A Right Defiant Cock o' the North

[Fatcawthorne]

I have been fascinated by the Boulton Paul Defiant from an early age.  In the 70's I built many painted and unpainted examples of Airfix's first generation 1/72 kit, always managing to snap off the turret guns and even more always, flying them around my bedroom with yellow-nose Bf109Es falling prey to it's guns after bouncing what they thought were an easy-prey Hurricane!  Dagga-dagga-dagga-dagga.

 

Having just finished my RAF Sabre F.4 build over at the NATO/Warsaw Pact GB I was looking for another victim for my ham-fistedness.  Although my garage stash contains nigh-on 400 kits, as my work/personal life was having a bit of a stress-blip I really just couldn't make up my mind what to build next.

 

I recently built the Airfix quarter-scale Blenheim, a build I enjoyed immensely even with my self-inflicted Fledge injuries to dent my pride.  One of the reference books that I obtained during this build was the Osprey Defiant, Blenhiem and Havoc Aces volume.  Now as I had built up 3 or 4 Airfix Defiants in the stash (together with a number of Classic Airframes examples that will probably now stay burried in it!) this could be the anxiety busting almost OOB build that I could do with at present. 

 

I worked at the UEA vs Essex University Sports Derby Day last Wednesday up in Norwich, engraving the medals as they were won by the students.  In a quiet moment I got chatting with one of UEA's IT gurus who had been drawn like a moth to a flame to my late 1980's vintage monochrome-screened engraving machines.  Now I do have quite a few up to date machines back at the shop but like all modern kit seems to do these days the second you take it out the shop it breaks down, but these dinosaur machines can be lumped in and out of my van (possibly dropped from great heights too but I've never tried it!) and still work perfectly so these go on my travels with me.

 

We got talking about mental health issues and how I had given up a city regulatory career after an injury-related breakdown, and he talked of his own issues and about a charity he used in Norwich called Men's Shed where folk affected by such issues can go and build stuff.  Explaining that was something I'd love to do but wasn't local, I then started explaing that I got similar comfort from my issues from making model aircraft.  Now this is the connection - he started telling me about how locals were being encouraged to build local manufacturer Boulton Paul's kits for a display and I was so happy to tell him that I had just started cutting plastic on my Defiant.  At that point I knew I'd made the right choice.  If any of you know more about this initiative then I'd love to know more too!

 

Now my favourite scheme for an RAF craft to wear is DFS.  The box contains decals for DFS examples but having seen the Printscale 48-096 set featuring L7009 Cock o' the North, I fancied building that.

 

Some blurb stolen from the Corgi website describing their diecast model of this airframe.

 

No. 141 Sqn was originally formed on 1st January 1918 but was disbanded on 1st February 1920. The squadron reformed on 4th October 1939 at RAF Turnhouse and was first equipped with Gloster Gladiators then Bristol Blenheims. These were replaced with Boulton Paul Defiants in April 1940. The first operational patrol was flown on 29th June before moving to RAF West Malling in July. Its first and last daylight encounter with the enemy followed a few days later when 6 out of 9 aircraft were lost over the English Channel. The squadron changed from a day- to night-fighter role, which was far better suited to the Defiant. L7009 (TW-H) was flown by Flt. Lt. D. G. Donald with gunner Plt. Off. A.C. Hamilton. This aircraft was shot down by a Bf 109E of JG51 near Dover on 19th July 1940 and both crew members were killed. It featured a rare (for the RAF) but attractive nose art depicting a rooster with the name ‘Cock o’ the North’.

 

Unfortunately this tale did not have the happy ending associated with my bedrom dogfights but I hope it can be a fitting tribute to those two brave airman.

 

OK, OK enough waffling already, I can hear you moaning at the back about a lack of pictures to keep you interested!!!

 

Here are the customary sprue and box shots.....

 

As I couldn't wait to start the fettling I built up as mant subassemblies as I could in order to primer them all in one hit.

