jackroadkill Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 For Christmas my better half bought me three model kits; an Eduard Gustav, and Eduard Bf110 and an Airfix Defiant, all in 1/48. I have a soft spot for the Defiant, a 1/72 one being how I got back into building kits last year. I'm also in awe of the men who flew her in war against far faster, more manoeuvrable and better armed opposition. Despite being at huge disadvantages the crews of the Defiant went unstintingly into battle and gave their lives heroically, accounting for a surprisingly large number of enemy aircraft. So, here's the first picture of the build: The kit seems well made, although there's a little tidying up that needs doing on the outer sections of the wings. Airfix's styrene is famously soft but a gentle approach is ensuring that nothing too exciting happens. I'm impressed with the structure of the wings - someone designed them with ease of construction in mind, evidently. The build will be largely OOB with added Eduard PE. At present I'm intending to use the kit decals. Cheers, JRK 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(ex)Sgtrafman Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Hiya I built this a while back and I don’t recall any real issues with it, I think the only sticking point might be the fit of the turret, it’s quiet tight, but once it’s built it looks very good. Have fun with it and I look forward to seeing your progress. Cheers Iain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 3 hours ago, (ex)Sgtrafman said: Hiya I built this a while back and I don’t recall any real issues with it, I think the only sticking point might be the fit of the turret, it’s quiet tight, but once it’s built it looks very good. Have fun with it and I look forward to seeing your progress. Cheers Iain Hi Iain, As I remember this was the case with the 1/72 version, too. I'll bear it in mind when the time comes to fit the turret to the airframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff G Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Definitely one of my favourite kits to build, it went together well and feels well constructed. Excited to see what you'll produce! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 I've now got the majority of the airframe together. This took a bit of doing as the starboard fuselage half was a bit distorted, but it went okay once I'd realised this and sorted it out. I'm just using the undercarriage doors as masking at this point. As you can see there's a wee bit of filler drying on the leading edge wing roots and there's also some on the upper nose between the fuel tank and the windscreen. Other than that, no major disasters so far. There are also some staggeringly shiny black parts (turret and prop), too. They'll need a bit of toning down before they're stuck on, I reckon. So she's coming on well now. I'm enjoying the build immensely and am looking forward to the next steps. Hopefully before long I'll have got a coat of sky on the underside. Cheers, JRK 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Nonymous Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) Grand start - I built both versions of the 1:48 Airfix Defiant and they are lovely kits. I took a lot of reference photos of the one at Cosford which is in NF black let me know if you need anything. The thing I like about the Defiant is as you noted in your intro - as a plane so commonly slated as a bad idea, it actually did pretty well, and the RAF may seem to have invented the Schrage Musik technique in 1940 when it went into night time interceptor service. Enjoy yourself 🙂 Edited March 14, 2021 by Simon Nonymous spellong 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 Thanks @Simon Nonymous, that's a kind offer. I'll let you know if I need anything clarified. She's a funny old aircraft, and the conventional wisdom is that she was nothing but a death-trap for her crews. Obviously whilst she was helpless against the Bf109, scrapping it out with fighters wasn't what she was made for. If there is a fatal flaw, it's in the abstract behind the type - attacking unescorted bombers over Britain in daylight, which obviously rarely happened, as the pesky Luftwaffe would insist on sending their fighters along to protect the bombers. Had she been a intended as a dedicated night-fighter (perhaps with two 20-mm cannon in the turret....) I think history would have been much kinder to her. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 I don't know if a shortage of skilled manpower or materiel would allow it but given eventual acceptance that the Turret-Fighter concept was so inflexible, was any consideration given to re-working the Defiant into a conventional, single seat fighter? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 37 minutes ago, David H said: I don't know if a shortage of skilled manpower or materiel would allow it but given eventual acceptance that the Turret-Fighter concept was so inflexible, was any consideration given to re-working the Defiant into a conventional, single seat fighter? BP did make a prototype based on the Defiant but without the turret, the P.94, but it would have been a direct competitor for the Spitfire and Hurricane. Also, given that by mid-1940 the design for the Mustang was well underway, I think that introducing the P.94 into service would have been pointless, as it would have been verging on the obsolete even before it took to the air. It is interesting, though, that a mock-up of the Defiant was shown (I think in 1938?) at an exhibition and the Air Ministry, aware that Nazi Germany would be watching, claimed the the Defiant would carry 17 guns, including several cannon. If only! