dogsbody Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 I want some RCAF decals for the 1/72 one, after I acquire one. Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 11 hours ago, Pete F said: Does the fact that it is covered imply an element of secrecy? The Air Ministry censors usually scrubbed things out if so. I think it's just covered to protect it. The shot was taken at Bristol's plant at Filton in Feb 1940 when the aircraft was still hush-hush, so presumably the image itself was not released until later. I'm assuming the camera was fitted to record the torpedo trials. I don't think I've seen one fitted to an operational aircraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 15 minutes ago, IanC said: I think it's just covered to protect it. Agreed. 15 minutes ago, IanC said: I'm assuming the camera was fitted to record the torpedo trials. I don't think I've seen one fitted to an operational aircraft. Or possibly during training with dummy torpedoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Here's a drawing of the gun camera from an RAAF manual. 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Okay... tired of waiting. Can I have mine now please? 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homebee Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 Source: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/bolton-and-beauforts-first-for-2020 Quote An aeroplane to dominate the sea lanes The double page spread in the current Airfix catalogue which announced the existence of our new 1/72nd scale Bristol Beaufort Mk.I tooling As an island nation, one of the most crucial battles Britain had to be win during the dark days of the Second World War was to maintain the integrity of her merchant shipping lanes whilst at the same time, denying her enemies the ability to obtain supplies by sea. In the months which preceded the beginning of WWII, the most effective anti-shipping torpedo equipped aircraft available to the British was the Fairey Swordfish biplane and whilst this proved to be an exceptional aircraft during the war, the RAF were in desperate need of a powerful, modern torpedo bomber, capable of mounting long range strike missions. The second in a successful trio of twin engined aircraft designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company during the 1930s, the Beaufort is significant by the fact that it was the only monoplane produced for the Royal Air Force designed from the outset as a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance platform. An aircraft which can trace its development lineage to the Blenheim light bomber, which was one of the most important aircraft in British aviation history, the Beaufort was unusual in that it was ordered by the Air Ministry whilst the project was still ‘on the drawing board’, a move which showed they had great faith in the Bristol Company, whilst at the same time highlighting the RAF’s urgent need for the aircraft. Although originally intended as an evolutionary development of the existing Blenheim bomber design, it quickly became apparent that the new aircraft would look quite different to its predecessor, possessing a much deeper front fuselage section to accommodate its crew of four and the requirement to carry a torpedo in a semi-recessed position under the fuselage. These modifications resulted in a gross weight increase of around 25 percent over the Blenheim and required the adoption of more powerful engines, so this extra weight did not hamper the performance of the new aircraft. A selection of Beaufort computer rendered 3D images which are being published for the first time. The Airfix product designer responsible for this project produces these from the digital files produced during the model’s development With some particularly challenging specification requirements the new aircraft had to satisfy and a need to develop powerful new engines, these factors combined with Bristol’s existing Blenheim production commitments would result in quite lengthy delays during the Beaufort’s early development. For an initial contract which was placed in August 1936, it would be more than two years before the prototype Beaufort took to the air, despite the RAF’s pressing need for this important new aircraft. Eventually entering Royal Air Force service with No.22 Squadron Coastal Command in January 1940, the Bristol Beaufort proved to be a rugged and highly manoeuvrable attack aircraft, even though the development of the new engines continued to be something of a problem. Initially employed on missions laying mines in enemy waters, Beauforts would later mount attacks against the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, however, in the European theatre of operations, the aircraft would mainly go on to operate as a medium bomber. In the Mediterranean, Beauforts operating from Egypt and Malta would take a terrible toll of Axis shipping and during a concerted maritime onslaught from the middle of 1942, would make a significant contribution in denying Rommel’s Afrika Korps the vital supplies they needed to continue fighting the desert war. Due to the relatively heavy weight of the Beaufort, a steep diving approach whilst launching a torpedo attack was both ineffective and could prove fatal for the aircraft’s crew. The attack run had to be effected at a relatively low, flat attitude and quite some way from the target, if the torpedo release was to be successful and not enter the water at too steep an angle. This obviously made the aircraft vulnerable to accurate defensive fire from the vessels being attacked, however, Beaufort pilots were brave and aggressive in their flying, making full use of the aircraft’s excellent manoeuvrability at low altitude to evade the attentions of enemy gunners. More Beaufort computer rendered goodness being shown on the Workbench blog for the first time Since the announcement of our new Bristol Beaufort Mk.I tooling project earlier this month, it has been interesting to gauge the opinions of modellers on the various social media sites and modelling forums, and following last weekend’s event, in person at the Bolton IPMS Model Show. It seems as if the Beaufort proved to be something of a surprise addition to the range for many people, but one which most are really pleased to see. Of the people we spoke to at Bolton, some admitted to have almost given up hope of ever seeing an Airfix Beaufort kit, whilst others described it as probably not an aircraft type they would have proposed via our show suggestions box – having said that, they were extremely glad we decided to produce it. Thankfully, now the news is out there, the response has been overwhelmingly positive and it seems as if this incredibly interesting WWII subject is going to be a popular build project later in the year. The image files used in support of this feature are an exclusive first look at a selection of computer rendered 3D images produced from the Beaufort project CAD files and once again, are being made available to Workbench readers before anyone else sees them. In the next edition of our blog, we will be speaking to the product designer leading this project and looking at some of the earlier development stages of this exciting new model kit. V.P. 