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1/48 Halifax 346 Sqn PN365 (H7-B) - Finished!


woody37

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Hi Woody37,

 

Yeah I tried fool'n around with the Tamiya engines buts its the molding for the porcupine exhausts with the breather pipes that will be in the incorrect position. The 5th Tamiya Beaufighter engine will allow you to cut out and mod the molding and put the exhaust in the correct position. Yeah it is a lot of trouble yet it is a distinguishing feature of the Halifax with the Herc's. We must build to the prototype Mr Woody37...after all it is scale modelling; however its your kit......so its what ever you wish to do.

 

Don't forgets to notch the flaps if your gonna drop em. And there is bumps over the elevators where they meet the fuselage...which might be some sort of hinge location?

 

I likes the Defiant turret which helps a huge amount. Don't forget to reduce the framing..and its height as its one of the problems if you use the Airfix kit.  I'm not sure about the undersized rear turret...but I think some Halifax had a Liberator rear with twin .50cal but not sure you want to do that. My be Mr. Airfix will give us a new 1/48 scale Halifax for $350 ...by the time you finish this..lol!

 

I'm not sure about the nose on the FM kit...that may be a whole-nother-yory.

 

I've still gots that thump'n headache...

 

PHIL.

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The nose could do with reprofiling and that is what I have done yesterday evening (see topic on LSM), but there are so many items that need attention with the FM kit, but then again that's what make modelling so enjoyable and stressfree (or not).

You are very much up to speed Neil.

Cheers

Cees

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21 hours ago, LongMan2 said:

Hi Woody37,

 

Yeah I tried fool'n around with the Tamiya engines buts its the molding for the porcupine exhausts with the breather pipes that will be in the incorrect position. The 5th Tamiya Beaufighter engine will allow you to cut out and mod the molding and put the exhaust in the correct position. Yeah it is a lot of trouble yet it is a distinguishing feature of the Halifax with the Herc's. We must build to the prototype Mr Woody37...after all it is scale modelling; however its your kit......so its what ever you wish to do.

 

Don't forgets to notch the flaps if your gonna drop em. And there is bumps over the elevators where they meet the fuselage...which might be some sort of hinge location?

 

I likes the Defiant turret which helps a huge amount. Don't forget to reduce the framing..and its height as its one of the problems if you use the Airfix kit.  I'm not sure about the undersized rear turret...but I think some Halifax had a Liberator rear with twin .50cal but not sure you want to do that. My be Mr. Airfix will give us a new 1/48 scale Halifax for $350 ...by the time you finish this..lol!

 

I'm not sure about the nose on the FM kit...that may be a whole-nother-yory.

 

I've still gots that thump'n headache...

 

PHIL.

I'm still thinking about the exhausts. Whilst the Halifax in Canada has the same or very similar dampers to the Tamiya Beaufighter kit, most Mk.III's have them that look more like the parts that come in the FM kit so I'm thinking of cutting the shroud out of the nacelle to fit the FM exhaust now. These engines are getting rather complicated!

 

Rather than reduce the height of the turret, I'll probably just sit it lower in the fuselage. I've seen some B24's with a Halifax rear turret but never seen a Halifax with a B24 turret TBH.

11 hours ago, Cees Broere said:

The nose could do with reprofiling and that is what I have done yesterday evening (see topic on LSM), but there are so many items that need attention with the FM kit, but then again that's what make modelling so enjoyable and stressfree (or not).

You are very much up to speed Neil.

Cheers

Cees

I'll pop over and have a look, this is a great education in to the kit and the aircraft :)

 

Just come across this great piece of inspiration:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/fonderie-miniatures-halifax-complete-t41388.html

 

 

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41 minutes ago, woody37 said:

I've seen some B24's with a Halifax rear turret but never seen a Halifax with a B24 turret TBH.

Late Halifaxes were fitted with the same .50cal rear turret as found on late Lancs - the name and model escapes me but it’s the same version of turret as fitted to ‘Just Jane.’ Some of them carried the gun-laying radar, too. 

 

This late turret is supplied in the more recent releases of the Tamiya Lancaster.  

