Revell P-70 into a Boston III

[mike romeo]

Hi folks,

 

I had formed half a plan some time ago to try to accurise a Revell Boston III.  Of the 3 classic kits of this version (Airfix, FROG, Revell*), I have formed an opinion that the last might be the 'best' to start from.  Whether this is true or not, that's what I've gone with.

 

However, not being able to source a Boston III, I got hold of this:

 

 

I had a vague hope that this might include alternative bits for the glazed nose BIII.  Well, I subsequently found it shouldn't have, but I got partially lucky:

 

 

 

It may be possible to graft that onto the suitably butchered radar bose.  We'll see.

 

So, the first job on the list was to do something about the kit cowlings.  These are basically cylindrical with a very bluff radius at the front, and look nothing like the more tapered Boston III cowling.

 

So, I attacked both cowlings with some heavy duty sanding sticks and sometime later we got this:

 

 

which looks better to my eye. So, why the filler? Yep, the plastic was actually quite thin where I sanded, and when I tried to use sprue soup to bulk it back up, it distorted what plastic was left.  Hence my resorting to Milliput.

 

Then I couldn't do that and leave the prop blades as they were, could I?  So, more sanding, resulting in this.

 

The top blades are modded, while the slightly cartoonish originals are below.  As a bonus, the radar nose has sneaked into view at the right.

 

Then for good measure, I painted up the engine parts.  Again, they don't look very accurate, but you've got to draw the line somewhere.  They were fun to paint up, though:

 

 

Wheel hub details also don't look too bad.

 

That's all for now.  More soon.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

*discounting the Matchbox, which is a later version

[tonyot]

Looking good,..... but try and get hold of the later Revell boxing which contains Special Hobby parts,..... you can do a Boston from that too and you can pick them up for about £14! It might save you some grief? You also get bits for a Turbinlight and the 12 gun night fighter nose, plus the US gun nose and two types of clear nose too.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-03939-lockheed-p-70-nighthawk--1012784

 

I used it to build this one;

 

 

Cheers

         Tony

Edited October 7, 2020 by tonyot

[mike romeo]

Hey Tony,

 

Nice to hear from you.  Hope all is well.

 

Honesty compels me to admit I've got a couple of the Revell / SH Bostons in the stash, too.  They'll also get built - someday - but they do look a bit 'complicated'.  Yours looks brilliant, btw!

 

Sometimes I just fancy seeing what I can do with a simple 'old classic'.  I'm no master builder, but it's good for the soul (I hope) and it also stretches my modelling skills a bit.  (And when Airfix announce their inevitable new tool Boston, I'll get a quiet glow of satisfaction for having 'taken one for the team').

 

If there's a 'problem' with my approach, it's that I'm not slavish about accuracy and don't do enough research.  If something doesn't look right to me, I try to do something about it; when it looks 'right', I stop.  Doesn't mean that what I end up with is necessarily accurate; it just looks better to me.  Also, if I don't know something is wrong, I don't do anything about it. I'm currently wondering what to do about the cowl flaps.

 

My kit is going to be an all-black RCAF all-black intruder with the ventral gun tray.  Now, how am I going to get a faded patchy RDM2 finish?

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[Marklo]

2 hours ago, mike romeo said:

when it looks 'right', I stop. 

I work that way too, I think you’re either that way, a rivet counter or somewhat in between.

[Marklo]

2 hours ago, mike romeo said:

Now, how am I going to get a faded patchy RDM2 finish?

A lot of books etc recommend using scale black; an up to 50:50 mix of black and brick red. If you went that way you can preshaded with black and even modulate the top coat with varying mixes of black and brick red or something like panzer grey.

[alt-92]

I like that Bart Smit sticker  memories...

Those were the days, where you would walk into your local hobby/toystore and there were plenty of models.

Somewhere in the early 2000s, all that went the way of the dodo - as far as kits goes that is. 

The chain still exists, but now is a basic Toys'R'us clone. 

 

Good luck with the build   I'm busy trying find a good matching Hurricane night fighter for the SH/MPM Turbinlite.
 