 

 

Now this has all had a thorough daubing in Halfords rattle-can grey primer (photos to follow).  Since the sprue shots were taken I have to say that I've been so impressed by the detail in the cockpit and turret areas straight out of the box that I'm going to save the Eduard etch for another build.

 

Well as you may pick up from my previous builds I tend to get distracted by shiny-shiny electric guitars, and this one will be no different as I'm just off to Basildon to pick up an Epiphone Les Paul that I bought on eBay earlier today.

 

Right, that's enough for one go, until we meet again...............

 

Chris

[GREG DESTEC]

Cool 😎!

 

I have the night fighter boxing of this kit so I'll tag along to see how you're goes....

 

Cheers Greg 👍

 

 

[corsaircorp]

Hello Chris !

First post and she's almost done....

Good job !!

Epiphone, my son used it also when he played in the band !!

I'll tag along if you don't mind it !

Sincerely.

CC

[Radar]

Hi Chris,

I will follow this thread closely as a Defiant is getting near the top of my lists of builds and I love the latest Airfix offerings. Do you know is there any difference between the Day Fighter and Night Fighter versions of the 1/48 Airfix kit or is it just a re-decaled issue. I'm into Polish crewed aircraft and Sqn's in the RAF at the moment and would like to do mine as a Polish 307 Sqn all black example. But I only seem to be able to find the Day Fighter boxings available at my LMS.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[Fatcawthorne]

22 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Cool 😎!

 

I have the night fighter boxing of this kit so I'll tag along to see how you're goes....

 

Cheers Greg 👍

 

 

 

22 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Chris !

First post and she's almost done....

Good job !!

Epiphone, my son used it also when he played in the band !!

I'll tag along if you don't mind it !

Sincerely.

CC

Thanks and welcome to the madhouse fellas!

 

Anyways some gratuitous guitar porn before we start.....

 

 

She's a 2002 Korean beauty with a throaty roar.  It's a good job son #1 can get a tune out of her as it's painful when I try!  Why have my dogs left home????

 

6 hours ago, Radar said:

Hi Chris,

I will follow this thread closely as a Defiant is getting near the top of my lists of builds and I love the latest Airfix offerings. Do you know is there any difference between the Day Fighter and Night Fighter versions of the 1/48 Airfix kit or is it just a re-decaled issue. I'm into Polish crewed aircraft and Sqn's in the RAF at the moment and would like to do mine as a Polish 307 Sqn all black example. But I only seem to be able to find the Day Fighter boxings available at my LMS.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

Ian, I'm no expert and have done no more than have a shuftie at the NF.1's destructions on Scalemates but the parts count appears to be the same.  Also in my boxing there are these parts left over that are not used in the NF.1 which hints at a forthcoming radar equipped version.

 

 

Anyways where was I, oh yeah slathering all and sundry with Halfords Grey Primer.....

 

 

Went off and did a late-morning/afternoon shift at the shop (love Bank Holidays as no customers come in and I can actually get something done!) and then got back and sprayed some Tamiya Rubber Black on some of the black bits and some Tamiya Flat Aluminium on the Silvery bits.

 

 

 

(yes I know I got my 33's and 56's mixed up on the u/c retraction arms but will go for a semi-gloss black on those together with the upper parts of the main legs).

 

.... as well as some Rubber Black on areas I'm trying to put a bit of shading/colour variation into.........

 

 

We will be having a little tinker with the interior green next and when the Alu is dry will be adding some black to the u/c legs and the props (I did put yellow tips on the props but forgot the piccys - sorry all).

 

Anyways have been side-tracked by a hunt for a particular book that I've had for about 45 years that Mrs FC flatly denies having disposed of!!  Time to rip the spare room and attic to shreds looking for it!!!!

 

See you all in a bit.

 

Chris 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Fatcawthorne
Pressed go too quickly!

[GREG DESTEC]

Great progress. The details out of the box look impressive. I have built the 1/72 version already but could not resist the 1/48 version when it came out.

 

the Led Paul looks fantastic by the way, I had been drooling over a Tokai Les Paul Love rocks in the local music shop window recntly. They are fantastic looking guitars. 

