Airfix “New Tool” Bristol Beaufort A04021 (1st WIP) ** FINISHED **

[The Spadgent]

Looking fantastic! 

[Greg Law]

Looking good Dave. 

[Rabbit Leader]

Painting 'somewhat' completed 

 

It's taking me quite a while to get to this stage, however this Beaufort build is still progressing in between bad thoughts of starting another project! Anyway, the AK Real Colour Dark Earth went on without any problems whatsoever. Thinned with Mr. Color Levelling Thinner, these paints behave themselves like most good quality new paints. A few days later I masked off the 'B' scheme camouflage pattern which wasn't easy as most images and drawings I had were of the 'A' scheme pattern. Tamiya's XF-81 was my choice for Dark Green and off with the masking tape to expose the results. I did respray the port wing again as I initially wasn't happy with the camo pattern and a few very minor touch-ups took place were the tape lifted some paint (it was very minor indeed). To be honest,I'm not exactly won over by these combination of top colours, however am hoping that some slight weathering and a semi-gloss clear coat will help it look the part.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaveyGair]

Just caught up with this (2AM here in the UK, restless night!), looks OK to me Dave. To be honest, every time I do standard DE/DG uppers they always look different even using the same paint out the bottles , you're at that 'will it or won't it' stage where it doesn't look right till the decals and final finishing is done. 

 

 

Davey.

[dogsbody]

Finally! An update. I've been jonesing badly.

 

I haven't started mine yet, as the main bathroom reno is still on. Also there's the up-coming redo of the downstairs bathroom, plus the reflooring of the rec-room down there. Two large bookshelves have to be emptied and moved, along with my 1000+ LP collection and the 1000+ CD collection. Linda has also started a spring cleaning stint. All this and COVID too! I need a drink!

 

 

Rant over!

 

 

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

[philp]

Looks good to me.

 

I am planning on a Malta based build but might wait for the 2nd release for that.

Probably will do my first in the grays scheme but haven't decided on whether to go with the kit scheme or one on the available sheets or completely off the hook.

[tonyot]

Coming along nicely Dave,.... the AK Drk Earth looks great,.... I`m impressed by how these paints look,.... but not sure if they re OK to brush paint with? To be fair mate,... the Dark Green looks a bit too stark in some pics (blue background?) ,...... more like Foliage Green,.....  but in others it looks OK,..... maybe it will blend in  bit after some weathering and varnish?

Really looking forward to seeing this one finished mate,

Cheers

          Tony

Edited May 3, 2021 by tonyot

[MACALAIN]

7 hours ago, philp said:

Looks good to me.

 

I am planning on a Malta based build but might wait for the 2nd release for that.

Probably will do my first in the grays scheme but haven't decided on whether to go with the kit scheme or one on the available sheets or completely off the hook.

I am making a Malta Beaufort with the Xradecal sheet Nr72161 Battle of Malta.

 

Alain

[tonyot]

40 minutes ago, MACALAIN said:

I am making a Malta Beaufort with the Xradecal sheet Nr72161 Battle of Malta.

 

Alain

If you are going for that one Alain,..... I would not be too sure about it being covered with random Mid Stone as it says in the instructions,....... it is more likely to be sun bleaching of the existing paint combined with the brightness of the sunshine in the photo,.... here is a decent photo of the actual aeroplane. I would say that it is wearing faded Temperate Sea Scheme,... the undersides could be Sky or a light blue?

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by tonyot

[MACALAIN]

26 minutes ago, tonyot said:

If you are going for that one Alain,..... I would not be too sure about it being covered with random Mid Stone as it says in the instructions,....... it is more likely to be sun bleaching of the existing paint combined with the brightness of the sunshine in the photo,.... here is a decent photo of the actual aeroplane. I would say that it is wearing faded Temperate Sea Scheme,... the undersides could be Sky or a light blue?

 

Thank you very much for the informations.  It is a nice picture, mai I copy it for personal use ?

 

It look like a dirty plane

 

Alain

[MACALAIN]

13 minutes ago, MACALAIN said:

Thank you very much for the informations.  It is a nice picture, mai I copy it for personal use ?

 

It look like a dirty plane

 

Alain

Do you thing the plane had the chin machine gun ????

 

Alain

[jackroadkill]

13 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

 To be honest,I'm not exactly won over by these combination of top colours, however am hoping that some slight weathering and a semi-gloss clear coat will help it look the part.

 

Mine looked a lot better as soon as the gloss coat hit it.  Things looked a bit uninspiring up until then but the clear coat definitely made things pop a bit.  I'm sure yours will come out grand.

 

13 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

you're at that 'will it or won't it' stage where it doesn't look right till the decals and final finishing is done.

 

I've found exactly the same with all my builds.  Once the paint is underway progress slows and enthusiasm dips until the point where the decals are on, whereupon things look rosy again.

 

12 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Finally! An update. I've been jonesing badly.

 

Same here - I seem to be more interested in what other Beaufort builders are doing than in finishing my own!

