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The New 1/48th Revell Beaufighter TF.X,,...... FINISHED


tonyot

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Hiya Folks,

                  Many of you probably know that I`m a big Beaufighter fan and I`ve been looking forward to this kit for some time. Now their Mosquito kit was very good indeed but it was let down by over large, blunt spinners and short undercarriage legs,...... so I was a bit worried how the Beau would turn out. Well here is the box art;1530715288-70294900

Upon first inspection the parts look great, with a bit of flash on smaller parts like the undercarriage legs,....... but it has more detail than the Tamiya kit, especially inside the fuselage. Alternative noses are provided for the original nose with and without the strike camera and also the later radar nose along with early and late fins plus two types of horizontal tailplane, both the `V' type though and not the original flat style. 

I have been pre painting the parts on the sprue today and here they are,..... the cannon magazines have been assembled and attached to the cockpit floor;

DSCF4911

 

Here are the alternative noses and fins plus other parts. Rocket mounting plates are included, but no rails or rockets as both decal options are torpedo bombers for which a torpedo and air tail are provided;

DSCF4914

 

Here are the alternative horizontal tailplanes and fins;

DSCF4913

 

Here are the fuselage halves with the cockpit floor and pilots canopy,..... the cannon magazines have already been assembled and glued to the cockpit floor;

DSCF4912

 

So that is it for now,...... I`ll add a wash to the interior and get on with assembly soon,

 

Cheers

         Tony

Edited by tonyot
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I was looking at one at the local branch meeting last night and it looked pretty good to me. I didn't  spot the heater tube in the cockpit but I can see it in your pictures, 489 Squadron markings as well so a big plus.

 

I'm building my last Tamiya kit for a new display at the local air museum and found I paid £12.00 for it but it must have been in a closing down sile from somewhere so was a bit surprised that the new Revell was so much more. Even paying full price is it  £10 better than the Tamiya? Just saying.....

Edited by Silver Fox
Edited for ractual inaccuracy.
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Cheers Fella`s,..... hopefully they will do a later boxing in with the flat tailplanes and an early navigators bubble.

 

Today`s progress,... I`ve got the interior mostly done,... Sorry about the poor photos but I was just running out of daylight,... hence the seat straps need additional painting yet ;

 

 

DSCF4915_NEW

 

DSCF4921_NEW

 

DSCF4922_NEW

 

And the interior fitted into a fuselage half;

DSCF4929_NEWDSCF4924_NEW

 

 

I`m very pleased with it so far,..... I`ll join the fuselage tonight and then start on the wings,..... starting with the multi part wheel wells,

 

Cheers

           Tony

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I’m in for this!

 

WARNING - if I’ve judged the publicity shots of the sprues correctly the trim tab actuators for the elevators are depicted on the top side. This is wrong. The culprit is the RAFM Mk.X which had its tailpanes bodged from spare parts.

 

The different types of tailplane are discussed here in my stalled Tamiya build (I will pick this back up one day....)

 

HTH

 

Trevor

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30 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

I’m in for this!

 

WARNING - if I’ve judged the publicity shots of the sprues correctly the trim tab actuators for the elevators are depicted on the top side. This is wrong. The culprit is the RAFM Mk.X which had its tailpanes bodged from spare parts.

 

The different types of tailplane are discussed here in my stalled Tamiya build (I will pick this back up one day....)

 

HTH

 

Trevor

Thanks for the heads up Trevor,..... I shall endeavour to remember that nugget of info,....... but then again I go into the kitchen and wonder why I`m in there,....... so don`t hold your breath!!! I`ve yet to decide which tailplane I`ll be using yet.

Cheers

         Tony

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Hiya Folks,

                 Here is another update;

The one piece lower wing is fixed and the rather fiddly multi part wheel wells are in place. Also seen here are the nicely detailed engines; 

 

DSCF4930DSCF4933

 

The fit of the lower wings to the fuselage isn`t the best,...... there are some gaps around the nose and the rear section stands proud of the fuselage,...... some trimming might help with the latter?

 

Cheers

           Tony

 

Edit,..... I`ve removed the rib detail from the inside of the wing centre section and the fit is much better now,..... I have also fixed the upper wing halves into place but they are very hard to keep in place, especially along the trailing edge where they meet the fuselage. This has been quite a fiddly kit so far, unlike the almost snap together quality of the Tamiya kit.  

Edited by tonyot
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Cheers Andy,

                      Glad I`m helping somebody eh!

 

Right,...... time to choose an aircraft subject and I`m probably going to choose one from this sheet (I`m also going to show the 1/72nd sheet too for the photo info);

AOD002instructionsaviaeologybeau1reviewrcafbeaufightersdecals32nde (1)RCAF CC Beaus2 Aviaaviaeologybeau2

 

Here are some of the real aircraft;

TFX_2BuffaloSoldier6Beau_EEM_at_Strubby

 

 

And here is a previous model that I made using the 72nd scale version of this sheet;

DSCF6061DSCF6060

 

I`m still looking through some RAAF and SEAC options but I think that I`ll be going with this sheet. We know that Terry from Aviaeology is a member of Britmodeller and I find his sheets to be the most accurate and informative on the market,....... he really does go the extra mile and I`m looking forward to building a Canso and Catalina from his latest releases. 

