurts my head. 

 

I read somewhere that the tailwheel was retractable on the Beaufort but they modified it to prevent shimmying and that modification made it either non-retractable or not recommended. So the majority of pictures of Beauforts in flight show the tailwheel down. However, pictures of Beaufighters in flight mainly show the tailwheel  up, although it seemed to protrude a bit. My Airfix Beaufighter has now been monstered as part of my Frogfix Beaufort build, so I can't see where the retracted tailwheel gets to on that kit.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[CedB]

Thank ye muchly Stew - oh right, wrong bloke  

 

Thanks Tony  It is a very nice kit (which is why I bought another for £20 at the Salisbury show). Shame to bash it really.

I share your pain on the NMF / Colour conundrum. The Portrait cutter will certainly help relieve the pain. I do have the benefit that the AK brushes really well but that would be too easy... I'm going to try spraying it (after a test on the mule). Rods and backs my friend, rods and backs.

 

Thanks Adrian  I concur on the photos so I've stuck the wheel in as well as I can with 'a bit' sticking out.

 

Right, resin.

When I saw Bill (Navy Bird) in London he commented that a chemist friend of his had said that resin is only toxic in its liquid state and the particles were, like most particles, merely irritants if inhaled. I hate masks so I wetted things and set about cutting the bits from the blocks.

 

The elevators have square holes between the block and the part and, using a thin craft saw, cutting down the line from either side seems to lead the saw into those:

 

 

The tailplanes have two locating lugs but the model has only one slot - so the second must be for strength on the mould I guess. Cut 1 was down the 'safe' end of the locators:

 

 

… then cut 2 took off the 'spare' lug:

 

 

(I hope this helps someone, sometime)

A test fit shows that the remaining lug doesn't locate the tailplane in the right location:

 

 

… caused by the remnants of the lug in the (nicely rounded) trailing edge:

 

 

Trimming and wet sanding the parts gives this initially:

 

 

…with the hinge being the worst bit - far too wide on my set. The elevator tip also requires sanding to get this:

 

 

Lot of fiddling but nice so far.

Trouble is (uh oh) you can see that the elevator protrudes past the lug which means it doesn't fit the kit:

 

 

I'll have to check references and decide which bit to chop.

 

I've now learned, especially after the trouble others have had with resin, that it's probably best to do the resin FIRST and dry fit to see if it's worth the effort before committing to including it. That's IF you have an option.

Otherwise it's scrape, scrape, sand, sand...

[CedB]

As a relief from resin I've painted the engines Mr Metal Color Iron, my favourite:

 

 

They'll get some buffing later (lucky things, fnaar!).

The kit has separate gearboxes:

 

 

… so they'll get painted (wait for it Chris) semi-gloss black - see, I do learn  What about the sticky out boxes on the side though? Same?

 

Back to the resin. Check diagram:

 

 

So the kit locator needs trimming. Saw carefully to the bottom and chisel it off:

 

 

 

Crikey, those Trumpeter chisels are SHARP!

 

One down:

 

[Courageous]

Why have you put a hole in you bucket tail plane dear Liza Ced?

[giemme]

1 hour ago, CedB said:

Otherwise it's scrape, scrape, sand, sand...

Not that I can claim to be an expert about resin, but so far it's always been like that for me ...

 

Normally worth it, though 😉

 

You are getting along very well with it, anyway

 

Ciao

[Biggles87]

So you've sorted the resin tailplanes, deep joy.

The ' Decret Agent ' series will be available in full on Netflix at the end of the month, so we will catch up then. The 2nd episode dealt with firearms and killing as you suspected, and is worth watching if you can.

 

Cheers

 

John

[Leonl]

I'm loving what you're doing here, Excellent subject choice and your work is great.

[rob Lyttle]

An Nmf Beaufighter!

Consider yourself bookmarked.

Rob-behind-the-curve.👍

[Azgaron]

Nice work fitting the stabilizer and elevator!

 

Håkan

 

[CedB]

5 hours ago, Courageous said:

Why have you put a hole in you bucket tail plane dear Liza Ced?

I've fixed it, dear Henry Stuart  Unless you meant there really is a hole?

 

Thanks Giorgio  I'm still in two minds about resin to be honest. GOOD resin is marvellous but bad/mediocre stuff is just a pain.

 

Thanks John - I'll watch out for Secret Agent on Netflix  

 

Thanks Leon, Rob and Håkan, kind of you  

 

 

As a rest from the resin, I thinned some AK Aluminium and sprayed it:

 

 

Very nice, as expected, and cleaned out of the AB no problem (phew!)

Of course it shows up every little fault:

 

 

Like that circle. No idea what that is. I'll have to make sure the primer is nice and smooth.

 

Back to the resin. 

Deep joy getting these tiny things off the block and glueing them in the right place (CA thin then activator):

 

 

I can't see them on photographs. Ho hum.

Finally, CA Gel then zapper and they're on!

 

 

Time for a rest...