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Hampering the barges - H.P. Hampden B. Mk.I [Completed]


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Surprisingly large, actually.

 

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Yes, the fuselage is buttoned up, and the inner detail is fortunately slightly visible :D 

Bringing the halves together is best done in segments, working from the tail forward. 

 

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The darker line on the spine is tinted glue. There's a tiny step behind the cockpit area that needs to be filled.

 

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Some rescribing and restoring rivets needed, but overall success.

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Hi Dirk,

 

Looking good so far - if it is like the Airfix kit getting the wings lined up can be a slight problem!

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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Restored the riveting that was lost on the seams, and some rescribing. 

meanwhile, I gave the cowlings a go:

y4mTAce1-ELeIeo1gRtqb_aeYmpBqE7Uk-6aXkkM

 

Looks like a nice, slightly toned/discoloured steel. 
I started out with a light coat of bronze metallic, added a suitable German grey tone and a light dusting of gunmetal in layers.

The front ring is a bit brighter steel/gunmetal.

 

Still haven't figured out what to do in the wheel wells though. 
But that's what the weekend is for.

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Just a reminder that I haven't forgotten about this one!

(Ain't wave 2 fun... it's been busy @ work again) 
Reserved this weekend to do some serious work. All the glass parts will be masked and fitted, so as a start, here is the scratchwork to fill the cavity where landing lights are supposed to be:
Cut off transparent runner bits, just the right size.

y4m1rpo_eICa_FohTLF-4G_ii9D8N_z-GYQNUqsY

 

In the background the tail assembly checked for alignment.
One of the quirky bits of this kit is the undercarriage. In order to ensure a good vertical alignment, the inner stubs should be drilled out.
This allows for the upper inner wing surfaces to be aligned horizontal and the gear to be perpendicular to that.

y4mcBZwr1ROXc1IW639wfNREhtsI__9kPBjftvCz

 

Blanking plate for the front firewall also added. I decided not to go full boxed in as it's not really worth it in 1/72 when the wheel covers are added..

 

 

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Front glasswork (top) added - these are the AZ clear parts, and they are a much better fit.
The rear gunner's hood has holes drilled for two Vickers, loosely stuck on with a bit of PVA to add the guns later.
Although the destruction manual specifies only two in use in total, there are four in the kit - which is good, as the front office does need one, and the rear bottom also.

y4myh3FvTmHu_ECKLjt6wGglY-OK0syw2XJOrReM

 

A tiny smidgen of plastic putty needed up front.

Since these were night bombers, I've tried out some Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black alongside regular black to approximate the RDM2 a bit better, it has that slightly blueish black tint to it.
Upper wing inside is flat black, the rest XF-85:

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I think with some careful blending, it might come out nice. 

 

 


 

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Wings stuck on:

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And dihedral alignment checked.

The upper wings inside are supposed to be horizontal.

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Last pieces of glasswork drilled, sticking on later and then it's off to the paint street.

The engine nacelles will get a bit of a tweak with some reddish brown drybrushed.
Props sprayed, undercarriage (fiddly!) will be added once painted.

 

 

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Back to the raid.

This is an aerial view of the aquaduct in current times.

It's located slightly north-north-east of the city of Münster near the village of Fuestrup.

Circled in is the target, the blue arrow is the direction of the attack.
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The surrounding landscape is open, relatively flat, but elevated above the level of the canal. It is easy to see how the lay of the land meant the German FLAK would be ferocious for any aircraft trundling along the route.

 

Sadly, the second aircraft from 83 Sqn, piloted by F/O Ross, would fall victim to a direct hit and the burning wreck crashed alongside the canal. The remains of the crew were buried locally.
Unfortunately, later air raids over Münster and the vicinity (including the Ladbergen attacks) meant that the area was heavily bombed and the burial site was completely destroyed leaving no trace. 

 

Third aircraft in line was also 83 Sqn, piloted by Flt Lt Mulligan. 
Seriously hit by the lighter Flak on the attack run, they were unable to continue and dropped their bomb prematurely to get out of trouble. Not able to gain sufficient altitude to jump out, Mulligan steered the aircraft away to the northwest looking for a suitable spot to belly land. 
Two of the crewmembers died in the crash, Mulligan ended up pinned in the cockpit by one of the propellors.

It took the Germans hours to remove him from the wreckage. 

 

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Paintwork!

Dark Earth on top - slightly uneven/modulated with a drop of old DE mixed in.  Probably won't do it before the finishline of the GB, but after the weekend will add some filters with oilpaints (just arrived). 

 

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Noticed I haven't added the forward firing gun yet - oops.

Things you spot when looking at your pictures, eh?

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Underside, same tactic. Very thin buildup of black, to be followed by Tamiya's tire black for a bit of blueish tone.

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Probably mask up tonight and the first Dark Greens while working on the smaller details of the engine cowlings.

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1 hour ago, alt-92 said:

Things you spot when looking at your pictures, eh?

Very true. With me it was an instrument in the cockpit upside down.

