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1/72nd Airfix Handley Page HP.52 Hampden MkI


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I posted this finished model in the Ready For Inspection forum a while ago, but I thought it might be fun to review the build. I documented it in some depth over on Airfix’s forums, but what follows is a slightly revised version, split over a couple of posts.

 

 

 

My aim with my collection is to illustrate at least one of every type in active service during 1940, on all sides of the northern and western European theatre. This means including all the RAF commands, so a “Flying Suitcase” is definitely in keeping.

 

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The HP Hampden kit was released in 1968, and remained in production through to 2010. My boxing dates from 1998. I recall building the Hampden in the late 1970s, when it was already ten years old. I loved the original box art, too. So much so, that as a budding teenaged artist I copied it in watercolours - now, sadly, long lost to time.

 

I had the idea that one day I would build it with after-market detailing, perhaps going so far as to remove the raised details and scribe some panel lines. The faint hope a new tooling from Airfix might emerge kept the box on the shelf, but with the prices of other kit makers’ versions being quite steep, there seemed little point in jumping ship. So, I dug the Hampden box out to survey the contents. After all, if it didn’t seem worth the effort, I could always eventually stump up for an alternative version.

 

Well, considering when I bought this kit the original moulds were all of 40 years old or more, it acquitted itself well. There were obvious signs of age with the amount of flash around some parts, but overall it didn’t look too bad. A hard light grey plastic was used for this moulding. I could see areas that would benefit from some careful upgrading and tweaking.

 

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I had a scoot round on the internet to see how others had tackled the kit, and it seemed evenly split between leaving the rivets well alone and sanding everything off completely. While prominent, the rivets were not exactly overpowering, but I felt the build might look better without them.

 

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Having a few reference books about, I dug into them and found a three-position line drawing with indications of the main panelling. I correlated that with the rivets, and carefully scribed lines into the plastic on the wings and fuselage. I then sanded all the rivet detail away.

 

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I ordered a photo-etch detail kit (Airwaves) and a sheet of better transfers. The ones in the box were okay, but the printing left a fair bit to be desired. I stopped short of a vac-form canopy set, as my experience of these things has been a little indifferent.

 

At this stage, I hadn’t settled on a particular aircraft. That had to wait for the transfer set to dictate to me, my only rider being it had to fit into my 1940 interest bubble.

 

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Once the Airwaves PE arrived, It went a long way to reminding me why I don't really like photo-etched detail sets. The brass was literally paper thin, very easily deformed, and details that were supposed to be three-dimensional were flat. It was the best I was going to get, short of spending time with styrene strips and so on, which would need decent reference images and/or drawings.

 

Several things on the starboard fuselage detailing. I had to carefully trim back moulded location blocks to clear the large detail part. Then I found the part didn't really match the fuselage shape. Obviously, it needed carefully rolling to conform to the upper shape, but the clear panel in the top needed cutting out, a strip at the front of the cockpit removing completely as it didn't match the side shape, and a thin strip along the top edge taking off to make it all fit. A good job, I suppose, the brass was so thin as I could cut it away with a sharp blade and nail scissors. Once the main sheet was attached, the smaller details were be glued in place.

 

The port side was much the same story. Like many detail sets, an awful lot of this will be invisible in the end. I repurposed the kit navigator's seat at the front from the kit part. It was very delicately perched on the etched frame, and fell off a couple of times. Thankfully it remained in place while the interior was painted.

 

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The cockpit floor and seat. I managed to glue everything in, and didn't leave anything out, so that was good!

 

The PE stuff may look scary, but it had a reasonably comprehensive sheet of drawings that showed pretty much how the bits were supposed to fit. My copy was a little faded in places, making it hard to read some of the part numbers. It was also a little vague at times about how or where parts were intended to fit, and which parts were original kit ones. There was a whole set of bits to enhance the pilot's canopy, for example, but it was far from clear whether it replaced the transparency in the box or was designed to fit over it.

 

There were also parts that I opted to leave out, such as the oil cooler intake grilles, the second skin to the internal door, the crew access hatch at the rear, the loop part of the DF loop (I made a brass wire one so it was less two-dimensional, but not as lumpen as the plastic one), and the towel rail antenna (there was one in the kit anyway).

