'Wingnut Wings' 1:32 Bristol F.2b Fighter (Post War)

[Cumulonimbus]

Hello all,

 

I have had this kit in my stash for about 6 months now and I've been trying not to scratch a constant itch that demands I build it …. but now I have to give in …. as it's driving me mad! These WnW kits are sheer quality, with some beautifully moulded parts, loads and loads of detail and a superb instruction booklet to ease construction. As soon as you open the box and see one in the flesh, you just know that you've bought a quality kit and regardless of the higher bracket prices that they demand, these kits are definitely worth every penny - money well spent!

 

I normally like to scratch-build bits and super-detail my models (it's just a habit I have) but this kit will be built mostly OOB with very little added detail other than maybe some ignition leads on the engine which don't appear to be included. To be honest it doesn't very much else!

 

Kit and contents in the photos below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the scheme I will be using in my build, which is the same as the box art:

 

 

Thanks for looking in on my build, all comments and criticisms welcomed!  

 

Kev.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Cumulonimbus
Line spacing

[Cumulonimbus]

 

Hello all,

 

As I started building this just before I joined, I have already made some progress, so I can present my first update for this build is below.

 

The first section in the kit instructions deals, as always with aircraft kits, with the construction of the cockpit. Further cockpit construction follows in section two. Here we are dealing with the floor, seat, fuel tank and various other fixtures and fittings that attach to the floor. In this build I will not be showing photos of the parts used and their preparation, just the painted and finished sections. In the first photo below I have shown the floor before it is fitted to the rest, just to illustrate the woodgrain that I hand painted and which I am very happy with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos above show completion of stage 1 but I decided to build and paint the instrument panel and pilot's machine gun to give me a head start on section 2 of the build. As a single plastic part the IP moulding is superb and with some careful painting it turned out very nice indeed! Photos below with the obligatory penny shot for scale purposes:

 

 

 

 

I added the unprepped cockpit side frames to get an idea of what this will look like with the IP in it's final position:

 

 

 

That's it for this update, next one will see the side frames finished and secured in place along with the rear gunner/observer's position completed and seat belts added. I'm enjoying this build, these 'Wingnut Wings' really are a step above the rest in my opinion!

 

Thanks for looking, all comments and criticisms welcomed.

 

Kev.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Cumulonimbus
Line spacing

[nick32]

Lovely, i can never resist following a WNW build!

[Cumulonimbus]

Thanks for your interest Nick, glad to have you along for the ride!  

 

Kev.

[krow113]

Get alla that paint off the beveled edge of the fuse floor or it will be tough to fit.

Looks good so far.

[Andrés S.]

Great starting !!!

 

Andrés S.

[Cumulonimbus]

22 hours ago, krow113 said:

Get alla that paint off the beveled edge of the fuse floor or it will be tough to fit.

Looks good so far.

Yes indeed, the overspray will definitely will be scraped off prior to gluing as is the norm. Thanks for looking in on my build and your comments Steve, very much appreciated. 

 

Kev

Edited April 3, 2020 by Cumulonimbus

[Cumulonimbus]

21 hours ago, Andrés S. said:

Great starting !!!

 

Andrés S.

Thankyou Andre, very kind of you and I'm pleased that you are looking in on my build. More to come soon! 

 

Kev.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Cumulonimbus

[The Spadgent]

Excellent work so far. I too have always wanted to see one of these kits built. It’s a shame you’re not doing a step by step as I do like to see the warts and all of builds but hey it’s your build right.

I’ll tag along regardless if that’s ok. The office is looking splendid. Bravo.

Johnny.  

[Cumulonimbus]

Thanks for looking in and your great comments Johnny, very much appreciated and pleased that you'll be coming along for the ride. I normally would show more of the 'warty' parts of a build, but to be honest this WnW kit doesn't seem to have any so not a lot to show - it's just been assemble it and paint it so far! It's one of the nicest kits I've had the pleasure of putting together in my many years of modelling.

 

Thanks again,

 

Kev.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Cumulonimbus
Grammar

[Marklo]

That is beautiful work.

 

Might  I suggest You get a copy of the vintage warbirds book on the bristol. 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bristol-Fighter-Vintage-warbirds-Bruce/dp/0853687048

 

the link is amazon (actually it’s only a fiver) but the likes of abebooks or the bookdepository would have fairly cheap copies. I think I got mine from the former.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Marklo

[Cumulonimbus]

Thanks for looking in and your great comments Marklo very much appreciated, and thanks too for the recommendation of that reference material, I'll look into it. 

 

Kev

[europapete]

Looking good there Kev, and welcome to this great site. I will repeat what Krow said about making sure ALL joints are free of paint, the fit tolerances are very tight throughout the model. Be carefull with the engine install, it has to be right in order for the cowlings to fit properly. Regards, Pete in RI

[RichieW]

Immaculate so far, hope you don't mind me tagging along. I love WW1 subjects, especially done the this standard.

[Cumulonimbus]

On 05/04/2020 at 16:02, europapete said:

Looking good there Kev, and welcome to this great site. I will repeat what Krow said about making sure ALL joints are free of paint, the fit tolerances are very tight throughout the model. Be carefull with the engine install, it has to be right in order for the cowlings to fit properly. Regards, Pete in RI

Hello Pete,

 

Thanks for the warm welcome and the compliments, very much appreciated. Yeah, the fit tolerances are very precise on these WnW kits which is a good thing but also a trap for the unwary, so I'm certainly keeping one eye on how things go together a bit further down the line. I normally just paint in stages then clean any overspray on fitment/glueing points when I come to assemble but being extra careful with this build. I have read several comments elsewhere about the fit of the engine cowlings on the WnW Brisfit, so definitely gonna be on the case moving forward. Thanks for the advice mate, most welcomed.