 

Paintwork looks good.

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Greens on, it needs another pass when dry on some spots to enhance the demarcation.

Paint's still wet here.

 

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Also, some small touch-ups with lighter Dark Earth would go well. 

Misjudged the green starboard wingtip pattern a bit, will clean that up as we go.

 

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Looking good mate, while it may not be the best looking aircraft in the world ever, the Hampden is quite a stately bird with a lot of old-world charm. Wouldn't want to fly in one, though, at least not in action :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Wonderful job so far with both the Hampden, which is really looking the part, and the story of the raid.  I now have a Valom Hampden in the stash - I'll probably do mine as one of the other aircraft from the same raid just to be different!

 

Cheers,

 

Matt

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y4m6QYHwnTTP0gpSJ55F0AWubHURaodkbkXRmPTS

Aquaduct M.25A - Heimatverein Graven/H. Bunde

 

The fourth aircraft, from 49 Sqn was P4404.

P/O Matthews, with one engine immediately put out of action, pressed on through the intensifying flak and successfully dropped his bombs very near to the target. 
Nursing his one remaining engine he managed to struggle back to base.


The remaining Hampden, piloted by Flt Lt Roderick 'Babe' Learoyd, now alone, would face the full intensity of the defences.

 

----

 

Pfew...

Engines on.

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Camo demarcation was done with a wavy template:

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Lesson here is to take the AZ instructions instead of the Valom ones, they have a better structure with regards to the engine & cowling assembly.

As it is, I built up the cowlings and as it turned out it's a nearly good fit.
You might benefit from adding a thin shim to make them a bit wider and prevent an awkward hour fettling, carving, and sanding to get them somewhat flush when butt-joining them to the rest of the wing assembly.

 

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Touchups done, now drying out and tomorrow decals & assembly of the leftovers such as landing gear and antennas :)

A démain!

 

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Prepwork done early this morning for decals:

A coat of acrylic floor polish  - sort of like Future Clear, actually. It helps settle them in.

 

And at that moment I ran into the bf-109 I still had to finish :drunk: so cleared that up first.

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Decals after dinner. 
Food first!

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The last in the line, M for Mother descended first to 300 feet, then lower and lower lining up to the attack vector. 
At 23.23, the planned time, they went in for their run facing immediate pandemonium.


 

Quote

‘The searchlights were blinding and we were flying entirely on the bomb aimer’s instructions. I had my head down inside the cockpit trying to see the instruments, but the glare made even that difficult. Our instructions were not to rush it too much because of the need for extreme accuracy. Before we started, the rear gunner had asked if he could fire at something or somebody and he was shooting at the searchlights as we went past.

 

'Almost at the same moment as we bombed I felt a thump and the aircraft lurched to the right. A pom-pom shell had gone through the starboard wing. Then another shell hit the same wing between the fuselage and the engine. They were firing pretty well at point-blank range. It was all over in a few seconds. The navigator called out ‘OK finish’. Then we turned away again. The ground defences were still after us but the tracer was dying out a bit by this time.
 

Flt.Lt Learoyd, interviewed by the BBC later that year.

 

Despite the ferocious AA, the crew succeeded in dropping their parachute retarded, delayed fuse mine/bomb right on target. 
The resulting explosion blew out one side of the aquaduct and tons of water rushed into the smaller Ems.
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The route via Dortmund Ems Kanal would be disrupted for about a month while repairs were made.

 

post-raid PRU flight pictures:

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It was not plain sailing however. The resulting damage from the AA fire had wreaked havoc with the aircraft - by a miracle only did the engines and fueltanks not get hit, or the crew.

Quote

‘When we had got away and set course for the base the rear- gunner reported that oil was coming into his cockpit. Then the wireless operator reported that the flaps were drooping. I tried to raise them but found that they wouldn’t come up. What had happened was that the hydraulic system had been damaged. We discovered too that the undercarriage indicators were out of action.

‘Not having landed without flaps before I didn’t like to try it that night with a crew aboard, so we cruised around a bit doing a few local ‘cross countries’ for about two and a half hours. We waited till dawn and then we came in all right.’

 

 Flt Lt Roderick Learoyd of 49 Squadron was awarded the very first Victoria Cross for Bomber Command for taking his Hampden down to 150 feet and pushing through the hail of bullets, sustaining hydraulic system damage, inoperable flaps, a wrecked undercarriage, and wing damage, before dropping his bombs and then nursing his aircraft back to England, where he circled his aircraft until daylight, as he felt it too risky to attempt a night landing.

 

 

:poppy:
For all those Bomber Command crews that didn't make it back.

 

 

 

 

----

Thanks again to @PeterB who kindly sent the Codes & serials. 

 

 

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  • alt-92 changed the title to Hampering the barges - H.P. Hampden B. Mk.I [Completed]

I like to think of it as Just In Time modelling ;) 

 

She does have a stablemate in the stash now, an AZ reboxing with decals for P1333:
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So the lessons learned here will serve well. 

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