 

[DaveyGair]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

If you are going for that one Alain,..... I would not be too sure about it being covered with random Mid Stone as it says in the instructions,....... it is more likely to be sun bleaching of the existing paint combined with the brightness of the sunshine in the photo,.... here is a decent photo of the actual aeroplane. I would say that it is wearing faded Temperate Sea Scheme,... the undersides could be Sky or a light blue?

 

 

It is intriguing, I myself was going to do this scheme, this photo is in the Warpaint book on the Beaufort. I for one will probably do this as the sheet describes, throwing caution to the wind!

 

Davey.

[AdrianMF]

The colours over the silver look great! A nice colour scheme.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[alt-92]

Noice  Haven't gotten the time to dig into my two yet, but I did order a sheet with some extra BeauFort markings already. 

 

6 hours ago, tonyot said:

the Dark Green looks a bit too stark in some pics (blue background?) ,...... more like Foliage Green,.....  but in others it looks OK,..... maybe it will blend in  bit after some weathering and varnish?

I think it's the background Tamiya's XF-81 DG² was tested some time ago against RAFM chips and the conclusion was very close match according to Nick Millman's standards. Can't be a bad thing

 

[Properjob56]

Yay, I wondered what had happened to this.

 

That Tamiya Green looks about right. I'm going with the other option in the box of Dark Slate Grey and Extra Dark Sea Grey. The former is from a Pollyscale bottle and the latter, Precision Paint M7.  As you can see I'm attempting to transition from enamel to acrylic paint so dark corners of the Den have to be explored to find paints, bought probably decades ago, and use them up. A consequence is that I will be obliged to wait for days for the paint to cure to try and avoid a bad reaction when the (acrylic) varnishes go on.

I've also been delayed as I had the Eduard internal etch set to install.

 

2 observations;

1. Despite all warnings I cocked up misassembled the engine. I would add to the advise already given here, don't paint the engine on the sprue, wait until its assembled as the locators are not easy to see and obvs its a lot more difficult if the assembly points of the parts are black. Further, don't use Polystyrene cement as you have no chance of redoing the assembly if it all goes horribly wrong.

2. Despite the illustrations in the Airfix instructions I can find no evidence of a backward firing barbette on the a/c depicted. So, unless told otherwise, I wont be using it.

 

Should be done in about 10 days.

[Paws4thot]

On the general subject of washes, as up-thread.

 

My favourite washes are Games Workshop inks, which apply without reacting over any enamel or acrylic I've tried them with. I've never tried lacquers though, as I still use hairy sticks.

[Johnson]

Looks pretty good to me Dave.

The guys are right, it's the wrong time to judge the topcoats. Decals etc make a lot of difference.

Interesting what you say about the AK paints which I have but not yet tried.

I know you're not too keen on weathering (like me), but will you be adding a bit to the Beaufort? A bit of light weathering might be good.

Best wishes for the rest of the build.

[dogsbody]

2 hours ago, Paws4thot said:

On the general subject of washes, as up-thread.

 

My favourite washes are Games Workshop inks, which apply without reacting over any enamel or acrylic I've tried them with. I've never tried lacquers though, as I still use hairy sticks.

 

 

That's what I used on my Hurricane's radiator faces, over Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[tonyot]

11 hours ago, MACALAIN said:

Thank you very much for the informations.  It is a nice picture, mai I copy it for personal use ?

 

It look like a dirty plane

 

Alain

Yeah no worries mate,.... glad it is of use. 

Re the nose gun,,, hard to say but I would probably say YES,.... looking at contemporary aircrft in the same area wearing similar colours and markings.

Edited May 3, 2021 by tonyot

[Rabbit Leader]

23 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

Just caught up with this (2AM here in the UK, restless night!), looks OK to me Dave. To be honest, every time I do standard DE/DG uppers they always look different even using the same paint out the bottles , you're at that 'will it or won't it' stage where it doesn't look right till the decals and final finishing is done. 

 

Thanks Davey. Now that I think of it I tend to feel the same about every model I've completed once I get to this stage. My Frog Canberra was a classic and I hated it until the point that the decals went on, canopy unmasked and it was 100% finished. This kit will look so different with the engines on and canopy glazing (hopefully) popping out. 

 

22 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Finally! An update. I've been jonesing badly.

 

Sorry Chris, I know you've been a regular contributor on here so apologies for the late update. Like you, life seems to get in the way of modelling which annoys me, however I can't do much about that for the moment / next 15 years ! 

You may end up starting and finishing yours quicker than mine! 

 

22 hours ago, philp said:

Looks good to me.

 

Thanks Philip, I appreciate the endorsement. Still a fair way to go. 

 

17 hours ago, tonyot said:

Coming along nicely Dave,.... the AK Drk Earth looks great,.... I`m impressed by how these paints look,.... but not sure if they re OK to brush paint with? To be fair mate,... the Dark Green looks a bit too stark in some pics (blue background?) ,...... more like Foliage Green,.....  but in others it looks OK,..... maybe it will blend in  bit after some weathering and varnish?

