"Slippery Ship II" Bristol Beaufighter MkVIF *Finished*

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

My next build will be Tamiya's 1:48 Beaufighter. This subject has been done to death, but here's a shot of the box:

 

 

I won't bother showing the sprues, as everybody's seen them a thousand times!! I'm not going to model the subjects provided by Tamiya, but have obtained a set of Montex masks as below:

 

 

You can see I've also picked up a rather nice set of resin exhausts for the Hercules. The reason I'm using masks is I'd like a break from decals - any of you who may have seen my recent efforts on the Lancaster B.II may understand why! 

 

I also thought the plastic as presented looked a little bare, so I've finally invested in one of these beauties:

 

 

I'm going to model this as VB447 of 89 Sqn RAF, based in Bu Amud, Egypt in March 1943:

 

 

I rather like this scheme, which obviously uses Dark Earth and Mid Stone over Night - the high demarcation also provides some interest. I cannot find a picture of the aircraft shown, but have found this shot of an aircraft from the same squadron:

 

 

I'm going to use this as an opportunity to depict a weather-worn airframe, so the hairspray may get another bashing. I may also try my new radial engine painting technique which I think worked to pretty good effect on the Lanc - let's see how it translates to 1:48!!

 

Anyway, onwards and upwards - thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[F-104 nut]

Roger I will be looking forward to the progress pics . I to am working on a Beaufighter NF. 

[Dunny]

20 minutes ago, F-104 nut said:

Roger I will be looking forward to the progress pics . I to am working on a Beaufighter NF. 

Very nice sir - I just followed your WIP! Look forward to seeing your engine treatment,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

I finally made a start on this build after a hectic couple of weeks at work! Firstly I did a little more digging and found a photo of the actual aircraft I'm modelling. 'Slippery Ship II' was the mount of Doug Oxby and Mervyn Shiphard whilst flying with 89 Squadron in North Africa. Merv Shiphard was an Australian, so it's good to have that connection. Theirs is an interesting story - more here:

 

http://aircrewremembered.com/oxby-douglas.html?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=cda5297b5ab3af7af0d69308a3c67c97bebfb20f-1611987096-0-ARvEz6Md5xLIxPz6u1uJ2_4R8x98Gg5YeVwOipdIgK025YlUZYNOZQe2oAfGbMlB6CdyasaNK71HO9Ci98F1HRgmrdqq9ZJ8HIZ3wnT6ea6emOzN_ekFRagONuo8c7wwTw3kRWmEhyiKo_Fcwir01CDEZnGFhK24JmjCnRLCXpm5HXlWDL9Y0cSl1vTLza5sONCyA5gAu5fkgsUnJUchRT1WJvkRiFWbuMUATbHPY74BIgM_WxqrcFSC9m7fY_eLSSU0Fw-8avP_7qBuhj26ypZfudqT7SFRzR7fr8h7JkOWjodWfuKyA8ihrM3-5jI2YO-FTc-e40nY3zOowIfloiNWQYLEAq0JGX2vDdkSpC36xDEpGWK7i2THq2OxrDWLDyCffQzVOmndt3zuRCoJ3tw

 

 

The pair flew more than one aircraft. This confused me initially as I referred to @tonyot's lovely build of 'Hun Hunter', the aircraft they flew during the Malta campaign. However, you can see from the above that 'Slippery Ship II' was indeed their aircraft - it's a different finish to Tony's, so I can say hand on heart that I'm not copying!! Here's Tony's build:

 

 

First up I turned my attention to the incorrect panels on the wings, which Tamiya incorrectly copied from battle damage repairs on the example at Hendon. Here's before:

 

 

And after:

 

 

 

I'll rescribe and rivet later. Tamiya also incorrectly depict a double row of ejector ports, so I filled those (the rear set are the correct ones):

 

 

I then turned my attention to the cowlings. These should 'ave 'oles!!

 

 

 

 

So they got them:

 

 

Finally I spent a pleasant while throwing primer and interior green around:

 

 

And that's as far as I got today!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

Found it!!! I  was looking for this after seeing your post on another Beau Build, sorry I am late and can present a note !!!

This will be good and will follow with Much interest as I have this Kit along with the Revell kit and do like your work/builds too.  