 

cheers Greg

[Fatcawthorne]

On 5/7/2019 at 7:16 AM, GREG DESTEC said:

Great progress. The details out of the box look impressive. I have built the 1/72 version already but could not resist the 1/48 version when it came out.

 

the Led Paul looks fantastic by the way, I had been drooling over a Tokai Les Paul Love rocks in the local music shop window recntly. They are fantastic looking guitars. 

 

cheers Greg

Thanks and drool no more Greg, take the plunge (esp as  I see my Karaoke standard's lyrics in your signature so know that you're a man of taste).  The Printscale decals arrived today, no photos as I left them on my desk, but there's a sharkmouth option so another one will get broken out of the stash soon; perfect for the GB on the other channel!  

 

Well whilst waiting for my heart rhythm to re-establish itself after the Mighty Spurs progressed through to the Champions League Final with virtually the last kick of the match I thought I'd update you on what has gone on in the past couple of days.  Considering my usual glacier-like pace this one is racing along!

 

Well the cockpit is coming together.  IG was sprayed on in a couple of coats, the details picked out in a mixture of Nato and Semi-Gloss Black, a few dry brushings with various greys and gunmetal and then a Future Wash to add depth.  Happy with how that's looking considering this is a mojo-restorer.

 

 

 

Then the turret that had been painted Rubber Black lost its one-dimensional feel as it had details picked out in Semi-Gloss, the seats painted Humbrol Matt Leather and then drybrushed with greys and gunmetal too and then a Future Wash.

 

 

Whilst in the dry-brushing/Future-Washing mood I gave the exhausts a going over with a home-made mix of copper and gunmetal, gunmetal on its tod, Hull Red and then Dark Iron before a black Future Wash.

 

 

I also had the Quickboost resin exhausts arrive with the Decals mentioned earlier but now plan to save them and the PE for the Sharkmouth NF version.

 

The guns got a base coat of Semi-Gloss black, and dry-brushing with greys and Gunmetal to give a used Parkerised (or its WW2 equivalent) look to the barrels.

 

Some reviews have had these as the weak point of the kit but I'm happy with them as they stand.

 

The undercarriage legs had some Semi-Gloss Black added and a Future wash to pop the hub details.

 

 

Lastly a Future Wash on the wheel wells adds some depth to things.

 

 

Not far off of buttoning her up now.  One area I missed is that the inside edge of the top wings are visible in the cockpit, so will need some IG before putting them all together.

 

Well with Spurs beating Ajax tonight my mood couldn't be brighter which is a real contrast to how the evening started.  I had 4 tickets for Al Murray The Pub Landlord's performance in Chelmsford tonight but having chased deadlines all day, had got home later than planned and as we were quite near the front none of my family wanted to turn up late and face the inevitable roasting.  Thinking Spurs were down and out I've had a face like a slapped backside until that last kick of the game turned my frown well and truly upside down!!!!!!!!! Liverpool in Madrid next - wahoo!  Come on you Spurs!

 

Anyways am now drained so will sign off.  Until next time - adios amigos.

 

Chris

 

 

 

[GREG DESTEC]

Great results Chris,

 

Both for the Defiant and the footy 👍

 

Pity about Al Murray though, he's always a good laugh 😄

 

Cheers Greg

[Fatcawthorne]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:13 AM, GREG DESTEC said:

Great results Chris,

 

Both for the Defiant and the footy 👍

 

Pity about Al Murray though, he's always a good laugh 😄

 

Cheers Greg

Thanks again Greg, might have to break out the DVD's to get my Pub Landlord fix.

 

Only a teeny-tiny update as today's been a right royal pig of a day at the shop.

 

I drilled out the exhausts and filled with dark iron.

 

 

I glued the cockpit floor/firewall assembly to the starboard fuselage with TET.

 

And last but not least the tiniest blob of Revell Contacta affixed the guns to the turret mechanism.

 

 

Only little baby steps, but it cheered me up, and I'm so pleased with how this goes together so sweetly.

