My return to model building after 25 years away; an Airfix mk1 Defiant

[jackroadkill]

That makes sense, too, now you mention it!

[dogsbody]

A close look at the picture I posted in Post # 21 will show that the inside of that mud scraper appears to be a brush of some sort that rubs on the tire.

 

 

 

Chris

[jackroadkill]

7 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

A close look at the picture I posted in Post # 21 will show that the inside of that mud scraper appears to be a brush of some sort that rubs on the tire.

Yes, it looks like one of those boot scrubbers outside a farmhouse door, doesn't it?

[dogsbody]

Exactly! 

 

 

Chris

[dnl42]

@jackroadkill, nice work on your return!! 

 

Excellent reference @dogsbody! Those scrapers were not unique to the Defiant. Several other aircraft had them, too, including the Lysander.

[jackroadkill]

9 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

@jackroadkill, nice work on your return!! 

Thanks, that's very kind of you to say so.

[jackroadkill]

A small amount of filling needed:

 

 

 

This afternoon's job is to get the filler sanded out properly, and, assuming the paints I need arrive (as DPD assures me they will), start the main painting jobs.  Wish me luck...

[jackroadkill]

Not much progress over the last couple of days, mainly due to waiting for paint to dry.  I've got two coats of much-thinned Humbrol enamel on all of the main structure now (apart from the underside of the tailplane, which I managed to forget on the first coat, somehow.

 

I've also ordered a few more finishing bits and pieces (matt coat, gloss for the decal areas etc), all of which is new to me.  The last time I built models they were lucky if they got their roundel decals, never mind all the other stuff - still, never mind, I'm learning lots and really enjoying it.  Getting properly revved up for my next two builds now.

 

 

[jackroadkill]

Hmmm, mixed results to report today.

 

On the plus side I now have four (very) thin coats on the underside, three on the topside and have finished colouring the prop prior to some weathering.

 

 

I've also got the carb inlet and radiator housing ready to fit when the underside dries.

 

However, in my first major setback, I managed to break the forward radio aerial when removing it from the sprue, which leaves me with a decision to make.  I'll have to a) use a shortened version of the aerial; b) scratch build a new one, or c) try B, fail, and resort to A.  I've not done ant scratch building before and this is a very thin part.  I shall think on it for a while before deciding.

 

Also, as I was typing this my Profile Publications Defiant booklet arrived, which will help if I decide to try scratch building an aerial.

[jackroadkill]

Right, I've scratch-built an aerial after finding a likely looking label tab on one of the sprues, hacking the lettering off and chopping at it with a scalpel.  I'm going to fit this last of all.  I also attached the radiator and carb scoops, put the last coat of paint on and begun the overlay of the green component of the camo.  Now, before I did this I hadn't known about the A / B mirrored camo scheme as used by the RAF early in the war, and all my previous efforts had just been off the bat.  Having discovered the official scheme I decided that I'd better attempt to approximate it.  Results were better than I hoped for but not perfect, and the paintjob still needs a bit of adjusting.

 

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is my amateurish brush-job of the RAF's "B" camouflage pattern (first coat).  You can see pencil ines in a place ot two where I drew the pattern on first:

 

 

 

 

Not perfect, but the learning curve is steep!

[jackroadkill]

On looking at the model this morning it became apparent that there are some paint issues that I don't understand.

 

 

I put a second thin coat over the top of the Humbrol 30 and this is what happened.  I don't think I did anything different to when I used the other colours, all of which have come out fine.  The only difference is that the paint is older.  I stirred and stirred it before shaking it to bring it back to the proper consistency and everything looked okay.  I thinned it, applied it and twenty minutes later this had happened.

 

Can anyone explain it?

[jackroadkill]

Am still struggling a little with the paint, but I think I'm there now.  I ended up wiping the affected areas down with thinners before reapplying the paint.  Results are now much better.  My scratch-built (okay, that's stretching the definition, perhaps, but hey...) aerial is now in place and I've started weathering the turret and airscrew.  It's a journey of discovery, and whilst the results aren't perfect, they're better than they could have been, and I've learned a good bit in the meantime.

 

Yesterday the guns and the mask for the Emil arrived so I'm just waiting on the PE (which I've never used before - a daunting prospect) and I'm also thinking that I'll do the Emil and my Dak at the same time.  We'll see, but I want to finish the Defiant first.  I'm beginning to fall in love with the old girl a bit, I must say.

 

 

Please excuse the crappy iPhone photo.

[jackroadkill]

If anyone fancies a career as a Defiant gunner, have a look at this video.

You'll need twenty minutes and a touching faith in yourself, your pilot and your machinery, but hey...

[dogsbody]

At 14:52 on that video, notice that the Defiant being boarded is fitted with a small bomb carrier under the port wing.

 

 

 

Chris

[jackroadkill]

24 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

At 14:52 on that video, notice that the Defiant being boarded is fitted with a small bomb carrier under the port wing.

Yes, and that gunner's not yet equipped with a rhino suit, so god knows how he's supposed to put his parachute on before he jumps, should anything go wrong.

[Antb]

A lovely build so far. 

 

The defiant is one of my favourite aircraft, theres something about them. 

