Michael louey Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 (edited) Hi, I was quite happy when I heard Airfix was bringing out a new 1/72 Defiant as the MPM kit while better than the old Airfix kit never looked quite right to me. Airfix appears to have done a nice job with the new tool Defiant, the only real boo boo being the wheels which I heard were lidar'd correctly from the museum but at a time when the correct wheels had been replaced by those from a Morris Minor. When I received Alec Brew's latest book on the Defiant, it gave the impetus to build this kit as there is an image of a RAAF Defiant from 456 Squadron (the only previous photo was from Alec's earlier book "Turret Fighters which I used as reference for my earlier MPM model which is on this forum as well). As well as replacing the wheels with a set from Barracuda, I also ordered the replacement guns and aerial/pitot from Hannants. The latter aren't really necessary however in this case I needed a few extra items to reach Hannants minimum order limit. The aircraft has been finished in Gunze "cowl colour", an IJN colour which is a dark ultramarine much as RAF Night is. This is also the first time I've used Gunze's GX Flat as a dull coat. It was suggested by one of our club members. I'm always a bit wary of any of the really flat coats as they tend to give a chalky finish however in this case this was precisely the type of tatty finish I wanted for a night fighter finished in "Night". I still had to buff out the finish a bit and if I used it on another type of colour scheme I think I'll thin it out with some Mr Colour Levelling thinner. Other than the Barracuda parts mentioned, the only changes to the kit was the replacement of the wing tip lights with clear sprue, a Yahu instrument panel and some round disks to represent the landing lights. One item to note is that I only realised that the rear retracting antenna under the fuselage is actually offset to port when I was looking at some plans when working out undercarriage rake. This required some last minute updates as Airfix have put the location hole dead centre. Cheers Michael Edited August 9, 2020 by Michael louey 25 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Fantastic work! I've always had a soft spot for the Defiant and the unbelievably brave crews that flew them as day fighters. Thanks for sharing Kind regards, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Very nice!! Miguel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Lovely work on the Defiant, great looking model ! Wulfman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Nice ‘Aussie’ Defiant Michael. I’ve not come across a photo of one of these 456 Squadron machines so its nice to know there is at least one photo reference out there. That’s really come up nicely, can I ask are these spare ‘knocked up’ decals or is there an AM sheet somewhere out there? Cheers and well modelled.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael louey Posted August 8, 2020 Author Share Posted August 8, 2020 4 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said: Nice ‘Aussie’ Defiant Michael. I’ve not come across a photo of one of these 456 Squadron machines so its nice to know there is at least one photo reference out there. That’s really come up nicely, can I ask are these spare ‘knocked up’ decals or is there an AM sheet somewhere out there? Cheers and well modelled.. Dave Thanks for all the comments. Dave, The decals are mainly Modeldecal, a range long out of print. The Xtradecal range has similar generic codes and roundels but I found they seemed "thicker" and less willing to conform to panel lines. I damaged a set of their roundels trying to get them to settle down. I think the serials might be Techmod but don't hold me to that. It should be noted the aircraft letter "A" appears in the photo to be smaller than the "A" of the squadron code. I used 2 different size codes from the Modeldecal sheet to approximate that. Cheers Michael 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 I didn’t notice the different size ‘A’s until you mentioned it... nice attention to detail. Cheers and thanks for the reply.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Very nice Defiant there Michael , looks very mean in the all Black scheme from the seldom seen 456sqn Defiants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 Great finish, they look pretty mean in black..especially if you're flying a Heinkel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Very realistic. The weathered black looks just right. I didn't know about the Moggy wheels, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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