 

Kev

[Cumulonimbus]

On 05/04/2020 at 18:03, RichieW said:

Immaculate so far, hope you don't mind me tagging along. I love WW1 subjects, especially done the this standard.

Hello Richie,

 

Thanks for looking in and your nice comments, greatly appreciated. I don't mind at all mate if you join the ride, glad to have you with me and I will be following your Sopwith Triplane build as well. Done some more to the cockpit on this will post an update sometime soon.

 

Kev

[Quiet Mike]

Amazing work! I've yet to make a WNW kit, and really not sure I could do it this much justice! Will follow with interest!

[Cumulonimbus]

17 hours ago, Quiet Mike said:

Amazing work! I've yet to make a WNW kit, and really not sure I could do it this much justice! Will follow with interest!

Thanks Mike, I really appreciate your kind comments and pleased that you will be following my build. Thanks for the interest! 

 

Kev

[Cumulonimbus]

Hello people,

 

Time for another update! Managed to get the cockpit finished and ready for insertion into the fuselage, which will be in the next stage. All that you see in the following photos is what comes in the box, except added a couple of throttle selector rods to the port cockpit framework where the levers are situated, strange that WnW didn't include such as they are normally very detailed right down to the last nut and bolt!? Also added some 0.15mm bracing wires to the frames as suggested in the instructions and added a small piece of square sectioned styrene along the top of the fabric (etch) bags where the empty ammo mags go in the rear gunners' position. this is present in the real aircraft and I wanted to strengthen the very minimal way in which the etch piece is fixed to the framework? Forgot to include a penny shot for scale but you can work that out from the 1cm squares on printed on the cutting mat!

 

Fist photo shows the etched parts for the cockpit, namely the various belts and the empty magazine carrier (before folding). Second photo shows it folded and added a few creases and marks to it to simulate a fabric pocket?:

 

 

 

All painted up and washes added:

 

 

Side frames all detailed up and painted, bracing wires added:

 

 

 

Rudder control cables added:

 

 

Rear gunners' seat painted up:

 

 

All of the cockpit components ready to be assembled into one unit:

 

 

A selection of photos of the fully assembled cockpit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all folks, hope you like it and I'll see you in the next update, where it's time to hide most of that cockpit detail inside the fuselage! All comments and criticisms welcomed.

 

Kev.

[John Masters]

Really lovely work.  Someday when I have enough room I will build one of these Wingnut kits.  

[Cumulonimbus]

Thanks for looking in and your kind comments John, very much appreciated. You should get one anyway and just build it, these WnW kits are so much fun and so, so detailed just straight out of the box! 

 

Kev.

[The Spadgent]

What a stunning office you have there. Very nice indeed. If you don’t mind me asking what did you paint the PE belts with? As there was no cracking while bending into shape. Fingers crossed for acrylic.

[RichieW]

What a fantastic interior, I know they're only a small detail amongst a host of fantastic touches but those seat belts are superb. I love the angle you've folded them at and the colours look full of depth and texture. 

 

No criticisms to offer, this is just fantastic!

[Cumulonimbus]

18 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

What a stunning office you have there. Very nice indeed. If you don’t mind me asking what did you paint the PE belts with? As there was no cracking while bending into shape. Fingers crossed for acrylic.

Hello Spadgent,

 

Many thanks for looking in and the great compliments, very much appreciated. In answer to your question, they were indeed acrylic paints. I only really use acrylics for my modelling, rarely if ever use enamels these days and only use oils for washes and even then heavily thinned. Acrylic paints when fully dried will have a certain amount of flexibility to them so can still be bent without any cracking, whereas enamels once hardened will always be prone to cracking if you try to bend the painted etch? With my seatbelts, what I normally do to help prevent any chance of cracking, is to first 'anneal' the PE parts over a cigarette lighter or some such, to make them easier to bend, then put them in position on the seat and bend them broadly into the desired shape first, trying to make them fall as natural as possible. Then when they have been painted with acrylics, washes, etc.,  and have been allowed to dry, I fit them permanently and do any final small amounts of bending to get them snug, but do it gently and slowly and you should be fine?

 

In case you are wondering what brand, I tend to use mostly Tamiya acrylics with the odd use of Vallejo? Metallic effects are usually done with Alclad 2 paints.

 

Hope that helps?

 

Kev.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Cumulonimbus

[Cumulonimbus]

7 hours ago, RichieW said:

What a fantastic interior, I know they're only a small detail amongst a host of fantastic touches but those seat belts are superb. I love the angle you've folded them at and the colours look full of depth and texture. 

 

No criticisms to offer, this is just fantastic!

Hello Richie,

 

Thanks very much for your comments, greatly appreciated and glad that you like my work! I always try to get my seatbelts looking like they are sitting as naturally as possibly which in itself helps to create the illusion of them being made of fabric instead of PE brass! Careful painting and variations in the sheen of different materials help to take that illusion to the max!

 

Thanks again.

 

Kev.