Great start fella and the riveting tool looks good, I have the Trumpeter tool. 

Can't wait to see this progress. 

Chris

[Dunny]

8 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

Found it!!! I  was looking for this after seeing your post on another Beau Build, sorry I am late and can present a note !!!

This will be good and will follow with Much interest as I have this Kit along with the Revell kit and do like your work/builds too.  

Great start fella and the riveting tool looks good, I have the Trumpeter tool. 

Can't wait to see this progress. 

Chris

Cheers Chris,

 

It's a much-built kit so no surprises there, but I'm hoping the scheme is a little off the beaten track. I gave Rosie a trial run today - very exciting!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

7 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Cheers Chris,

 

It's a much-built kit so no surprises there, but I'm hoping the scheme is a little off the beaten track. I gave Rosie a trial run today - very exciting!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Excellent,  just keep the old concentration levels high and take your time and you should be okay , ask me how I know!!! Also Dymo tape makes a great guide for riveting and rescribing, although you are probly already aware.

Chris

[AndyL]

Here's another image for you - Merv Shipard and Nevile Reeves stood on front of Slippery Ship II. I obtained copies from both Doug Oxby and the Reeves family when I was writing about the latter back in 2007.

 

[Dunny]

1 minute ago, AndyL said:

Here's another image for you - Merv Shipard and Nevile Reeves stood on front of Slippery Ship II. I obtained copies from both Doug Oxby and the Reeves family when I was writing about the latter back in 2007.

 

Wow - that's awesome Andy! Thanks so much for adding to the record,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[AndyL]

And here's another view of one of the 89 Squadron Beaufighters, with Nevile Reeves in the cockpit.

 

[Dunny]

11 minutes ago, AndyL said:

Here's another image for you - Merv Shipard and Nevile Reeves stood on front of Slippery Ship II. I obtained copies from both Doug Oxby and the Reeves family when I was writing about the latter back in 2007.

 

Wow - that's awesome Andy! Thanks so much for adding to the record,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Dunny]

9 minutes ago, AndyL said:

And here's another view of one of the 89 Squadron Beaufighters, with Nevile Reeves in the cockpit.

 

Once again thanks Andy - this one is showing much more wear on the cowlings than the first pic I posted. Also lower demarcation line for the undersurface - there was obviously some variation. 

 

Many thanks,

 

Roger

[JohnT]

23 minutes ago, AndyL said:

Here's another image for you - Merv Shipard and Nevile Reeves stood on front of Slippery Ship II. I obtained copies from both Doug Oxby and the Reeves family when I was writing about the latter back in 2007.

 

Following this with much interest. 
 

I was having a look at these great photos and this one caught my eye. If you have a look at the rear bubble canopy it seems to have “blobs”on it. At first I thought photo print or negative marks but they look to be on the canopy only so not that. Odd the ground crew not cleaned it off whatever and I had a horrid thought. North Africa? Big flies inside the aircraft?  🪰 Any thoughts?

[AndyL]

Finally, I thought I'd add this one. Though it doesn't show a Beaufighter, it has L-R Nevil Reeves, Doug Oxby and Merv Shipard with the squadrons captured Kubelwagen.

 

[Dunny]

Andy,

 

Thanks so much for all of these. It really personalises the build for me, and I hope I can do these brave men justice in my own small way,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

With a number of false starts and a poor start : completion ratio, I've had a stern word with myself - after all, what could be simpler to complete than a Tamiya Beaufighter, right? 

 

With that in mind I revisited the nacelles. I'd managed to butcher the lower duct whilst drilling it out, so that was replaced by a length of plastic rod drilled and cut to length. Here's before & after:

 

 

Next I removed the nasty elevator balance tabs and replaced with lengths of brass rod:

 

 

I'm off to paint the nacelles now - I'm going to give them a heat-stained look, so might employ the hairspray technique in appropriate places. Wish me luck - more to come later!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Some good progress on the nacelles today! Here's the resin exhausts attached and the whole lot under a coat of primer:

 

 

I then sprayed the front of the cowling in steel, and then masked off everything but the front cooling baffle. This was then given a coat of hairspray, allowed to dry for a good while and then oversprayed with black. Once this had dried a gave it a good rub with an old toothbrush (and completely forgot to take a photo).

