BikingLampy Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 (edited) Another one done. Airfix Blenheim MkIV F. Kind of an irritating kit - the main bulk of it moulded to extremely tight tolerances, so getting it to fit was hard work (horiz. stabs. excepted!), but ultimately successful, but a lot of the silly little ancillaries like aerials are just "glue on where you feel like" - no pins or sockets, even when trying to fit a flat edge to a curved surface. I was a bit sloppy on the masking too in places, but it doesn't look too shabby. Eduard zoom in the cockpit, Quikboost exhausts and intakes to replace the awful kit ones. Meant to have a go at replacing the wingtip lights with clear, but forgot until I was well into painting - doh! Edited May 18, 2020 by BikingLampy 53 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
occa Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Awesome result and paintwork, I simply have to come back to look at the photos again and again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Brilliant! One of the best Blenheims I've seen. Your hard work has paid off 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Looks brilliant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangor Lad Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Great work. I'd heard that the tolerances were a bit tight on this kit. I'll have to bear that in mind when I build one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aces High Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 That's splendid! Very nicely done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adey m Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Superb, love the Munich Crisis ' Phoney War ' colour scheme and detail such as the external bombs, got to be the most interesting Blenheim I have seen in this scale. Love it. regards, adey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Another fine British twin,excellent work all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Now that`s a beautiful Blenheim!!!!! ( say that fast five times 😉 ). Splendid results my friend. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Simply great!! Miguel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Joyce Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Very well done, and I really like your subtle weathering on both the top and bottom. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Now that is something special! lovely paintwork and interesting with the external bomb load. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael51 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Great work. I have bemoaned the tolerance issue elsewhere on recent Airfix kits and having failed to persist with both Blenheims, have ordered two more: the Mks I and IV. I enjoy suffering. If they turn out half as good as yours, I'll be happy, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikingLampy Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 Well, blimey - I didn't expect such overwhelming positivity - I thought I'd been a bit slipshod myself! The joy of natural light, a decent camera and Lightroom trickery... Thank you all! ...also forgot I'd got a couple of cockpit shots... The bombload is as supplied in the kit. Again - one of the annoyingly sloppy addenda in comparison to the exceptionally tightly toleranced main kit. Trying to get the bombs square to the mounts AND each other was far more challenging than it should have been, and they're still a little more on the p*ss than I'd like... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Beautiful Blenheim , great modelling ! Wulfman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 Lovely build! One issue with Airfix's moulding is the little intake pipes on the two exhaust pipes. There were on Canadian built Bolingbrokes, to provide extra heating for the cockpit, during the frigid Canadian winters. As some of these were the only ones to survive WW2 intact, they were used for restoration in the UK. Airfix used these restorations to make their moulds. It's a small detail, so I wouldn't sweat it. If you should ever build another, sand that detail off. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adey m Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 (edited) What a coincidence that you should post a Blenheim IVF, the long-range fighter version of the Blenheim. During our lockdown walks my wife and I discovered the beautiful old cemetery in the wooded Glen near our home in Scarborough which has a number of war graves. We found a grave to a lady and on her stone it also mentioned her son, a pilot officer who died on 1 June 1940 at Dunkirk. I discovered that he was piloting one of a pair of Blenheim IVFs of 254 Squadron which had been patrolling off Dunkirk for three hours, and just as they were about to return home to Kent for breakfast they were bounced by Me109s and were both shot down. Only the navigator in his aircraft survived by taking control from the dead pilot and crash landing on the sea near a ship. The pilot's body was washed ashore in France and is buried in France. The gunner must still be in his turret on the bottom of the English Channel. Thanks again for posting your very interesting Blenheim. regards, adey Edited May 22, 2020 by adey m 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 Nicely done. I wish they did a 1/48 one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xirurg Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 Good work, nice looking model. I'm building Mk 1F now and wondering about assembling the engines - did you assemble them first and painted after along with the aircraft or did you paint engine cowlings separately and assembled after? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shark444 Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 23 minutes ago, Xirurg said: Good work, nice looking model. I'm building Mk 1F now and wondering about assembling the engines - did you assemble them first and painted after along with the aircraft or did you paint engine cowlings separately and assembled after? I'm working on the really old original 1/72 Airfix kit of the Blenheim Mk. IV. I had to scratch-build the oil coolers and exhaust stacks since the kit is far more rudimentary than this newer release. I built and painted the cowlings separately and will fit them afterwards - but since mine is a Bolingbroke and is painted yellow I didn't have to worry about camouflage demarcation. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikingLampy Posted May 28, 2020 Author Share Posted May 28, 2020 Quote Good work, nice looking model. I'm building Mk 1F now and wondering about assembling the engines - did you assemble them first and painted after along with the aircraft or did you paint engine cowlings separately and assembled after? With faffing… I assembled the 3 pieces of cowling into a ring (painful - there was ), so it would push onto the backplate/cooling flap part, then mounted that onto the wing, dry, using the intake spider thingy. Paint, then disassemble, add the exhausts, the engine itself and the collector ring. Remount back on the wing. Basically saved me having to try and mask the exhausts and the collector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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