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

[Rabbit Leader]

@AdrianMF, please feel free to post some of your completed Beaufort images within this thread. We are all enjoying everything ‘Beaufort’ here and your model was a fabulous example of what one can achieve with an open mind and a bucket load of insane modelling ability. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, AdrianMF said:

That set of plans was a life saver for me. The measurements were taken off a real aeroplane and they correct a number of inaccuracies in the Warpaint plans. There was another set (Aeroplane Monthly special?) that I thought were better than the Warpaint plans but not as good as these.

 

Regards,

Adrian

Excellent,.... glad I posted them now,...... cheers.

[Rabbit Leader]

Construction paused - first signs of Paint applied. 

 

The build phase of this kit is so much fun, however one has to pause after a short while to splash on some internal paint. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking however it’s all OOB expect for an Eduard seatbelt. Once closed up, there is nothing to see within the mid section Navigators station and even with the Beam gun hatch open the view inside is restricted by an internal bulkhead. Once the turret goes on, the back of the fuse will be pretty much hidden away as well.

 

As usual, Airfix suggest Humbrol 78 for the main interior green, a few black bits in Hu 85 and aluminium Hu 56 for the base of the control column.  I prefer to use Lacquers for my initial coats of paints, so applied Gunze’s C364 Aircraft Grey Green, Tamiya X-18 Semi Gloss Black and AK Extreme Metal’s Matte Aluminium AK488. I just love these AK metal paints and you’ll be seeing more of this later on in the build. 

 

Cheers and regards.. Dave 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Let’s talk turrets! 

 

As promised a little earlier on, I’ve spent a few minutes testing out what turret options are included within the first boxing of this Beaufort kit. Initially I thought that we would need a larger turret that wasn’t provided, however now that I’ve cut the parts away and placed them on the applicable rear fuselage plug, it looks as if we have a Bristol turret after all!

 

What confused me was the location of the sprue gates on this turret. There is one sprue gate and two rather annoying ‘dags’ which all need to be removed. Frustratingly they are located on some framework about 1/4 way up from the turrets base, rather than where you would normally expect them to be. I found the follow-up sanding quite awkward and you can easily damage the clear parts if your’e not too careful (just like I did!). Now I can only imagine that this sprue gate was designed for transportation purposes and when first viewed, its lower sprue placement made me think it was actually a smaller turret. 

 

In my opinion this turret is still not complete and would require some internal framework for it all to fit right. Anyway, here’s some photos - Initial Mk.1 version first, later Mk.1A (Bristol) version next. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

 

 

[AdrianMF]

12 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

please feel free to post some of your completed Beaufort images

Dave, that's a very kind and generous offer. I normally don't post pictures of my models on other people's threads out of politeness, but I will take this opportunity to highlight some of the new Airfix features. If I hadn't built my lash up, this would be the kit I most wanted to see ever! And I wouldn't have been disappointed. Here's the Airfix insides:

 

This was my interior. I used some super pictures taken inside the cockpit of an Australian Beaufort being restored, so it has just empty frames for the radio equipment, whereas Airfix has shown the radio in place. I reckoned you wouldn't be able to see anything past the front spar. The torpedo warhead will be in its tunnel directly under the pilot's seat. And note the original FROG cockpit:

 

I managed to spot the "Lewis gun on its side" in time to build it in to the turret. The multiple fuselage inserts to accommodate both Daimler and Bristol turrets have a good side effect in that you can add the Daimler turret later on and glue the last fairing on top of it. With an all-in-one fuselage and fairing, I had to pop my turret in before closing up the fuselage and hope that the guns and sights survived the sanding process!

 

I used the new Airfix Beaufighter wings, tail and undercarriage in my model, because the real Beaufighter used those parts from the Beaufort. The Beaufighter kit has a separate tail fin to accommodate a replacement with lengthened fillet for later marks but this kit doesn't, so there is no provision to have a swap out part for the Australian extended fin. 

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

So good to see these images again Adrian and would have to say that your completed scratch cockpit is still streets ahead of the CAD designed Airfix example. It was definitely a labour of love and now you can add another in next to no time at all.
Cheers and thanks for sharing.. Dave, 

[tonyot]

Looking good Dave, great progress nd Adrian those pics of your interior are amazing,....... reminds me just how excellent a job you did of your model and thanks for doing it as an offerring to the modelling gods as somebody always has to do an in depth amazing model from a dud kit just before a brand new kit is announced LOL!

 

I bought two kits today,..... the first of many!,....... and started them as soon as I got home,...... I`ve painted the interior parts on the sprues tonight;

 

I won`t darken your thread again with my own models,..... just wanted to let you know I`ve got a few too!

