Martians and Tadpoles.....

[mackem01]

Buoyed along by enthusiasm and the fine teachings of our very own Martian, I thought I'd create a W.i.P for my

very own plastic slicing, finger dicing vacform. I've plumbed for the Sanger (ex-Contrail) 1/48th H.P. Hampden,

partly because I find it strangely curious and also as it was one of those pre-war types that "held the line" in the

early years of the war. So here's just a couple of pictures to show you what I have to work with:

The plastic is not that bad for an older kit although there were a couple of thin spots at the wing root trailing edge. A

little filler on the inside should make it workable once dry.

Above we have the bag of obligatory white metal goodies, mostly useable but to call some of it shocking by today's

standards is still a compliment. I've just sent off to the Big H for some goodies but I feel a second order is going to be

necessary to replace those engines and guns - but that's way down th line as I'm waiting for some plastic strip so I can

begin work on the interior. I start this project with the correct ammount of fingers and thumbs and I hope it stays that

way! More to come..........soon hopefully!

 

Thanks for looking...

[woody37]

Got my popcorn ready for this raving madness

 

[Murdo]

Following!            

[mackem01]

So, I've been busy with bits and Bob's on this and I've a couple of questions:

 Firstly to speed things up a little, could I use the cowlings from a Tamiya Beaufighter along with A/M engines or are they the wrong dimensions?

  Secondly if the project reaches that stage, has anyone seen a picture or profile of P1355 the machine in which Sgt John Hannah won his VC? There seem to be so many forms of camo demarcation with these early types that makes it a minefield.

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

[AdrianMF]

The vac looks very neat and the cutting out looks great. Looking forward to more!

 

Now if only those blokes in front of me would stop noisily munching popcorn...

 

Regards,

Adrian

[mackem01]

So my new supply of plastic strip and aerosol of interior green arrived on Friday and I've done a bit over the weekend:

 

 

 

It's quite open with all that glazing so I felt it needed some internal detailing. Starting the cockpit area next so should be interesting.

Hope this meets with the tentacled ones approval!

[Martian]

It does indeed meet with our Galactic approval: following!

 

Martian 👽

[mackem01]

Hi Gents, plodding along nicely with this so far, but I have a question for the cube.

What colour would the insides of the engine nacelles be, likewise the the firewall behind the engines??

 

Any ideas most welcome. Cheers.

[bbudde]

Hello For this one I'm always in. A Hampden. So what's more!

Cheers

Edited June 23, 2020 by bbudde

[mackem01]

A small update as I've had a bit spare time today. I've added more bits to the interior and readied the other few

left to go in then I can close the fuselage up:

 

 

 

I'm particularly pleased with the scratch pilot's seat and the fold-away rear gunner's seat, but pride of place goes to the Elsan!

 

 

New I.P. made from plastic card and Airscale decals, although I'm not sure how I feel about these - it seemed alot of effort for not much

return. Still, it is better than the kit item which was woefully under scale. A little free time tomorrow will hopefully see glazing installed,

and the other items in place, and just maybe the fuselage joined up.

 

Thanks for looking...

[mackem01]

A little more to report today in that the fuselage halves have gone together without too much trouble:

 

I used acetate sheet for the glazing, cut double size and fixed into one side. When joined together the 'loose' side conformed perfectly.

I will add the bars to the windows shortly. Starting to turn my attention to the engines I noticed that the nacelles were a bit skinny:

Not being happy with the softness of the detail, I went to my Sanger Halifax where I have hoarded some Tamiya Beaufighter engine nacelles

and associated pieces. I think these will make a decent substitute and as a bonus I can get rid of those awful white metal props from the

original kit:

A certain amount of chopping about will be required but I think they should be passable, especially when I add CMK's lovely resin Pegasus

engines:

These have also suffered from a little surgery to give me a better fit. Once these are all put together I'll turn my attention to the wings where

I think there's a nasty suprise waiting for me. That's it for today, hope you like what I've been up to, C & C's and suggestion are as always

most welcome.

[Greg Law]

This is coming a lot very nicely.  I will be keeping an eye on it.  I love the Hampten.