[mike romeo]

1 hour ago, alt-92 said:

 I'm busy trying find a good matching Hurricane night fighter for the SH/MPM Turbinlite.

Arma Hobby IIc?

[alt-92]

The kit's the easy part  markings however and matching those to Turbinlite ones from a colocated unit? 
Not so much

 

[tonyot]

8 hours ago, mike romeo said:

Hey Tony,

 

Nice to hear from you.  Hope all is well.

 

Honesty compels me to admit I've got a couple of the Revell / SH Bostons in the stash, too.  They'll also get built - someday - but they do look a bit 'complicated'.  Yours looks brilliant, btw!

 

Sometimes I just fancy seeing what I can do with a simple 'old classic'.  I'm no master builder, but it's good for the soul (I hope) and it also stretches my modelling skills a bit.  (And when Airfix announce their inevitable new tool Boston, I'll get a quiet glow of satisfaction for having 'taken one for the team').

 

If there's a 'problem' with my approach, it's that I'm not slavish about accuracy and don't do enough research.  If something doesn't look right to me, I try to do something about it; when it looks 'right', I stop.  Doesn't mean that what I end up with is necessarily accurate; it just looks better to me.  Also, if I don't know something is wrong, I don't do anything about it. I'm currently wondering what to do about the cowl flaps.

 

My kit is going to be an all-black RCAF all-black intruder with the ventral gun tray.  Now, how am I going to get a faded patchy RDM2 finish?

 

Rgds

 

Martin

No worries Martin and I know exactly what you mean,..... just trying to save you a bit of effort,..... having built a few of those over the years,.... rivets and all! I always thought the cockpit glazing looked a bit squashed down? The Special Hobby kit has its faults too,..... especially re fit around the nose. 

Should look great as a 418 Sqn Intruder,...... you could always opt for one which had camouflaged uppers and night black undersides if the RDM2 isn`t working? Have you got decals? The old Frog kit had 418 Sqn decals and I could dig some out if you like,..... sure I have some somewhere?

Good luck mate

                        Cheers

                                  Tony 

Edited October 8, 2020 by tonyot

[Jackson Duvalier]

Happy to see you attacking this one, Martin!  There's a decent kit in there if you tease it out.

 

I see you already tapered the cowls (I mounted mine on a dowel and turned it against sandpaper using an electric drill).   Excellent spare props are included in the Academy B-17F, which has enough for two Havocs.  The carburettor intakes over the cowls need some love, OOTB they're too rounded and the opening is flashy and undersized.  It's relatively easy to add an exhaust from brass tubing, Revell's representation is indistinct.

 

Adding some wiring to the engines is a half-hour job and de-emphasises the overscale cooling fins.  Add some detail painting and it'll look great; if you have decals to represent the builder data placards to the crankcases so much the better.

 

The aft transparency is well enough IIRC, but the cockpit glazing is too short (Tony touched on this above).  A prominent step where it joins at the top of the fuselage is visible in many online builds.  Easily avoided by shimming the clear casting up along the bottom with plasticard.  The framing isn't totally correct but it'll do, you might wish to scribe a line where the hatch bit extends along the fuselage spine.

 

The raised panel lines really don't look bad under paint if rubbed down with sandpaper, they seem especially over-prominent as moulded around the undersides of the empennage.

 

A modeller named Vic Bitleris did one up on another forum last year, it looked very good when complete.  Might want give that a look-over.

 

Can't wait to see how this turn out!

Edited October 8, 2020 by Jackson Duvalier

[mike romeo]

2 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Excellent spare props are included in the Academy B-17F, which has enough for two Havocs.  The carburettor intakes over the cowls need some love, OOTB they're too rounded and the opening is flashy and undersized.  It's relatively easy to add an exhaust from brass tubing, Revell's representation is indistinct.

 

Adding some wiring to the engines is a half-hour job and de-emphasises the overscale cooling fins.  Add some detail painting and it'll look great; if you have decals to represent the builder data placards to the crankcases so much the better.