 

While there is a place for etched detailing sets, I am very pleased modern kits include so much extra detail at the outset. The Airwaves detail sets-  and others, of course - add bits that some would find hard to scratch build. A caveat to that is Airwaves sets were designed some years ago, before computer aided design was the norm. Hand-drawn artwork is always a little hit and miss. As such, parts don't always fit without modification. I set out fitting out the Hampden interior with the best intentions, but ended up making silly compromises because things didn’t fit properly.

 

I planned on posing the bomb bay doors open and installing a full set of ordnance. For the bombs under the wings, I planned to scavenge bombs and cradles from the bits I didn't use in various Airfix Blenheim builds. Either way, I'm wasn’t happy using the original kit bombs. They rather showed their age, and would need an awful lot of work to look the part.

 

Because modifications were required to the internal detailing, I decided to glue each assembled wing into its respective half of the fuselage before joining the latter together. A bit of time was spent with filler and sanding sticks. I had to watch those "play factor" control surfaces. They were a little small for their slots, but luckily didn’t require padding out with styrene strip to fill the gaps. The ailerons, though, needed some work to fair them into the wings. 

 

I took a look at the wing tips. I couldn't find any decent references, but it struck me the moulded ones were a bit too rounded in form, and also a different shape on each wing! I decided to sand the profile back to something a little squarer, parallel with the scribed end panel. Other sub-assemblies included the wheels, props and engines. The wheels cleaned up nicely. I was thinking of doing the old trick of heating them gently to form a weighted appearance. In the end I decided simply sanding a flat on each wheel was sufficient.

 

More shortly.

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There are aftermarket Bristol Pegasus kits available, but I decided to just titivate what was in the box. The engine plates are basic, but of their time, and also a little under size to fit properly into the cowlings. I cemented some thin styrene strip around each of them, then sanded back to be a nice tight fit in the cowling, seating correctly on the step inside the collector rings. The engines themselves were given a little relief by applying some stretched sprue. It's not correct, but it added a bit of extra depth to otherwise bland mouldings. I carefully scribed the exhaust collector rings into the front of the cowlings. I drilled out the exhaust stubs, and fitted the Airwaves cooling gills.

 

I forgot to take pics of the internal details once they were painted. These things happen when you get carried away with something!

 

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Time for some honesty. The old Airfix Hampden builds into something that looks right. It captures the essence of the "Flying Suitcase" well. The parts, though, show their age - the kit first appeared on the model shop shelves before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on to the surface of the Moon, after all. Detailing sets, perhaps replacement vac-form transparencies, some attention with styrene strip and rod and so on, do help to make a half decent model, even allowing for its idiosyncracies.

 

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It was time to deal with the transparencies. For a fifty-year-old kit, the clear parts weren’t all that bad. A bit thick, but usable in my opinion. Of course, there are aftermarket vacuum formed transparencies available, but I’ve had indifferent results with some of those in the past. I decided to work with what I had. Some of the frame lines didn’t quite match with photos of the real thing, and the nose part needed a little slimming to fit neatly. A few minutes with sanding sticks and polishing got it looking respectable. The rear upper gunner position had a choice of open and closed clamshell parts. (Is it a clamshell or a lobster tail? I’m going with clams, I think.) Both open and closed parts needed slots carefully opening to take the machine guns - the upper guns are not actually stowed inboard, an obvious thing in photos of the real thing. I thought about using the open clamshell, and was also going to modify the frames to represent the earlier version, but in the end went for the closed shell. It would be easier to paint, as the transparency acted as a mask. 

 

While I was about it, the PE set included new parts for the sliding cockpit hood. I carefully sliced the hood from the windscreen using a fine razor saw, retaining the hood for masking purposes. I hoped a solution might reveal itself for thin clear transparency material so I could use the detail set, but it didn’t. In the end, I decided to mask the hood and show it closed.