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 I hope Airfix allows the main bomb doors to be fully closed when the torpedo is fitted. Check out the prop blade on this! Chris 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 37 minutes ago, dogsbody said: Check out the prop blade on this! That must have vibrated like hell! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but the air scoops above the engines are darker grey on the CAD images implying optional parts. Does this imply a Malta/Desert Air Force boxing with particle filters, and maybe ASV aerials on an extra sprue? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 Also, the fillet(?) on the wing trailing edge looks to be a separate part too. I stand to be corrected, but wasn’t this introduced as a retrofit to earlier machines? Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 It’s a pity Airfix didn’t concentrate on this rather than the rehash of the Vulcan as the big reveal at Telford as I sense far more are excited over this and appeals to other countries too ie the Aussies 😊 Mike 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 On 1/13/2020 at 7:43 PM, Enzo Matrix said: Okay... tired of waiting. Can I have mine now please? Emptied your stash again? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 5 hours ago, dogsbody said: That’s quite a noticeable step on the nose transparency to fuselage join so maybe Special Hobby got it right after all! 😂 Mike 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Col. said: Emptied your stash again? Heavens forfend!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Russell Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 8 hours ago, mick b said: appeals to other countries too ie the Aussies Not really as the DAP Beaufort has many differences to the Taurus engined ones. http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15700&start=10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 9 hours ago, mick b said: That’s quite a noticeable step on the nose transparency to fuselage join so maybe Special Hobby got it right after all! 😂 Mike For the skin surface it looks as if the panel lines would be better represented by raised detail rather than engraved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick b Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 4 hours ago, Ed Russell said: Not really as the DAP Beaufort has many differences to the Taurus engined ones. http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15700&start=10 I meant with regards future options if they go down that route as has been alluded to on here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Russell Posted January 25, 2020 Share Posted January 25, 2020 Except that it won't happen! If you really want to build a DAP one, read the AMI thread as above and follow the advice there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 On 1/24/2020 at 5:21 PM, Wez said: That must have vibrated like hell! Not just that but that sort of damage creates a serious risk in a few hours' time of the whole tip coming off. At that point not only would there be the risk of a metal projectile similar to a large calibre bullet passing through an occupied area of fuselage, but the vibration would force an engine shutdown for fear of the whole engine coming off the mounts. Desperate times, desperate measures etc but that prop is massively unserviceable. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Work In Progress said: Not just that but that sort of damage creates a serious risk in a few hours' time of the whole tip coming off. At that point not only would there be the risk of a metal projectile similar to a large calibre bullet passing through an occupied area of fuselage, but the vibration would force an engine shutdown for fear of the whole engine coming off the mounts. Desperate times, desperate measures etc but that prop is massively unserviceable. I was more concerned about the vibration causing damage to the engine mounts and as you say, at least forcing an engine shutdown or worse! Never considered that the blade tip might come off - there's an awful lot of fatigue cycling before that happens but I agree, it is a massively unserviceable propeller. As you say, desperate times, desperate measures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Wez said: Never considered that the blade tip might come off - there's an awful lot of fatigue cycling before that happens It's not uncommon: the stress riser caused by the loss of material greatly increases the intensity of the fatigue cycles and usually creates a crack propagation pretty quickly. Figure 1-9 on page 4 is a perfect example https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac_20-37e.pdf Judging by the paint removal someone's made a half-hearted effort to dress the rough edges of the (probably) stone damage by filing it all out, which at least removes the immediate crack start point, but doesn't address the underlying likelihood of a new crack starting in a few hours. For leading edge nick dressing you should be blending the loss of material smoothly out along 10x the size of the nick, to minimise the concentration of stresses on one point. They certainly haven't done that here, presumably because of time and that the total material removal would take the prop well out of limits in all sorts of other ways, including overall dimensional limits and balance. Edited January 26, 2020 by Work In Progress 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 12 minutes ago, Work In Progress said: It's not uncommon: the stress riser caused by the loss of material greatly increases the intensity of the fatigue cycles and usually creates a crack propagation pretty quickly. Figure 1-9 on page 4 is a perfect example https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac_20-37e.pdf Spot on! Agreed. Good document that, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixII Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 On 1/13/2020 at 7:43 PM, Enzo Matrix said: Okay... tired of waiting. Can I have mine now please? Was told last Sunday at Bolton release is schedualed for September 2020.........slow boat permitting! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 4 minutes ago, PhoenixII said: Was told last Sunday at Bolton release is schedualed for September 2020.........slow boat permitting! So enough time to build everything else in the stash and clear the decks... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixII Posted January 26, 2020 Share Posted January 26, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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