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Hi Woody37,

 

Yeah its the Boulton Paul "D" type turret, and its different to the Lancaster rear turret, yet was fitted to some Mk IIIs. No Liberator rear turret was ever used operationally...yet I remember text saying it was considered somewhere for Halifax's when the "D" rotated, because of shuddering and poor ammunition feed (coastal command)? I think parts from a Me410 were used helped solve this at BD? I have photos and drawings of type "D" if you need them.

 

Yeah you waits till you get to that bomb bay and the split door alignments. I figure you have that already worked out m8!

 

Just a thought...I was wondering if you could use US bomb racks in the wings ?

 

This is going to be fun................not!

 

PHIL.

 

Edited by LongMan2
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It was standard on the Mk.IX, but was also seen on earlier bombers.  I tend to think of it on the Mk.VI, as presumably that was the production intention, but as it only ended up on a comparative handful of airframes in wartime there could well have been trials on Mk.IIIs or VIIs.  After all, otherwise it was the same back end.

 

US bomb racks (at least on the bombers) were carried horizontally, so there'd be no strongpoints to fit them to in the wings.  However there'd be no need, as all bombs were manufactured with two lugs at 90 degs, so that they could be carried on US or UK carriers.

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11 hours ago, LongMan2 said:

Hi Woody37,

 

Yeah its the Boulton Paul "D" type turret, and its different to the Lancaster rear turret, yet was fitted to some Mk IIIs. No Liberator rear turret was ever used operationally...yet I remember text saying it was considered somewhere for Halifax's when the "D" rotated, because of shuddering and poor ammunition feed (coastal command)? I think parts from a Me410 were used helped solve this at BD? I have photos and drawings of type "D" if you need them.

 

Yeah you waits till you get to that bomb bay and the split door alignments. I figure you have that already worked out m8!

 

Just a thought...I was wondering if you could use US bomb racks in the wings ?

 

This is going to be fun................not!

 

PHIL.

 

Any chance of getting a look at that info please Phil as I could do with the help for my Lancaster Mk.V, otherwise known as a Lincoln Mk. II

 

Gondor

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17 hours ago, LongMan2 said:

Hi Woody37,

 

Yeah its the Boulton Paul "D" type turret, and its different to the Lancaster rear turret, yet was fitted to some Mk IIIs. No Liberator rear turret was ever used operationally...yet I remember text saying it was considered somewhere for Halifax's when the "D" rotated, because of shuddering and poor ammunition feed (coastal command)? I think parts from a Me410 were used helped solve this at BD? I have photos and drawings of type "D" if you need them.

 

Yeah you waits till you get to that bomb bay and the split door alignments. I figure you have that already worked out m8!

 

Just a thought...I was wondering if you could use US bomb racks in the wings ?

 

This is going to be fun................not!

 

PHIL.

 

Wasn’t this the turret on the Lincoln? I’ve got one of them fitted to the Paragon Lincoln. From what I’ve seen however, photos of 346sqn all seem to have the standard rear turret

 

i was planning to make a mould and form some new doors if I can’t use the kit parts or simply cut some strips and bend them to shape. The bomb bay interior will be quite a bit of work but I’m not aiming for perfection, just something that looks like one. 

 

I dont know what us bomb racks look like or if they’re available so will do some research on that :)

 

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Managed to squeeze a bit of tinkering in tonight due to changed plans. I've decided to fit the FM exhausts to the Beaufighter engines and quite pleased with the result. This is as close to a Mk.III as I can get without getting too anal about accuracy. The cooling flaps will have thin pieces of card glued over the gaps as per real ones but I'll sort them out once all the engines are done. By taking this approach, I can simply fill the drains in on the No.1 engine and flip it round so that the exhaust is on the correct side.

 

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Hi Woody37,

 

Yeah its an option using the kit exhausts...I'm still debating on that one. I'm still fool'n around with the messed up wings and that is a pain.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

PHIL.

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On 11/15/2019 at 8:39 AM, kev67 said:

Hi Neil, good to see you at Telford, the Halifax is looking great with all the extra detail you are adding to a pig of a kit

 

Kev

Good to see you too Kev, still gutted about your Vanguard, I do hope you get it fixed up. It's the only time we seem to meet up given the distance from each other.