 

Have a great weekend out there in BM World and will catch up soon.

 

Chris

 

 

[TallBlondJohn]

On 5/5/2019 at 7:23 PM, Fatcawthorne said:

 

 

 

Pole dancers and champagne? OK you've got me interested. Nice job so far!

 

[GREG DESTEC]

Great progress Chris,

 

The IP decal looks good in the pit. You going to add seat belts?

 

Must dig mine out for another look....

 

Cheers Greg 😁

[Fatcawthorne]

37 minutes ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Great progress Chris,

 

The IP decal looks good in the pit. You going to add seat belts?

 

Must dig mine out for another look....

 

Cheers Greg 😁

Thanks Greg

 

Definitely for the "driver", I added belts to the turret for my Blenheim build but they didn't look convincing to me.

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Chris, great start!  I plan on building my 1/72 Defiant later this year when a move is complete--plan on following this build to learn from you!  Best, Erwin

Edited May 12, 2019 by VT Red Sox Fan
Edit

[Fatcawthorne]

On 5/10/2019 at 10:17 PM, TallBlondJohn said:

 

Pole dancers and champagne? OK you've got me interested. Nice job so far!

 

Thanks TBJ, yeah, there are more ways to improve the modelling experience than we can merely shake a stick at!!!

 

On 5/12/2019 at 10:03 PM, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Chris, great start!  I plan on building my 1/72 Defiant later this year when a move is complete--plan on following this build to learn from you!  Best, Erwin

Look forward to seeing it once you're set up in the new place.  I'll try not to disappoint, and to find the bigger-scaled pitfalls before you get to them!

 

Well, there's been a fair bit of progress since the last update, but I've worked two 100+ hour weeks in the past fortnight so updates just wern't an option!

 

Saying that after finishing work 4 hous late on Saturday, I finally got off to our local music festivals over the weekend.  One of our local pubs, the Kings Arms at Frating, hosts a cracking free festival over the Bank Holiday weekends and one of my favourite local bands, Stiff in the Morning, were headlining the Sunday session.

 

If you like outrageously performed indie music then these are the band for you.  If you ever get the chance they're worth going out of your way to see.

 

The fuselage got buttoned up.  It didn't quite match up on each side 100% so pleanty of clamp action was employed to get it close enough for government work.  I've not come across this in other build threads so it may be a one-off issue with this kit.  When I build the night-fighter version (with all the resin & PE gubbings) I will keep an eye out for this issue and try to deal with it before getting to the licking and sticking stage.

 

 

The wings all got buttoned up too, voila.....

 

 

.... and the resin exhausts for the next build and the decals for this one arrived.....

 

 

A little more fettling was needed to get the front end to line up that bit better, yes and it needed bigger clamps so happy days!

 

 

Then the cowl top panel was glued on, again plenty of clamping action going on, the keen eyed amongst you will notice that the driver's seat belt has been added now from the Eduard early RAF belts set.

 

 

Well, if you've got a fuselage and a set of wings then there's only one option.... whack them together!

 

 

The joint between wings and fuselage is quite novel and innovative in this kit and it produces one of the cleanest joins in any kit I've ever made (top marks there Airfix).

 

The tail feathers and ailerons were added in a neutral attitude and the resultant gaps filled (there were some gaps between the fuselage and the tailplanes but they were easily dealt with with a swipe of PPP, wiped down with a moist Q-Tip).  As I will be modelling this one with the guns either pointing forward or aft, the rear decking was added in the raised position.

 

All the joins were cleaned up with manicure buffers, which after masking the cockpit/turret and undercarriage wells now has us ready for a coat of primer before getting some top coats on the airframe.

 

 

 

 

 

Well I've been rattling my can of Halfords primer for a bit now so will head of to the man-cave to slather some on it.

 

Have a great what's left of the Bank Holiday and I'll catch up in a bit.