 

The aft transparency is well enough IIRC, but the cockpit glazing is too short (Tony touched on this above).  A prominent step where it joins at the top of the fuselage is visible in many online builds.  Easily avoided by shimming the clear casting up along the bottom with plasticard.  The framing isn't totally correct but it'll do, you might wish to scribe a line where the hatch bit extends along the fuselage spine.

 

The raised panel lines really don't look bad under paint if rubbed down with sandpaper, they seem especially over-prominent as moulded around the undersides of the empennage!

Really good information there.  Thank you.  Tips re shimming the canopy and pre-fitting are well-taken.  I will have a look at the air intakes too.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

 

2 hours ago, tonyot said:

Should look great as a 418 Sqn Intruder,...... you could always opt for one which had camouflaged uppers and night black undersides if the RDM2 isn`t working? Have you got decals? The old Frog kit had 418 Sqn decals and I could dig some out if you like,..... sure I have some somewhere?

Good luck mate

                        Cheers

                                  Tony 

Ta, Tony.  I've got the DK decals intruder set, so should be ok for decals.  Re the pilots compartment, it defo seems a bit short to me.  Re height, could be a bit squashed, but it's difficult to tell, given I was brought up on the Airfix Boston as correct, with it's tall, skinny spine.  Everything else seems squished compared to that!

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

So, what else have I done?  Well, I filled in these mould release marks on the tail plane underside.

 

 

I'm thinking of covering the lines representing fabric covered ribs on the rudder and tail plane (at least I'm assuming that's what they represent!) With thin strips of Tamiya tape, and seeing what that looks like under primer.

 

I also added a rear bulkhead and joined the nacelle halves.

 

 

I then added some liquid gravity stuck down with pva ahead of the gear wells; I added another partial bulkhead to screen it from view.

 

 

I did gouge out the oval (well teardrop shaped, atcherly) exhaust pipe, but I was forgetting that this intruder has a Beaufighter-like hedgehog flame damping exhaust.  Still going to have to work on that area, and of course the cowl flaps.  If anyone has any decent pics of this area of an intruder Boston (Tony?), please point me at them (I'm far too lazy to do my own research and both my A-20 references have gone awol).

 

I am posting old pics at the moment and soon I will reach my current state of progress.  At that point, progress will appear to slow down markedly as I work on my Heller GB builds and my Eduard Tempest display model.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[Beard]

Are the ones here any help?

 

http://silverhawkauthor.com/canadian-warplanes-3-the-second-world-war-douglas-boston_735.html

[mike romeo]

55 minutes ago, Beard said:

Are the ones here any help?

 

http://silverhawkauthor.com/canadian-warplanes-3-the-second-world-war-douglas-boston_735.html

They are indeed!

 

Many thanks.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

I have also been playing with the fuselage interior.  No skilled and accurate portrayal, more an impressionistic splash of gizmology to jazz it up a bit.

 

 

I gave the liquid gravity bodyweight prominence in this shot, presumably due to shame in my cockpit work.  Particularly embarassed by the IP, although I was pleased with the blind flying panel in the IP centre console.  Seat is from an old Mustang.  My understanding is that the seat should be more of a rounded square bucket, but I saw one cutaway with head armour behind, so thought, "what the heck".

 

 

I put in a roof to the gear bay, primarily so I had a small space to add more liquid gravity further forward.  I then added some more minimalistic Ikea-esque gizmology to dress it up a bit.

 

 

And here us the even more minimalistic runner's compartment.  I didn't put a floor in because I thought the A-20 had a ventral tunnel gun and the gunner would need access.  If not, I can wedge one in there.  The side beams are an attempt to add detail I'd already seen in the SH kit although the lightening holes are both over scale and too few in number.  I may add the top deck to the rear I saw in Vic B's build on Hyperscale, but wasn't planning on adding m/gs, although I may have a rummage in the spares box.  Would rear guns have been carried on Intruders?

 

And It all just about fits!