 

The first exhaust is done although I may remove the cooling flaps and redo the separating strips. I had an issue with the thin strips sinking in to the gaps so I'm filling them with plasticard on the next 3 before adding the strips. From this though, you get an idea of how they will look...

 

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On 11/19/2019 at 7:30 AM, Cees Broere said:

That's very nice, seem like you had a better time at the bench than me (temporarily hiccup), Those cowlings really transform the look of the wings compared to the kit parts.

Cees

I seen your comments but looks like you're getting there, really like the improvement to the front cockpit area. For anyone who's wondering what Cees is on about, his build is here, he's working on different areas so we are learning from each others progress:

https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/7207-masochistic-build-the-148-fonderie-miniatures-halifax-iii/

 

There hasn't been that much progress over the last week but there is some. The engines are nearly done, just needs the last three exhausts grafting on. The little tubes on the front of the exhausts were replaced with brass tube. Everything is just dry fitted currently.

 

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Looking really good - the Beau engines are a massive improvement. 
 

I don’t think you’ll be able to get away with using those props though - the Halifax uses a more paddle-bladed affair (apologies if I’m teaching granny to suck eggs here) so are the kit props salvageable?

 

Tom

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On 11/23/2019 at 2:40 PM, tomprobert said:

Looking really good - the Beau engines are a massive improvement. 
 

I don’t think you’ll be able to get away with using those props though - the Halifax uses a more paddle-bladed affair (apologies if I’m teaching granny to suck eggs here) so are the kit props salvageable?

 

Tom

Thanks mate. I think you're right. The ones in the FM kit have more meat on them to work with but neither are right. The base of the Halifax blade is wider than those of the Beaufighter. I'll have a look at aftermarket ones, perhaps there's something similar for another aircraft.

 

Blending the grafted exhausts in has proven quite troublesome but not too bad now after copious amounts of primer to smooth it all out. There's some fettling like straightening a couple of exhausts out but they are basically there now. 

 

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Those engines look fabulous Neil and are the reason why I`m constantly searching e bay for cheap Tamiya Beaufighters!!! The propellers look superb mate and I`d keep them,...... they are better than the kit items. 

Keep up the good work mate,

Cheers,

            Tony.

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2 hours ago, tonyot said:

Those engines look fabulous Neil and are the reason why I`m constantly searching e bay for cheap Tamiya Beaufighters!!! The propellers look superb mate and I`d keep them,...... they are better than the kit items. 

Keep up the good work mate,

Cheers,

            Tony.

I bid on these and got them for around £16 + postage so worth it in the big picture.

 

PURISTS LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!!!!!

 

I've come up with a prop solution but some of you will lose sleep over this.....I think I'm OK but will reflect on it in case I can't sleep too 😂

 

I've grafted a Lanc prop blade on to the Beaufighter hub, the shape is much better....but....it turns the wrong way. Given that most won't notice if I don't call it out, I would prefer it to look the right shape given that the Beaufighter ones look too skinny and the FM ones look more like Rotols found on the Mk.i/ii. I've recreated the bolt casings out of 20 thou rod as they were lost in the cut. Please go easy on me, I'm just looking for solutions as it seems the US aircraft using similar props also turn the wrong way so aftermarket ones to suit a Herc seem to be unavailable 😭 We're not the only people suffering with this problem, have you had a good look at the Halifax at Elvington?

 

The blade and hub have been drilled and brass rod inserted to give it the needed strength

 

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And in other news, I got some resin Lanc wheels to replace the vac form ones..

 

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Apols for not commenting sooner mate, your timely email reminded me to catch up with this one It's coming along beautifully, as we all knew it would and I must agree, the Beau engines make a huge difference to the look of the wings. Given all the errors with the kit, you're bringing the thing kicking and screaming into the 21st century, no easy task...Once you've finished it and when the time comes, I'll nick all your (and Cees's) ideas for mine, we could do with a few more on the table. Then you can look forward to the Hampden...which, unbelievably, is even worse! 

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