 

All the best, Chris

 

 

 

[Fatcawthorne]

Well, the primer went on fine, the dreaded marmite-like black lines were used to emphasise what panel lines Airfix had added to this kit.  My only criticism of this kit is that the surface detail is minimal and even non-existant in places such as the lower rear fuselage. All my reference photos show far more panel lines visble on the real thing than have been included.  When I do my next one I think some extra scribing will be attempted, and maybe even Rosie will be dragged screaming and kicking from her wrappings!

 

 

A big public thank-you to Bruce @pacificmustang, for taking the time and effort to PM me with some top-tips to tidy up my airbrushing skills, and you know your stuff Bruce mate as by dialing down the pressure from 20-21PSI to 15 and by thinning out the paint a touch more I did indeed get a far neater finish.  My only sticking point is that I occasionally got spatter on starting the paint flow, if any of you know the possible causes of this I'd be delighted to be told what I'm doing wrong! 

 

The first coat of Tamiya acrylic Sky went on and was far more controlable once I'd implemented Bruce's sage advice.

 

Unfortunately the Bank Holiday here in England (not wishing to rub the Scots noses in that too much as it wasn't a UK-wide holiday - esp as my Dad lives just outside Glasgow -soz Dad!) is drawing to an end.  The amount of work in Trophy-Land for the rest of the week (and the next two or three from looking at my order books) is enormous so I can't see too many updates in the immediate future.  Being self-employed I can still lurk around these parts whilst having the odd 5 minute break at my desk, but as for actual modelling I think there'll be no chance.

 

OK, until the football end of season rush is over I'll say tarah until the next time.

 

Be good out there (or don't get caught), Chris

 

[pacificmustang]

Happy the advice worked out for you Chris, and more importantly, that you're enjoying the spraying more.  As for the slight splatter at the start, maybe a dirty tip?  Defiant is coming along nicely and I agree with you regarding the surface detail too

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

[VT Red Sox Fan]

No disappointments here😎—awesome work & thanks for sharing—best, Erwin 

[Biggles87]

Blimey Chris, I’ve only just seen this and you’re already at the painting stage, must look at the WIPs more often.

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

 

John

[AndyL]

I'm always keen to see a Defiant build, even more so a 141 Squadron machine. The back story is that the loss of this aircraft, and the lives of Ian Donald and Arthur Hamilton is part of the day in the Battle of Britain now referred to as 'The Slaughter of the Innocents', when 141 on their first and only daylight engagement with the Luftwaffe resulted in the loss of four pilots and six air gunners.

 

Ian Donald was one of 141's flight commanders, and Arthur Hamilton was a squadron gunnery leader; the latter baled out off Dover and drowned, while Ian Donald died in a vain attempt to get his Defiant back to Hawkinge. He could no longer keep the damaged aircraft airborne, and it crashed at Elms Vale Road, just outside Dover. Tragically, the 19th of July should have been Arthur Hamilton's wedding day, and their first thing the family knew of him being killed was when somebody from R.A.F. Hawkinge contacted the family to ask them where they wanted to have him buried.

 

Part of my work for the history of the Defiant I am currently finishing for Pen and Sword was to try and come up with the definitive version of the events of that day, and source images of all ten airmen lost that day. The hardest to find was one of Ian Donald, but last year I was passed a snap of him vis the family of William Richardson, who was the commanding officer of 141.  The snap turned out to be a significant one, for it was taken on the morning of July 19th to celebrate the fact it was William Richardson's birthday. The photo shows William, flanked by his flight commanders Malcolm Louden and Ian Donald, and it's a sobering thought that just hours after it was taken, Ian was dead, Malcolm Louden was on hospital with arm and shoulder injuries, and burns after almost getting his Defiant back to Hawkinge; he hits a tree and crashed into a hedge and had to be pulled from the wreckage by a farmer. As for William Richardson, he was hauled up at Fighter Command H.Q. that evening, and would eventually lose his command of 141 some six weeks later.

 

Anyway, keep up the great work, I will be watching with interest.