[jackroadkill]

1 minute ago, Antb said:

A lovely build so far. 

 

The defiant is one of my favourite aircraft, theres something about them. 

Thanks; I have to say I was a bit nonplussed when I received it (none of us knew what model we'd get), and was sucked into the "Oh, the Defiant, a death trap for its crews and not much else" point of view.  All that changed though, when I did some research and now I'm finding myself quite defensive of the type.  The whole purpose of the specification (interception of unescorted bomber streams in daytime) never really happened, apart form some isolated incidents at Dunkirk, and therefore it was a case of wrong role, wrong place, wrong time for the Defiant and her crews.

 

However, just imagine flying a Heinkel on a Baedeker raid and finding yourself getting shot up in the blackness by one - the boot would be on the other foot then, and no mistake.

[dogsbody]

3 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

Thanks; I have to say I was a bit nonplussed when I received it (none of us knew what model we'd get), and was sucked into the "Oh, the Defiant, a death trap for its crews and not much else" point of view.  All that changed though, when I did some research and now I'm finding myself quite defensive of the type.  The whole purpose of the specification (interception of unescorted bomber streams in daytime) never really happened, apart form some isolated incidents at Dunkirk, and therefore it was a case of wrong role, wrong place, wrong time for the Defiant and her crews.

 

However, just imagine flying a Heinkel on a Baedeker raid and finding yourself getting shot up in the blackness by one - the boot would be on the other foot then, and no mistake.

 

Around the same time as Dunkirk, some Me 109's learned an aircraft recognition lesson by attacking a formation of Defiants from above and behind, thinking they were Hurricanes. Imagine their surprise when those turrets opened fire!

 

 

 

Chris

[jackroadkill]

1 hour ago, dogsbody said:

 

Around the same time as Dunkirk, some Me 109's learned an aircraft recognition lesson by attacking a formation of Defiants from above and behind, thinking they were Hurricanes. Imagine their surprise when those turrets opened fire!

 

Yes, there were some big (and unfortunately exaggerated) claims put in for those incidents of many 109's destroyed.  At Dunkirk the big score was against Stukas; the Defiant crews positioned themselves so that they could rake the Stukas as the levelled out after their dives, and the battle was very one-sided.

[jackroadkill]

I think I've just learned why you don't assemble the undercarriage until last; whilst putting some decals on the wings I managed to break the port leg.  I'm hoping I can repair it, but if not I'll have to rebulid the aircraft in a wheels-up pose.

 

Damn.

[jackroadkill]

Undercarriage leg now repaired, and I've got the first decals in place.

 

 

Excuse the cruddy iPhone photos - that's not silvering, it's the camera's inability to take pictures of anything that's not a teenager pulling a stupid face.

[dnl42]

This is coming along very nicely! And, good recovery on the undercarriage!  

 

22 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

I think I've just learned why you don't assemble the undercarriage until last; whilst putting some decals on the wings I managed to break the port leg.  I'm hoping I can repair it, but if not I'll have to rebulid the aircraft in a wheels-up pose.

I'm particularly delicate in my handling, so my first inclination to always ignore such direction. I always plan out which sub-assemblies make most sense from both painting and final assembly viewpoints. Dry fitting sub-assemblies is equally important. Also carefully consider the alignment of decals and the order they're applied. My most recent completed build, "Bad Angel", has a decal that got "smudged" into a random location during application of subsequent decals--of course this wasn't noticed until taking the final RFI photos!

[jackroadkill]

1 hour ago, dnl42 said:

This is coming along very nicely! And, good recovery on the undercarriage!  

 

I'm particularly delicate in my handling, so my first inclination to always ignore such direction. I always plan out which sub-assemblies make most sense from both painting and final assembly viewpoints. Dry fitting sub-assemblies is equally important. Also carefully consider the alignment of decals and the order they're applied. My most recent completed build, "Bad Angel", has a decal that got "smudged" into a random location during application of subsequent decals--of course this wasn't noticed until taking the final RFI photos!

Yes, there's a lot to learn!  Thanks to the patient and knowledgeable BM users though, I'm learning how to do much more than if I were relying on learning from my mistakes.  I'm also learning that despite first appearances you can spend a bloody fortune on bits and pieces of equipment; the models are the cheapest part!

 

Thanks very much for the encouragement - it's really very much appreciated.

[Brandy]

On 4/24/2020 at 12:48 AM, jackroadkill said:

Whatever they are, they're bloody small and bloody fiddly and I don't like them!

If this were an early Airfix kit there would be no doubt what they were as the instructions would tell us! Always good to see someone back in the hobby, I think you'll find most of us here were out of it for 20 or so years before coming back to childhood passions! The key, as has been mentioned, is to enjoy it and decide for yourself how you want to build your models.

Old habits die hard!

 

Ian

[It's a disease]

that’s coming on well given the break, exactly on a par with my builds after my first long break. And I still keep dropping them, it doesn’t matter when you fix the legs on, they usually get it on most builds, it’s either that or pitot tubes, and the occasional door or prop.

hopefully you’ll get the bug again!

And perhaps hello too!

(edit)

Edited May 7, 2020 by It's a disease