GliderGuider Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Hi everyone! For this group build I'll be building a 1/48 Bristol Blenheim Mk. I night fighter. Below are some shots of the kit and the extras I'll be using (Eduard "Zoom" photoetch set, seatbelts and paint mask, and AML camouflage mask). I've struggled with Airfix 1/72 Blenheims in the past so I'm curious to see how the 1/48 version goes together. I have followed other builds such as this one and I'm planning to use some of the tips mentioned. You'll see from the third photo below that I've already started dry fitting to see how well the main parts fit. From what I can tell it looks to be a great kit ... I hope! All the best, Matt 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 This should be good! I've taken a liking to the Blenheim recently, so I'll follow this with great interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Good to see this one built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 Thanks @Christer A and @Greg Law. I've always had a soft spot for the Blenheim too and there's plenty of interesting aircraft to choose from for my build. Plenty of well known night fighter pilots started off in Blenheim Mk Is - such as John Cunningham, Bob Braham and Mike Herrick. Osprey's "Defiant, Havoc and Blenheim Aces" has some useful photos and profiles of these and others. Or, there's the Fighter Interception Unit Blenheim (L6836) flown by Fg Off Ashfield that achieved the first first ever airborne radar intercepted kill. I'm not sure of the squadron markings on this one though and these seem difficult to track down, so unless anyone here knows anything more I'll probably do one of the others I mentioned! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Interesting subject choice and while not a subject I think of as a nightfighter it seemed to find its success in that role. I hope this 48th scale kit goes together better for you than the 72nd scale examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 welcome along and same goes for me, not the first thing that would pop into your mind when thinking of Nightfighters! But it's great to see something different and in a scale suitable for us who have fat fingers and failing eyesight (well not really but that's my excuse...). She'll be quite a biggish model when done. Plus a nice selection of "extras" to with her. Good luck with the build, I hope it's a trouble free one and I look forward to seeing her in the gallery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 Hi all, I hope everyone is having a great Easter! Thanks @trickyrich and @Col. - I agree, it was hardly the most successful night fighter. I'll continue researching throughout the build and post any gems I find. I suppose it would help if the night fighter you're flying was actually fast enough to catch the enemy bombers! As pictures of the sprues are already available here I won't worry about uploading any, and I'll skip straight to the last few days' progress. I decided a few days before starting that the Airfix parts were pretty good and that I wouldn't worry about replacing any of the existing details (like cutting off and replacing the throttle quadrant with the Eduard one), after all I probably wouldn't do a great job of the Eduard throttle quadrant anyway. So naturally the first thing I did was to build the Eduard throttle quadrant!!! I'm glad I did. Those levers are just glued straight to the quadrant itself which looked scary at first (no bending the throttles into a U-shape and threading them through a couple of tiny gaps like with some kits). The quadrant does however have some small grooves that allowed me to position and hold the levers easily while the glue dried. And wow, I've just noticed in the photo below (as they are bigger in the picture than in real life), how good do those Eduard seatbelts look? I haven't weathered them or anything, this is how they actually came. I found that had to snip the top of these off to allow part A6 to fit properly on top of the seat though, so if you're building this kit with the Eduard seatbelts, you may choose to fit part A6 to the seat first, then trim the seatbelts, and finally glue the seatbelts on once trimmed. Hopefully this will be the first update of several across the Easter weekend so I expect to be back with more progress soon. As always I would welcome any comments or advice particularly if you've built this kit before. Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 A couple more quick photos of today's progress. I've now assembled much of the pilot's side of the cockpit. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Very well painted, looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Tidy work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 Nice work on the cockpit. Keep up the good work. I have a flock of Swallows that will be looking for some target practice....😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 Very nice GG and as you say, the belts are particularly pleasing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Hi all, Looks like I will need to get an Eduard Tempest or two to escort the Blenheim if @Greg Law's Schwalben are around! I've started work on the instrument panel. The Eduard PE one looks convincing. In looking at Blenheim cockpit photos I came across this one on the Aircraft Restoration Company website, so the above nicely captures the essence of the Blenheim instrument panel to me. On the back however the Airfix one looks rather bare. Especially when I came across this photo from the Blenheim Society: So, I drilled some small holes in the back of the instrument panel and glued some lengths of flexible plastic (courtesy of my spares box) into these using CA. The paint job looks a little messy so I'll tidy it up before fitting it in the fuselage. That's it for now, hopefully I'll get some more done during the week. All the best, Matt 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 very nice work on the cockpit details Matt, looks awesome. Nice reference photos, boy that cockpit does look flimsy!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 (Looks like I will need to get an Eduard Tempest or two to escort the Blenheim if @Greg Law's Schwalben are around) Don't worry the first one is a Recon machine. However, I have two fighters on the drawing board, parts being delivered in the next two weeks and one bomber in the cockpit assembly area. (waiting for the seat belts to arrive.) For future development I have the bomber with the glass nose and the one with the big gun in the front. I suggest you think about a Meteor or two. 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Greg Law said: I suggest you think about a Meteor or two. Yes, definitely on my wish list (but not in my stash yet)! Funny you should mention that today, I spotted just this morning that Special Hobby have a new Meteor NF11 coming out maybe this year - my father did National Service with 11 Squadron RAF (as an engineer) and flew in these a few times so I must make at least one of these for starters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlemaster Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 If / when i build an Airfix Blenheim im going to come back to your build thred for inspiration . love your attention to detail . Cheers Alistair 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 Looks very nice so far and also it looks like i need a Blenheim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 25, 2019 Author Share Posted April 25, 2019 On 4/22/2019 at 7:51 PM, Mottlemaster said: If / when i build an Airfix Blenheim im going to come back to your build thred for inspiration . love your attention to detail . Cheers Alistair Thanks Alistair! I'm sure I'll also make some mistakes you can learn from...... 9 hours ago, BerndM said: Looks very nice so far and also it looks like i need a Blenheim. Thanks! I'm finding it a superb kit, it seems to be just falling together now. I'm sure to build at least another Mk. I (and a Mk. IV if Airfix make one!). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 25, 2019 Author Share Posted April 25, 2019 Hi everyone, As it's ANZAC day here in Australia (and a public holiday), I've managed to make lots of progress today! To start with I finished the cockpit, glued the fuselage together and added the bomb bay doors (not that the bomb bay as actually used in the night fighter). The fuselage went together fairly successfully, although there was a small gap under the nose which in turn caused the bomb bay doors to not quite fit perfectly. I've filled the gap and started to sand it all down. The rest barely needed sanding at all. I may need to make one of these as a bomber with bomb bay doors open next time, then the fit of the bomb bay won't matter so much! I've also assembled the undercarriage. It looks fiddly but Airfix have engineered the parts very cleverly. I had painted all the parts for these on the sprues, and I would say that assembling each side to the stage where they are ready to install in the wings took less than half an hour. I've dry-fitted these in the wings and they just drop in and sit there without any glue needed. I'll reserve my final judgement on the kit until I've assembled the canopy though, I'm dreading doing this! Enjoy the pictures! Matt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 This is looking cracking Matt. This is definitely a kit I'll be wanting to build in the future. Would love to see Airfix release a 1/48 Bristol Beaufort too. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GliderGuider Posted April 25, 2019 Author Share Posted April 25, 2019 11 hours ago, AaronKSJ said: Would love to see Airfix release a 1/48 Bristol Beaufort too. Yes, me too! Especially after reading "The Last Torpedo Flyers" - I had no idea about the part the Beauforts played in the Channel Dash until reading this book. An early 1/48 Beaufighter would look nice alongside these too...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Good work and the beautiful details are really popping out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Great work Matt, it is a lovely kit but it can rear up and bite you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 I also would be in for a 1/48 Beaufort. It seems to take the companies a long time to cotton to what would be good sellers other than the the run of the mill bf 109, Mustang or spitfire. Look how long it took Airfix to get on to the 1/48 Tiger moth. There is a very good cockpit example for one in a Melbourne museum, so the information they need for it is out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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