 

It made sense to fit the various machine guns in place in the clear parts, as they can’t be fitted once the glazing is fitted. The upper clear panel behind the cockpit really didn’t fit at all, and needed some styrene strip to fill some gaps. The lower gun position had clear parts that have to be fitted before the fuselage halves go together, so they were masked after the fact.

 

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I spent a happy hour or so masking all the transparent parts, then attached them to the model using Kristal Klear. Subsequently, I masked the cockpit hood as well.

 

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I am not sure of the play value of floppy undercarriage. As the doors don’t operate, it seemed a bit pointless to be able to retract the wheels, but there you are. To ensure the legs sat more or less in the right orientation, rather than raked forward, I used some strip styrene to act as bolsters in the front. With the rest of the oleo parts and doors installed, it was all nice and firm.

 

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Undercarriage fitted. Anyone who remembers building this model back in the day may remember the fiddly oleo detail parts. I was worried I might break them before I got them glued in place. Detail painting would have to wait until the main paint job was done.

 

I wanted the bomb bay doors posed open. The kit parts are very thick, so I thinned the visible edges to give a better impression of sheet metal. With better references, it should be possible to add internal ribs and so on. I’m not planning on displaying this model on a mirror, so I was content with the somewhat rudimentary weapons bay. I used spare 250lb bombs from my various Blenheim builds to replace the original kit parts. Of course, I forgot I also needed to shave back the mounting lugs and upper edge of each door to leave room to install the ordnance after painting. Happily, a sharp No10 curved blade in my scalpel handle did the trick. I considered the PE door pistons. Like a lot of the extra details, I decided to leave them out as patience can sometimes run out. They were also definitely flat, and might have been better represented by confections of brass rod and tube, but without references I left it well alone.

 

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I masked the fronts of the engines, and glued them to the nacelles. I brush painted the exhaust collector rings later. It was now down to fiddly details, like venturi, DF loop (fabricated from some 0.7mm diameter brass wire and the PE etched top), radio mast and so on.

 

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For the wireless antenna locations on the fins, I drilled a little way in the leading edges and fitted short lengths of 1mm OD brass tube. The mast will be very vulnerable, so I had to keep my wits about me until the build was finished.

 

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In rather shorter time than I thought, I got a coat of primer on the plane. Time for some camo colours. I tend to prefer Xtracrylics for most models these days.

 

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The base coat - I usually start with the earth brown - was just blatted all over from the airbrush. Acrylics dry pretty quickly, so I went ahead and used masking tape of various widths to mask for the green. I couldn’t get quite the fine edge shape I would like, so I had to do a bit of brushwork to tidy things up and fill in where I missed areas, such as the fuselage sides under the wings. 

 

Masking is something I have to practice: I have a sacrificial airframe I knocked up for just this purpose in order to try different methods of masking. Since this model, I’ve experimented with the Blue Tack sausages method, and I’m very pleased with the way it worked.

 

Rather than faff about with more masking tape, I elected to brush paint the night black undersides. With care, I can get an adequate finish with a brush. An airbrushed coat of Humbrol Clear was followed by the transfers - there’s a tale! - and a matt varnish top coat to seal things.

 

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The transfers are from a company called Avalon. I chose one of the options on the sheet to give me a Hampden of No 7 Squadron at Finningley in April 1940. It was a curious hybrid of pre- and early-War markings, and I am yet to be convinced by the squadron letter codes. They may be correct for official sizes, but I haven’t found any references that show such large letters used on the slim end of a Hampden. That doesn’t mean it never happened, just I haven’t found anything to show it did. I’ll live with the odd appearance for this model. It’s a talking point if nothing else!

 

Final detail painting for the exhaust collector rings, a spot of weathering, tidying up the undercarriage paint, removing the masking from the transparencies, and a bit of judicious weathering and my “Flying Suitcase” would be ready for its official portraits and the display cabinet.

 

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I enjoyed this build. It brought back some happy memories of building the Hampden many years ago. This was my first proper attempt at sanding back the rivets and scribing panel lines. It's not perfect, but I learned some new techniques. Considering the age of the tool, the finished product captures the essence of the Flying Suitcase. It would be nice for a new tool at some stage, especially as there's a full size plane being reconstructed up at the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at the RAF Cosford Museum. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little journey. With the new tool Airfix Wellington in the stash, the Whitley already built, and a Blenheim MkIVB ready to build, all I need now is a decent Fairey Battle to complete my 1940 Bomber Command fleet.