Cheers

            Tony

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2 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Tony great work so far.  Are the exhaust collector rings covered by an outer skin too or do the removable engine cover panels just go up to the collector rings as they are?

Keep up the good work. 

All the best 

Chris 

Cheers Chris,

                   Yes there is an outer skin,.....hopefully I`ll be showing that soon mate, I`ll take some more pics,

 

All the best,

                   Tony

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4 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Chris,

                   Yes there is an outer skin,.....hopefully I`ll be showing that soon mate, I`ll take some more pics,

Wow that's great news this is usually overlooked by manufacturers.  Can't wait to see the piccies. 

Thanks Tony 

Chris 

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Hiya Folks,

                Here is the model with the upper wing halves in place and also the tailplane with the engines dry fitted and the engine panels shown on the sprue;

DSCF4934DSCF4935

 

It certainly looks like a Beaufighter to me!

Cheers

          Tony

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Looking good. Those Aviology sheets are a mine of information **ahem** tailplanes!!

 

I love the engines, the Tamiya one has absolutely no plumbing at all and is the reason I’m using for my stalled build. Could I trouble you for some close ups before you button them up. Pleeeaaase??!

 

Trevor

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1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

Looking good. Those Aviology sheets are a mine of information **ahem** tailplanes!!

 

I love the engines, the Tamiya one has absolutely no plumbing at all and is the reason I’m using for my stalled build. Could I trouble you for some close ups before you button them up. Pleeeaaase??!

 

Trevor

Haha,..... yeah I`ve been reading up on the elevators tonight and you were 100% right,...... I`ll be swapping them around when I fit them tomorrow, The Aviaeology instructions are superb aren`t they? 

 

As for engine close ups,...... with the camera I`ve got the pics that I`ve taken of the engines are about as close up as I can get,..... but I`ll give it a try. Maybe if you zoom in on the pics you may get more detail? 

 

All the best mate,

                            Tony

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10 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Tony great work so far.  Are the exhaust collector rings covered by an outer skin too or do the removable engine cover panels just go up to the collector rings as they are?

Keep up the good work. 

All the best 

Chris 

Expanding on Tony’s answer the leading edge of the collector ring has a baffle over it which directs cooling air over the collector itself.  This can be seen as a clean matt silver-grey leading edge ring with a darker, heat-stained metallic brown area behind.  The tone and depth of the “brown” varies with age and use but tends (but not always) to fade towards the trailing edge of the collector ring.

 

The collector ring is effectively a one-piece structure attached to the engine by the exhaust pipes from each cylinder and a “tripod” of supports from the ring to the engine reduction gearbox housing on the front of the engine,  The engine access panels then occupy the area between the collector ring and the cooling gills at the rear.  IIRC the panels are held closed by cables run around the cowling circumference and fastened underneath.

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Cheers fellas,

                       Thanks for the updates,.....yes Stever219 is right in saying that the cowling panels were held in place using a cable which was tightened underneath,.....you can see the two cable runs here;

Beaufighter007_zpsdb744ea4

 

With the tightening assembly underneath;

beau22

 

As for the exhaust ring,...... some night flying types such as the Wellington and Beaufighter night fighters had it externally mounted, or at least with a cover applied,... as per Dogsbody`s diagram, as seen here;

440px-Royal_Air_Force_Fighter_Command,_1939-1945._CE21BeaufighterUSAAF1

 

but day flying Beaufighter`s including the late war Coastal aircraft didn`t have this and it was underneath the cowling covering, see here;

beaufighter_X_404_sqn

 

And the latter can be seen in detal here on Hendon`s Beau which also shows the strengthening rods inside which were fitted to the crank case. Note how the kit has correctly got the angle of the pipes leading to the exhaust ring too;

9272254587_f12f793c76_b

 

 

This last photo shows as Trevor so kindly pointed out, that the Hendon Beau has the elevators fitted the wrong way around, with the accentuator rods for the trim tabs above rather than below as they should be and this has been incorrectly replicated in the kit;

 

rafm beau elevators are upside down!

 

 

Here is how they should look, although the Hendon aircraft has the later style tailplane while that below the earlier V shaped dihedral style,.... note also the early style tail wheel leg;

BuffaloSoldier6

 

 

 

Another thing to note is that apart from a very few aircraft, the majority of Coastal Beau`s also had their wing guns removed and the blast tubes faired over,..... so these will need to be filled in on the model....  

ROYAL AIR FORCE COASTAL COMMAND, 1939-1945.Beaufighter-MkX-RCAF-404Sqn-2G-being-fitted-with-3-inch-25lb-rockets-IWM-CH13179Beaufighter TF Mk X

 

It is a shame that the intake seen in front of the windscreen, as above, seems to be missing from the kit as this was often seen on the later Coastal aircraft,......I may have to rob one from a Tamiya kit!

 

Cheers for now,

                          Tony

Edited by tonyot
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Hi Stever219  and Chris thanks for the info.  Great piccies and info Tony thank you.  I keep looking at the Tamiya Kit in my stash. It is calling to me but I must resist as I already have quite a few on the go.

Keep up the good work 

All the best 

Chris 

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