 

Thanks Tony, I always appreciate your feedback. The AK Paints are good, however you would need to find the right thinner to mix them with for brush painting. Might be best to try a bottle and experiment until you make it work for you. Now I agree that the Blue background playing tricks with my kits colours. It does appear to resemble Foliage Green doesn't it? .... perhaps this kit is trying to tell me that it wanted to be in Aussie colours after all. The last photo in my update is a little closer to reality and I've since applied a brown panel line wash and used some weathering powders. I'm happier with how it looks to the naked eye. 

 

12 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

Mine looked a lot better as soon as the gloss coat hit it.  Things looked a bit uninspiring up until then but the clear coat definitely made things pop a bit.  I'm sure yours will come out grand.

I've found exactly the same with all my builds.  Once the paint is underway progress slows and enthusiasm dips until the point where the decals are on, whereupon things look rosy again.

Same here - I seem to be more interested in what other Beaufort builders are doing than in finishing my own!

 

Thanks Jack, I'm looking forward to the gloss coat, however as I use a range of paint mediums I'm always hesitant to apply it until I'm fully satisfied that I've painted and weathered as much as possible. I can always go back after the gloss coat, however prefer to not mix enamels after I've used an acrylic gloss. I've got a bad record with that! 

 

 

12 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

The colours over the silver look great! A nice colour scheme.

 

Thanks Adrian. With the silver undersides I wanted something different and am embarrassed to say I don't have  a completed build with a Type A fuselage roundel as yet!. 

 

11 hours ago, alt-92 said:

I think it's the background Tamiya's XF-81 DG² was tested some time ago against RAFM chips and the conclusion was very close match according to Nick Millman's standards. Can't be a bad thing

 

I think your right about the background throwing out the kit's colours. The last photo in my update is actually the same background however the light is casting a different 'hue' (is that the word?)

Good to hear about XF-81 being tested with favourable results, that comforting to know.  

 

10 hours ago, Properjob56 said:

Yay, I wondered what had happened to this. That Tamiya Green looks about right.

 

2 observations;

1. Despite all warnings I cocked up misassembled the engine. I would add to the advise already given here, don't paint the engine on the sprue, wait until its assembled as the locators are not easy to see and obvs its a lot more difficult if the assembly points of the parts are black. Further, don't use Polystyrene cement as you have no chance of redoing the assembly if it all goes horribly wrong.

2. Despite the illustrations in the Airfix instructions I can find no evidence of a backward firing barbette on the a/c depicted. So, unless told otherwise, I wont be using it.

 

Another endorsement for the Dark Green... looks to be a winner! 

Yes, those engines can be a trap and sometimes I feel that this topic deserves a BM thread all to itself! I might think about doing one so that it gets a little more attention. 

 

6 hours ago, Johnson said:

Looks pretty good to me Dave.

The guys are right, it's the wrong time to judge the topcoats. Decals etc make a lot of difference.

Interesting what you say about the AK paints which I have but not yet tried.

I know you're not too keen on weathering (like me), but will you be adding a bit to the Beaufort? A bit of light weathering might be good.

Best wishes for the rest of the build.

 

Thanks for the kind comments.  It is so true about the 'wrong time' to think twice about colours. The decals and removing of canopy masks will make a tonne of difference so I'll persevere on this one. You'll be happy to know that I've started weathering, however will limit this to the 'less is more' approach so that I don't go overboard. 

 

Thanks for all the great feedback. It is most helpful and helps keep things in perspective and on the right track. 

Cheers and regards.. Dave 

 

[ModelingEdmontonian]

On 5/2/2021 at 6:59 PM, Rabbit Leader said:

Painting 'somewhat' completed 

 

It's taking me quite a while to get to this stage, however this Beaufort build is still progressing in between bad thoughts of starting another project! Anyway, the AK Real Colour Dark Earth went on without any problems whatsoever. Thinned with Mr. Color Levelling Thinner, these paints behave themselves like most good quality new paints. A few days later I masked off the 'B' scheme camouflage pattern which wasn't easy as most images and drawings I had were of the 'A' scheme pattern. Tamiya's XF-81 was my choice for Dark Green and off with the masking tape to expose the results. I did respray the port wing again as I initially wasn't happy with the camo pattern and a few very minor touch-ups took place were the tape lifted some paint (it was very minor indeed). To be honest,I'm not exactly won over by these combination of top colours, however am hoping that some slight weathering and a semi-gloss clear coat will help it look the part.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks awesome to me!

[MACALAIN]

5 hours ago, tonyot said:

Yeah no worries mate,.... glad it is of use. 

Re the nose gun,,, hard to say but I would probably say YES,.... looking at contemporary aircrft in the same area wearing similar colours and markings.

Thank you very much for all

 

Alain

[Greg Law]

Well Dave I wouldn't worry about the colours at this stage. Once the decals and weathering are done I'm sure it will look just right as usual.   By the way it looks fine to me.

[tonyot]

How is this one going Dave,..... you said something about putting the decals on? Looking forward to seeing it with the markings in place.