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1/48 Airfix Blenheim Mk 1f - completed


Harvs73

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While the decals on the Sea Fury are drying prior to putting on more and the MIG-17 PFU is off the bench I have started the Blenheim Mk 1f.

 

I have started on the interior builds with the bomb bay and cockpit areas together and put in to the fuselage for a test fit. It appears to be ok but I might have to check the bomb bay as it appears to have a very slight gap there. It may just close when glues but I don't want to put undue pressure in to the fuselage.

 

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The pilots area is a complicated beast that seems to fit in ok.

 

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The bomb bay goes together well but the stage where you have to cut the parts to make the centre beam in half confuse me, hopefully it is something to do with a difference between the bomber and fighter version

 

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Edited by Harvs73
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20 hours ago, Harvs73 said:

The bomb bay goes together well but the stage where you have to cut the parts to make the centre beam in half confuse me, hopefully it is something to do with a difference between the bomber and fighter version

It is, what you have removed is the bomb bay door in the open postion, you would have to remove if modeling a closed bomb bay too.

Edited by neil5208
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The wheel well prior to paint. You need to get the small projections at the rear of the bay correct as these impact the installation of the undercarriage when you to get to it. The circles on the side wall I believe can also be drilled out if you want to add some extra detail and finesse to the area. A point to remember though is how much will actually be seen once everything is installed in to the wheel well.

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The cockpit with basic paint job prior to any weathering. You could go to town with extra detailing here as the detail is basic and could use some help. I just painted some black rectangles on the left side of the cockpit rim to replicate similar things in the real aircraft.

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You need to ensure that you keep things straight here. I found that the Airfix paint instructions are not that good and you need to try and find reference images eg the oil tank is all silver according to Airfix but looking at it the straps would be a different colour (I chose black) and the bar it is attached to will most likely be black as well since the rest of the assy is black.

 

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The wing roots look ok at this time. I am actually surprised at the wing area given the tiny size of the fuselage.

 

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The area for the flaps is not bad but when compared to an image of the same area on a Blenheim (a Mk IV not a Mk 1f) it shows the the circles in the back wall are actually drilled out to lighten the aircraft. I plan to paint these black with a thinned paint, basically a heavy wash.

 

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Great start David. I have been very naughty and not just content to look at it in the box, I have started it! The plan of course was to finish what's on the bench!  I am glad that I took the plunge as it is a very enjoyable build. 

 

Keith 

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Can anyone tell me what the 'package' behind the pilot's seat is? I initially thought it was a parachute, but a friend suggested that it's possibly a dinghy (which makes more sense). I can't find a clear picture showing this area either in any of my references or online (though may be looking in all the wrong places.....).

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I did a bit of work on the cockpit and weathered it followed by some more of the smaller parts.

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Now the unhappy part, it was pointed out to me that there were some sink marks on the wing fillets that needed filling. Not only were they there but on further looking I found numerous other areas that have them. Unfortunately I can only fill/fix some of them and hope the rest are not too noticeable. The sink marks are highlighted with brown pen.

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Oh dear, or other words to that effect. That's not good for a new mould kit, the wings remind me of the ICM Spitfire IX.Let's hope (for everyone else's sake) that you were unfortunate enough to get one that slipped past quality control unnoticed.

 

John

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The wings and tail planes are now on. The tail planes go on easily as Airfix have recessed the hole to allow for a solid fitting of the tail plane which puts it at the right angle.

The wings are a pain. One went on perfectly with minimal filler on the edge but the other needs a fair amount of work. The training wing fillets also need some fitting to ensure they merge in to the wing nicely. Due to the tips of the wings in the fillet region being short shot on one side and deformed on the other, a bit of extra work needs to be done to fix the resulting hole/deformation.

I also found that the bomb bay door is not wide enough to fit properly as it is too narrow. The doors will need to be widened a fraction or the fuselage narrowed but the cockpit needs to be widened to allow the canopy to fit properly so it is a bit of a problem.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have done a bit more work on the Blenheim and have got to the stage of installing the canopy and working on the engines. Both the cockpit and the engines could do with some extra detail eg PE and scratch building but I am doing this OOB. The canopy goes on ok but you do need to test fit it with the arrow looking thing at the front of the cockpit in location.

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It is really starting to have that Blenheim Mk 1 look now with the canopy on. You need to be careful with the top part of the canopy as it is wide and may not match up with the lower sections. I ended up have to hold the canopy top wide for a while to allow the glue to dry with the top part on and fitting correctly.

 

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Very nice build, and the glazing looks great, really shows off the cockpit detail.

Just reading Max Hastings Bomber Command book, boy talk about suicide missions these Blenheim Squadrons where sent on at the outbreak of war

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  • 3 weeks later...

I finally received the Eduard canopy masks and applied those so I could paint the model. The AML camouflage pattern masks are the wrong pattern, they are the 'B' pattern' so I photo copied them and reversed them on to the model giving the 'A' scheme. I was not overly impressed with the lack of map for the various masks as some of them were quite hard to work out where they go. I have used Humbrol Hu29 for the Dark Earth and Hu 116 for the Dark Green. The Hu116 airbrushes much lighter than it looks in the tin.

 

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  • 2 months later...

Impressive! You should be proud- beautiful finish and weathering. I think the Mk 1's are handsome airplanes! Well done, sir! Sure wish Airfix had corrected the nacelles on the 1/72 releases like they did on the 1/48 kit.

Mike

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