 

Incidentally, I found an online resource with some useful close photos of Hampdens.

 

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/great-britain/aircraft/bomber/handley-page-hampden-bomber.asp

 

It was useful for the cockpit detailing (as well as highlighting just how much detail is possible if you really want to push the boat out), and helped with locating and fitting the rear gun restrictors that are in the Airwaves etch.

 

Thanks for looking!

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I have one in the box of doom and having seen your brilliant work it will stay there.  Love the work around the engines and the  renovation of the airfix canopy’s.  If I am ever brave enough I will copy but I won’t ever get such a result as you have. 

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57 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

there's a full size plane being reconstructed up at the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at the RAF Cosford Museum

That's good news, I didn't know that.

 

Very interesting build, and as usual an excellent result Heather.

 

Shame there isn't a decent 1/48 kit as I have a soft spot for the Hampden.

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Really nice result, seem to remember building this a couple of times in the 70's. I have the AZ boxing of the (Valom?) kit in the stash.  There's something about the difference in designs of early brit bombers compared to the JU-88 and Dornier's of the time that has an appeal, less aggressive and more conservative looking.

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

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8 hours ago, BristolBlue said:

I have one in the box of doom and having seen your brilliant work it will stay there. 

Ah, go on. It might be fun just to dig it out and throw it together like the old days! You know you want to. :wink:

 

7 hours ago, Gorby said:

Very interesting build, and as usual an excellent result Heather.

 

Thanks! Now, I'm being tempted by 1/48th: I've got the Airfix Defiant, and the Blenheim is on order. Argh! I'll need an even bigger display cabinet! :frantic:

 

6 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Well done! A great job on an old kit. I like your painting of the exhaust collector.

Thanks Chris.

 

3 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

There's something about the difference in designs of early brit bombers compared to the JU-88 and Dornier's of the time that has an appeal, less aggressive and more conservative looking.

I agree. The approach to aircraft design from both countries does seem to have followed a slightly different path during the 1920s and 1930s.

 

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Very nice work Heather your Hampden looks fantastic. 

Cheers!

 

2 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice build,

Ta. It turned out okay in the end. There are things I would do better if I attempted it again, but you live and learn.

 

2 hours ago, FalkeEins said:

very nice indeed!  ..and thanks for the link. I haven't found half of those images on the actual IWM photo archive site

I spent a while searching the interwebs for any images I could find, particularly internal and cockpit details. That site came up and filled in a lot of useful detail.

 

1 hour ago, neilfergylee said:

@Heather Kay Wow!  What an excellent build: genuinely inspiring

Steady now. :blush:

 

16 minutes ago, TheBaron said:

Top stuff as always Heather. :thumbsup2:

Nicely handled but God love ye with that Airwaves stuff... 

I know what you mean. Airwaves seems to have a reputation that has been well earned. Still, something is better than nothing. Possibly.

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Nice work on the Hampden. You did a good job of your scribing compared with my Blenhiem effort. I have fixed most of it and the rest I'm hoping won't show in the final build.

Love your work on your collection and this will fit in very well. Keep it up.

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Excellent job, top marks!

As for the Battle, it is possible to get a decent one out of the Airfix kit, but it takes a LOT of work. I'm in the middle of one right now and the build is on here. I just don't know how to show the link as I'm typing this on my phone!

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2 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

I'm in the middle of one right now and the build is on here

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I've got your Battle WIP thread bookmarked, patiently waiting for your stuff to find its way to your new location. I don't think I have the patience for that amount of work, I'm afraid. I started a cobbling together of a couple of Dornier kits to give me a Do17P, but I've ground to a halt for the sake of a reasonably simple scratch build. Perhaps it's a good time for me to learn the fine art of plunge moulding!  

 

One day, someone will take pity on we lovers of late 1930s RAF bomber aircraft and give us a new Battle kit. One day. :) 

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