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 A small update - I've got the underside painted in sky, the workings of the turret and filters painted and ready for assembly, I've drilled and rodded the airscrew and finished sanding and flatting the (very small) areas of filler that the kit needed. I'm only getting a small amount of time each day to build, and I'm also trying to prioritise the ANZAC GB Beaufort, so progress isn't wildly quick at the moment. Still, it's coming on. Cheers, JRK 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark.au Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 You’re making great progress d3spite a full schedule and three kits on the go. I like the sig, by the way 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 7 hours ago, mark.au said: I like the sig, by the way Well, it just seemed too good to let it go begging. It's my first ever signature on any forum! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted April 4, 2021 Author Share Posted April 4, 2021 Slow going, but going nonetheless; I've masked the turret up (forty five minutes of my life I won't get back!) and built the internals of the turret as well. I also made my first attempt at airbrushing metallic enamel paint on the insides of the undercarriage doors. This seems to have gone well, which is good - for some reason I was apprehensive about using metallics in the airbrush but it seems that my fears were unwarranted. I've also airbrushed the Dark Earth onto the airframe. Say hello to the Brownton Paul Defiant (Easter edition): The next step is to paint and fully assemble the turret before the paint masks arrive from the Big H. When that happens I can crack on with the Dark Green element of the camouflage pattern. You never know, I may actually be getting somewhere! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Nonymous Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Yummy milk chocolate flavour! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted April 11, 2021 Author Share Posted April 11, 2021 During the Great Morning Airbrushing Fiasco I treated the Defiant to some Dark Green, using some Top Notch vinyl masks: As you can see in the picture above, I knocked the windscreen off, but hey ho. I liked the masks. They gave a good crisp edge, so I'll use them again. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 Well, despite being slightly longer between updates than I'd hoped, there is (shock horror!) progress being made on the old girl. I finally finished the airbrushing last week and then got an experimentally-thin gloss coat on, courtesy of W+N and my airbrush. Thus was because I'm determined to actually find a gloss coat which I like, and to that end I've just tried Pledge on the Tempest I'm building as a direct comparison. Anyway, the W+N worked pretty well, and I decided to put the major decals on the Defiant. As usual, I ballsed it up and knackered one of the squadron codes immediately, so I had to order from the Big H and get some more. This evening I got the codes on, and then did the upper surfaces' stencils, too. This is a pretty cruddy picture but it serves to show that I'm actually doing something, if nothing else: The sharp-eyed amongst you will notice where I cracked the turret fairing; I'm reasonably confident that you won't see it when I've fitted the turret and done some jiggery-pokery. So, the finish line is creaking into view at last. Cheers, Jack 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted September 25, 2021 Author Share Posted September 25, 2021 Okay, I'm calling this done. It's not that great of a job, if I'm honest, but between work, life being difficult and a serious loss of mojo along the way it's as good as it was ever going to be. The kit was pretty much perfect - any issues are mine and mine alone. Not sure if I can be bothered to RFI her, but maybe I'll do that if I can raise the enthusiasm later. Thanks to everyone who had looked at the thread, offered help or encouragement etc. Cheers, JRK 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marklo Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Looks pretty good to me. I can be my own harshest critic too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 It's not perfect but then, no model ever is. It's good enough to please me and maybe when you've been away from it for a week or two, it will be good enough for you too. I tried this kit a couple of years ago and didn't finish it. So you beat me to the prize at least. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff G Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Love it! One of my favourite things about modelling - whether you like the finished product or not, the only thing left to do is move on and it's a fresh start. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunny Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 Turned out nice! Those masks make for a lovely crisp camo - well done sir! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted September 26, 2021 Author Share Posted September 26, 2021 I gave in to temptation and posted an RFI thread. It contains the story of the aircraft and crew, which you may find interesting: Cheers, JRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick32 Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 Looks good to me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now