[Fatcawthorne]

On 5/28/2019 at 2:47 AM, pacificmustang said:

Happy the advice worked out for you Chris, and more importantly, that you're enjoying the spraying more.  As for the slight splatter at the start, maybe a dirty tip?  Defiant is coming along nicely and I agree with you regarding the surface detail too

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

I'm really chuffed you took the time and effort to help out Bruce.  I had attempted black basing on my Bondowoso Spitfire/Seafire build a while back and wasn't happy with my results but using these tips means that I'll have another go at this technique on a future build.

 

On 5/28/2019 at 3:47 AM, VT Red Sox Fan said:

No disappointments here😎—awesome work & thanks for sharing—best, Erwin 

 

On 5/28/2019 at 9:43 AM, Biggles87 said:

Blimey Chris, I’ve only just seen this and you’re already at the painting stage, must look at the WIPs more often.

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

 

John

Thanks for the encouragement fellas.  Will try to get some updates sent out a touch more regularly now that silly-season is on the wane.

 

On 5/28/2019 at 11:27 AM, AndyL said:

I'm always keen to see a Defiant build, even more so a 141 Squadron machine. The back story is that the loss of this aircraft, and the lives of Ian Donald and Arthur Hamilton is part of the day in the Battle of Britain now referred to as 'The Slaughter of the Innocents', when 141 on their first and only daylight engagement with the Luftwaffe resulted in the loss of four pilots and six air gunners.

 

Ian Donald was one of 141's flight commanders, and Arthur Hamilton was a squadron gunnery leader; the latter baled out off Dover and drowned, while Ian Donald died in a vain attempt to get his Defiant back to Hawkinge. He could no longer keep the damaged aircraft airborne, and it crashed at Elms Vale Road, just outside Dover. Tragically, the 19th of July should have been Arthur Hamilton's wedding day, and their first thing the family knew of him being killed was when somebody from R.A.F. Hawkinge contacted the family to ask them where they wanted to have him buried.

 

Part of my work for the history of the Defiant I am currently finishing for Pen and Sword was to try and come up with the definitive version of the events of that day, and source images of all ten airmen lost that day. The hardest to find was one of Ian Donald, but last year I was passed a snap of him vis the family of William Richardson, who was the commanding officer of 141.  The snap turned out to be a significant one, for it was taken on the morning of July 19th to celebrate the fact it was William Richardson's birthday. The photo shows William, flanked by his flight commanders Malcolm Louden and Ian Donald, and it's a sobering thought that just hours after it was taken, Ian was dead, Malcolm Louden was on hospital with arm and shoulder injuries, and burns after almost getting his Defiant back to Hawkinge; he hits a tree and crashed into a hedge and had to be pulled from the wreckage by a farmer. As for William Richardson, he was hauled up at Fighter Command H.Q. that evening, and would eventually lose his command of 141 some six weeks later.

 

Anyway, keep up the great work, I will be watching with interest.

Ooh, I do love it when a real expert pops round for a cuppa!  Will you announce the publishing of your work on BM?  Will keep a beady eye out for it as I'd love to know more of the operational history and the personalities behind these stories.

 

Anyways, if I treated my staff in the same way as I've treated myself over the last 3 weeks then I'm sure someone would be banging on my door to come and lock me up.  All have contained over 100 working hours (and I tend to work at a pace without breaks) and the last week was almost 120 (bearing in mind there are 168 hours in a week in total!).  Anyways all our local sports clubs and leagues got their trophies on time; no deadlines were harmed in the filming of this task!!!

 

So come noon today I got to knock off in daylight and after a trip to my two lads' ex-primary school's fete for a couple of hours to shake work out of my head, got me back home and at the modelling desk again.

 

During my stupid working weeks I often get over-tired so would grab a few moments on getting home at 0100 or 0200 to wind me down before grabbing a couple of hours gonk in my pit.

 

Therefore what follows won't be the best quality modelling I have ever done, but it would probably be the most looked-forward to, and enjoyable, that I've done in a while.