 

 

I then did the reverse mask before spraying a layer of steel mixed with brass for a heat-stained effect, followed by thinned layers of red-brown and light blue. Here's the first stage:

 

 

Here's the final stage after the cowlings were sprayed in mid-stone, dark earth and Nato black:

 

 

 

And finally here's the result after an oil wash:

 

 

That's all for now,

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

 

[Dunny]

Hi All,

 

Final update for the day. I next turned my attention to the wheels. Nato Black for the hubs, RLM66 for the tyres, a bit of dry-brushed silver on the hubs and a Flory 'Grime' wash (the contrast is actually more apparent to the naked eye):

 

 

I then knocked the internals together. I'm just going OOB on this one other than the addition of some harnesses. I have seen some of the fantastic detailing others have done on this kit, and if I'm perfectly honest I think it's why I put it on hold - because I didn't feel I could achieve the same results.

 

Anyway, here's the innards:

 

 

I ended up the day by buttoning up the fuselage:

 

 

You might just be able to see my first efforts at riveting 

 

I think that might be it for the weekend - I think life is going to get in the way!

 

Hope you all have a great Easter,

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Roger

It is fantastic to see this on the go again.   I know what you mean about the pressure you apply to yourself to add as much detail as possible  and have put models aside before, that Spitfire was one.  

I really like what you have done to the exhaust collection rings with the hair spray etc. They look fab.  I zoomed in and saw  the riveting which looks good,  did you use a guide or did you go free hand?

Great work fella. 

Chris

[Dunny]

Just now, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Roger

It is fantastic to see this on the go again.   I know what you mean about the pressure you apply to yourself to add as much detail as possible  and have put models aside before, that Spitfire was one.  

I really like what you have done to the exhaust collection rings with the hair spray etc. They look fab.  I zoomed in and saw  the riveting which looks good,  did you use a guide or did you go free hand?

Great work fella. 

 

Thanks for the kind words Chris - it's also quite liberating to then just say "I'm going to do this exactly as I wish" - it's a hobby, right?! Riveting was a bit of a mixed affair, but I just used a straight edge of plastic card to cover the curves. It's a long way from perfect but will add some texture. Actually enjoying it now,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[bigbadbadge]

16 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Thanks for the kind words Chris - it's also quite liberating to then just say "I'm going to do this exactly as I wish" - it's a hobby, right?! Riveting was a bit of a mixed affair, but I just used a straight edge of plastic card to cover the curves. It's a long way from perfect but will add some texture. Actually enjoying it now,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

No worries fella, Yes it is quite liberating and as you say it is a Hobby and supposed to be fun. 

I have been trying fineline tape to do rescribing I saw it being used on Neil's lovely Lancaster and as I had some in the garage anyway thought I would give it a go.  It is very flexible for curves etc and I thing I will give it a go for riveting too .

Very glad to hear you are enjoying it again.

Chris

[Dunny]

2 minutes ago, bigbadbadge said:

No worries fella, Yes it is quite liberating and as you say it is a Hobby and supposed to be fun. 

I have been trying fineline tape to do rescribing I saw it being used on Neil's lovely Lancaster and as I had some in the garage anyway thought I would give it a go.  It is very flexible for curves etc and I thing I will give it a go for riveting too .

Very glad to hear you are enjoying it again.

Chris

Cheers mate, and thanks as ever for your support. It is sincerely appreciated,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[phat trev]

Looks a great start. Will be following it closely. What colour is your interior?

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Hi Roger,

 

There was some discussion recently (I don't think I was part of it, or not much at least) about whether any Beaufighters really wore RAF Desert Scheme at all. I recall the consensus was that most of those cases which are often illustrated as Desert Scheme are more likely to have been Temperate Sea Scheme instead.

[bigbadbadge]

13 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Hi Roger,

 

There was some discussion recently (I don't think I was part of it, or not much at least) about whether any Beaufighters really wore RAF Desert Scheme at all. I recall the consensus was that most of those cases which are often illustrated as Desert Scheme are more likely to have been Temperate Sea Scheme instead.

Was that the Malta ones Jamie?