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Bloch 210 Television Reconnaissance


Adrian Hills

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My subject for this group build is the Bloch 210 which may have been suggested for the first television reconnaissance experiments. Here is a picture of the box

749170MB21026

 I had this kit recently but sold it. A new one has been purchased and is on its way.

 

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My justification for this Whif build is this image from a post card in National Record Office File Air 2/1733. I came across it while researching for my doctorate on early military television.

MB200IF2

This is a photo of the actual equipment supplied to me by Ray Herbert who did the real tests in a Marcel Bloch 200 in 1939

 

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I have already made a model of Ray's aircraft using various other photos he supplied to me.  My intention is to cut about the Heller Bloch 210 kit to show how it might have looked if this aircraft was used. 

 

When the kit arrives I will introduce it to Mrs saw and Mr Dremel !!

Edited by Adrian Hills
wrong word
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Yes, this will be most interesting. The Bloch 210 is quite appealing in a strange kinda way, I look forward to watching it take its angular shape.

Cheers and all the best.. Dave

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  • 1 month later...

At last I've started ! Was agonising over what colour to hose the interior down in and picked up my jar of Gunze Tan - I had written MB200 on it as that is what was used on the other TV/AC.

image4[6015]

 

Found a small pitfall. The inside of the wingroot is hollow. As you can see there are also two spars that go right through the fuselage. Will need a bit of judicious disguising.

image0[6011]

 

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Did a rough assembly with tape, drew some lines and then went  berserk with Mr Dremel. This is what modelling is all about !

image2[6013]

 

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11 hours ago, Adrian Hills said:

This is what modelling is all about !

Exactly! Don't think just chop! And repair later 🙂 

 

I like the cutout idea for this build. 

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Jeroen, I did spend a minute or two thinking about exactly where to cut, even looked at my MB 200 that I had already done this too. This aircraft has a lot longer nose so there is room to depict the radio apparatus there. It is the place my friend Ray Herbert sat in as he designed and operated it 😊

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Have done a bit of work today including opening up rear of fuselage further to show all important control panel. Having problems with Flickr which is not letting me upload more than 500 images without subscription !! Enough for today 🙂

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This kit seems to be quite well engineered and I hope it will go together well when the top and sides are on. I have made some blanking plates for the inside of wings and cut back the location pins to fit the plates in.

50677134881_9ea6af175b_z.jpgIMG_3094[6151] by arhills, on Flickr

 

I had to scrape down the mould release ejector parts and fill a sink hole or two. I normally don't do much on the interior of kits but for this I'll make an exception.

50676389588_1006f798f0_z.jpgIMG_3095[6153] by arhills, on Flickr

 

The order that things need to be added is what I'm dealing with. Beginning to get the real fun of this kit 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Am a bit slow with this one as finishing off the 1/1 bathroom decoration - always good to keep the Memsahib happy.

 

Worked out that I have no option but to put the side on the fuselage before filling it with stuff. The key problem is the wing spars intruding into the space that the intermediate film photo reconnaissance system needs to be.

IMG_3128[6556]

 

Here, in the picture below, I have offered the roof up to check the interaction of the cutouts in the vain hope of keeping the thing square. I will need to glue and putty the wings BEFORE filling with stuff. Then I can give it a bit of a clean so the inside of the copious glazing isn't occluded with detritis

IMG_3131[6555]

 

Quick question, do you think it would benefit from some figures ?

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32 minutes ago, Adrian Hills said:

Quick question, do you think it would benefit from some figures ?

 

Yeah, this green dragon has been around a lot - why not offer it a seat on the plane? Your TV cut-away plane is a fantastic idea, by the way! I somehow missed the start of the build but I like the progress very much.

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A man or two, - just of course to give scale - working away behind/beside the apparatus, would indeed be most interesting....

 

But only if you really, really, really want to...

 

It's going to be GREAT either way...

 

 

Philip

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It is nice to have some feedback, thank you. Bit more progress with wings glued 

IMG_3137[6563]

 

I looked through my Airfix RAF Recovery set and found these chaps

 

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I've already robbed some bits from the Recovery set so it seems I was once in progress trying to manifest the 'Renault receiver van'. This was the vehicle on the ground that showed the images taken by and then broadcast from the TV reconnaissance aircraft. My aim, as usual is to represent the subject, in this case the Renault Van and its towed generator. I'm not a rivet counter ! 🙂

 

 

IMG_3138[6565]

 

And Yes, think I'll go with a figure or two

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Decided to forgo people and Renault van. Need to get this model wrapped as things getting busy at home and would like to concentrate on the core subject. so here we go

https://flic.kr/p/2konXom

 

https://flic.kr/p/2konXxu

 

You will not the vertical cathode ray tube for scanning (lots of imagination needed :-))

https://flic.kr/p/2kooz8Z

 

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