 

Didn't realise that I hadn't taken many photos but what has been done is, the landing and navigation lights have been added, plus the underfuselage radiator and carburettor were glued on (not too happy with the fit of the carburettor fairing but will promise faithfully to do better next time around).

 

The paintwork was touched up around these additions (not too chuffed with the finish around one of the landing lights, but on an average of 4 hours sleep per night it's good enough for government work!) and then the underside was masked off in preparation for the topside camouflage colours.

 

 

 

Well I'm having a day off tomorrow for Fathers Day in the UK (do you do this in the rest of the world?) on the promise of a breakfast fry up to be prepared by my teenaged lads so might get some time in the mancave, and I'm sure my sense of humour failure will have cleared up by then too!  Unfortunately next week's workload is rediculous again so radio silence will be resumed after the oasis of a Sunday off.

 

Well until later, have a good one BMers.

 

Edited June 15, 2019 by Fatcawthorne
Picture links not embedding proper like!

[Fatcawthorne]

Well the slap up fried breakfast failed to materialise this morning, another of those grinding disappointments of having children that you have to expect I suppose, but I did scram down on some home-made scones and strawberry jam made for yesterday's school fete which was literally jam-packed with fruit and was simply gorgeous!

 

As everyone else at Chez FC was having a lie in I did get a few hours in the mancave.  OK my camera battery had run out so you don't get to see a very thin coat #1 but coat no's 2 and 3 were recorded along with some colour modulation and panel lightening. 

 

I'd found a bit of a ghost seam on the extreme of the nose and a gouge just in front of the fuel filler in front of the cockpit caused in clamping that I'd not spotted so far but a tiny smear of PPP and a wet q-Tip sorted them extremely promptly.

 

Anyways I'm happy with how the Dark Earth looks as it stands.......

 

 

..... so we'll let that dry a bit and get cracking on my favourite part of any build, the blu-tac wiggly worms!!

 

So until wiggly-worm o'clock it is then, I'll catch up in a bit!

[Fatcawthorne]

Well wiggly-worm o'clock came and went and this is how we looked.

 

 

And a first thinned coat of Tamiya XF-81 RAF Dark Green later we got to this......

 

 

Well as I said in previous posts, next week at work is going to be another toughie, and I don't expect to be posting much again until next weekend, so until then take care and catch up soon.

 

Chris

[Fatcawthorne]

Well, we'll save the twist for later in the post but an attack of the man-flu thankfully cut short another rediculously long day at the trophy shop.  A couple of hours catnap later and the world feels a much much better place.

 

Therefore when the world's a better place then the mancave comes a calling!!!

 

Last night I got a final couple of coats of RAF Dark Green on and again lightened some panels etc etc which got us to here........

 

 

An early rise this morning saw a tiny bit of work before heading to the shop, and a start of the reveal................

 

De da da da, de da da da.....

 

 

da da da, de da da da da.........

 

 

da da, de da..................

 

 

de da, de da.............

 

 

da der der der der der..........  oh I can't keep this up, and I keep getting images of Morcombe and Wise with grapefruits instead of scantily-clad burlesque girls in my head (now if there ever was a reason to need a check-up from the neck up!)!!!!  Here's the money shot!

 

 

After the catnap I gave the paintwork a sponge down with washing up liquid to get rid of any blu tac residue then the windscreen was attached with CA and the gaps filled with Vallejo putty, as was the turret fairing.  Unfortunately the control columnn must have got snapped off when masking off the cockpit, but it was found lodged under one of the coolant pipes that go under the pilot's seat. 

 

 

 

 

 

OK OK, that twist..................  Those of you with far better attention to detail than I will have spotted a Scheme A camouflage pattern and yes you've guessed it Cock o' the North, according to all the profiles I can find, was a B.  If anyone has any "real" photos of L7009 I'd love to see them, or to be pointed in the right direction of any books that they may have been published in as although I have four Defiant specific publications, none show this craft.

 

All is not lost though as I have two other Airfix Defiants in the stash so another will be Cock o' the North, whilst I in the meanwhile will be Cock o' the North Essex!