 

So, that's you up to date.  Progress will now slow as I work on other projects and procrastinate about sanding and rescribing surface detail.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

 

 

[mike romeo]

So, I got impatient, joined the fuse halves and, when dry, added lashings of milliput, particularly to the bottom seam.  The result, after some sanding action is thus:

 

 

 

"But Martin", I hear you cry, "what is happening with the tailplane?".

 

Good question, mes amis.  I have followed through (no giggling!) on my threat to add Tamiya tape to the rib lines on the tailplane (well, one half of it, anyway).

 

 

Only took 20 mins.  It'll be interesting to see how that looks under a coat of primer, as an experiment.

 

I'll do the other side tomorrow, then contemplate without enthusiasm some scribing.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

PS I have just received the Revell Boston III kit and the machine gun blisters, being 1 sided, look like a simple way into trying casting for the first time, to make some extra copies for this kit.  I'll go and read the tips section in the meantime, but feel free to provide any advice here.

[mike romeo]

Some further small progress.  I finished the rib taping on the tail.  Not really sure how it'll look under paint. 

 

 

And I hacked the radar nose around a bit so the bombardier's glasswork would fit.

 

 The triangle of card on the far wall is to provide a base for sprue soup as I cracked a bit off the front when hacking.  There's also a raised floor on there, under which I've poured a bit more liquid gravity.  Not very much, though, so I reckon it may still be a tail sitter.  Oh well!

 

Now I must get on with rescribing - one of my least favourite modelling jobs . . .

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

 

[Tempestwulf]

Ah the classic Revell P-70. That brings back fond memories

[mike romeo]

So, a small amount of progress to report: the nose interior has been painted (roughly), added and the join roughly cleaned up.

 

 

Panel lines have taken some punishment.

 

In other news, the ventral cannon pack has had brass rod blast tubes added, and the front portion filled with liquid gravity.  This was also added and the joints tidied.  No panel lines on the underside, either . . .

 

 

And here is the beast with its components dry-fitted.

 

 

You can see I gave the tail feathers a primer coat, and the rib tapes a couple of coats of Tamiya extra thin.  They may not look too bad when finished.

 

And, after all that liquid gravity, . . .

 

It's still a tail sitter!  B*gger!  It's quite a close run thing, though.

 

So, gradually getting there.  Next up is trying to sort out the exhausts and cooling flaps on the nacelles (and I might add some more weight forward of the u/c bays).

 

 

More soon.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

 

[tonyot]

Coming together nicely Martin.

[mike romeo]

Hi folks,

 

Having finished off some Heller GB builds, I have now returned to the BIII.

 

Wings have been added, and I have shimmed the surrounds of the bombardier's station to better suit the glazing.

 

I have cut down the ends of 2 surplus He111 centreline bomb racks to form the bulges in front of the porcupine exhausts.  I will rescribe the exhaust flaps tomorrow, paint the wheel well roofs, and get the nacelles on tomorrow.  Some more weight has been added in front of the wheel wells, so I have some hope it may not be a tailsitter.  We'll see.

 

Some photos tomorrow, if progress warrants it.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

A little progress has been made, at least.  I got some sort of bulges done on the nacelles, and some really bad scribing of the exhaust flaps.  I'll probably redo those at some point.

 

 

On the upside, she's not a tailsitter!  Excellent.  Here's a shot.

 

 

Clear parts are currently having a  bath in klear.  I'll let them dry, then mask them up and get them on.

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

The Boston was treated to a light grey primer coat; once dry, I cleaned up the resulting steps and gaps, and added the engine cowlings.  

 

I've started masking the glasswork.  I'll then get that added and faired in.  Should get to paint before New Year!

 

Rgds

 

Martin

[mike romeo]

Having masked and applied the glasswork, then fairing it in as well as I could with shims, filling gaps with klear, and then using correction fluid to deal with any remaining issues, I added a few thin coats of 50 : 50 black : red.  That will act as a base for subsequent shading and weathering.  It already looks quite matt and sooty.

 

Here are the pics:

 

 

 

 

 

The last pic shows the reason for the nose down sit in the other shots.  I have wiped off the axles for the nose gear.  I'll try to fix that after painting is finished.

 

More in due course.

 

Rgds

 

Martin