 

I have ordered some 30" MSG RAF codes and already have copious sheets of RAF black 8" serials (and while ordering those I accidently pushed the Buy it Now buttons on some resin seats, more Eduard etch and an AML B scheme mask for the forthcoming Cock o' the North II build) so now intend to finish this one as L7005 PS-X of 264 Sqn.

 

 

Again this airframe has a courage filled backstory.  It was fown by Sergeants Thorn and Barker, the top-scoring Defiant crew and is believed to have accounted for the Dornier recenly raised from the Goodwin Sands.

 

There is a interesting piece on the Hawkinge Museum's replica Defiant that has been painted as this airframe.  I particularly love the postscript of the crews converstions on getting home after surviving being shot down on 26 August 1940.

 

They really were a different breed in those days!

 

Right I'm off to bed to shake off the last of this mugginess as tomorrow's a nightmare of a day.  Anyways glad to get a bonus post in.

 

Take care all.

 

Chris

[AndyL]

Well, you've picked a good choice for the second Defiant as L7005 was flown on 29th May 1940 over Dunkirk by Flight Lieutenant Nicholas Cooke and Corporal Albert Lippett. Over two sorties they claimed eight enemy aircraft ( two Me 109's, five Ju 87's and an Me 110 ) and  shares in a further two Ju 88's. For their actions that day they were awarded the DFC and DFM respectively. However they didn't live to receive their medals, as they were lost two days later; the squadron was ordered to re form and their Defiant started to climb to join the others, before dropping away.  There was no response over the radio, and a second Defiant dived down to follow them, but had to break away when the airspeed got too high. Cooke and Lippett's Defiant dived into the North Sea, and both remain missing. They were a unique crew that broke the conventions of rank and class, and were indeed good friends that seemed to have a bond. That was what made good Defiant crews. I am in touch with both families and they are indeed very proud of their actions.

[Fatcawthorne]

On 7/2/2019 at 7:35 PM, AndyL said:

Well, you've picked a good choice for the second Defiant as L7005 was flown on 29th May 1940 over Dunkirk by Flight Lieutenant Nicholas Cooke and Corporal Albert Lippett. Over two sorties they claimed eight enemy aircraft ( two Me 109's, five Ju 87's and an Me 110 ) and  shares in a further two Ju 88's. For their actions that day they were awarded the DFC and DFM respectively. However they didn't live to receive their medals, as they were lost two days later; the squadron was ordered to re form and their Defiant started to climb to join the others, before dropping away.  There was no response over the radio, and a second Defiant dived down to follow them, but had to break away when the airspeed got too high. Cooke and Lippett's Defiant dived into the North Sea, and both remain missing. They were a unique crew that broke the conventions of rank and class, and were indeed good friends that seemed to have a bond. That was what made good Defiant crews. I am in touch with both families and they are indeed very proud of their actions.

Thank you for this Andy, I have to say that reading of their actions pushed me towards their mount when I was whittling down a shortlist once I'd made the decision to model an aircraft not covered by the aftermarket options.

 

Well, I've been working like a dog in the real world.  If I'd made my staff work the hours I've done over the last 4 or 5 weeks I'm sure I'd end up in jail or something!

 

Therefore modelling has become a distraction to send me off to sleep after coming home having worked 18 odd hours and then being too wired to get my head down (yeah it's my excuse for the quality but there you go!).

 

It was literally by the inch modelling as each night I'd do one thing and that was it, I'd crash!  Therefore no real progress pictures to show where we've got to now.  Well the Defiant has been removed to the Decalling Chamber (or the kitchen as Mrs C calls it!) ready for some stickers and this is how she looks.

 

 

And here's the array of decals from which we should be able to make L7005 as authentic as possible.  I have spotted the oversize fuselage roundels so a bit of measuring is in the near future to get the best fit.

 

 

Anyways Mrs FC is out and I have a Sunday Roast to cook, so will have to use the decalling chamber for far more nepaharious purposes for a few hours.  Will let you know when I've licked and sticked some transfers on!

 

All the best... Chris