Cheers

         Tony 

[TheyJammedKenny!]

OMG: It's now Death Race 2000 with @tonyot and his Beauforts!  Well, we're all winners regardless of who finishes 1, 2, or even 3 Beauforts first.

[tonyot]

3 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

OMG: It's now Death Race 2000 with @tonyot and his Beauforts!  Well, we're all winners regardless of who finishes 1, 2, or even 3 Beauforts first.

LOL,.... no race mate,..... I`m going to savour these,..... been waiting a LOOOOONG time for a mainstream Beaufort kit,.... and we have the ICM 1/48th kit to look forward to too,...... awesome! 

[AdrianMF]

9 hours ago, tonyot said:

Death Race

Just as long as we’re going with the David Carradine and Sly Stallone version..

[Jeff G]

Wow I don't check this thread for 24 hours and I come back to all sorts of reference material and multiple Beauforts in progress! What an exciting time!

[Rabbit Leader]

8 hours ago, tonyot said:

I won`t darken your thread again with my own models,..... just wanted to let you know I`ve got a few too!

Now that’s just silly talk Tony. I would be honoured to share a build alongside your esteemed self, however you might have to slow up a tad as this Rabbit’s getting on a bit! 
 

Glad you’ve got yourself a couple of these lovely Beaufort kits and and would love to know what schemes you’ve got in mind for these two? 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[bigbadbadge]

It's great to see this progress Dave and your interior shots look fantastic and to See Adrian's model again too wow.  I am afraid I have nothing technical to offer, I am only able to offer compliments .

Glad to see Tony has got hold of some, I know he has been wanting a decent kit for years.

Chris

 

[janneman36]

On 3/12/2021 at 9:59 PM, alt-92 said:

*grabs chair*

Just putting this out on the table, for the common good of course  

 

 

 

Is it only worth a blended malt🤔.....

[Dunny]

Coming along nicely Dave, and with @AdrianMF's awesome build and @tonyot in the mix too what's not to love! I wants one (or two). Great work so far - keep it up!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[Rabbit Leader]

3 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

I am afraid I have nothing technical to offer, I am only able to offer compliments .

 

Many thanks Chris, I am more than grateful for your (as well as everyone else’s) huge encouragement so far. It’s allowed me to get through to this stage and fingers crossed, a successful completion as well. Whilst dishing out the plaudits, one must’n forget Airfix, for this is a superb kit and deserves to sell very well for many more years to come.

 

Cheers sand regards.. Dave 

[alt-92]

2 hours ago, janneman36 said:

Is it only worth a blended malt🤔.....

Hey. it's not bad slosh  

But alright: pick your poison

 

[Max Headroom]

Hmmm........Talisker 🥃👍🏻
 

Trevor

[Rabbit Leader]

Construction re-commences - Steps 23 to 34

 

After a brief paint interlude, we continue this build by trapping the cockpit assembly within the two fuselage halves. There is no need to cement the cockpit floor to either of the fuselage pieces as the main wing spars hold all this well into place. The turret rear fuselage plug (A3) is cemented in and the overall fit is not that bad. I used Mr. Surfacer 1000 to fill the resulting gap and once dry, sanded this down to blend in with the rear fuselage contours. 

 

* Rabbit Leaders Tip - If you are leaving the mid fuselage beam gun hatch open, paint the forward facing part of A3 first. Guess who can now see bare plastic through his Beauforts gun hatch! 

 

Moving along, the forward and aft Bomb Bay structure pieces (E2 and E8) are an easy push fit - no cement is required to keep these in place.  Next we glue the port wing landing lights within the upper and lower wing pieces and it all fits rather nicely. I did think that the wing rear trailing edge was a little thick, however I’ve left it that way to match the corresponding ailerons and flap pieces which are of the same thickness. Once painted, it’ll look just fine. 

 

The two piece Horizontal Stabilser and Elevators are next and these fit really well. With separate ailerons and rudder, it would have been nice to have the elevators as sepearate pieces too, however the join is along the hinge line so you can cut these off and displace them as desired. 

 

Now onto the Wing fit. Once assembled, the wings just slide over the two spars until they hit the fuselage fairing. I have to say, I have not seen a more smoother and cleaner wing to body join anywhere on any kit. OK, I’ll admit I’ve not built Tamiya’s 1/48 Tomcat, however this perfect joint is just gorgeous. As I’ve banged on in the past, don’t apply plaint anywhere near here. Firstly, you’ll never see it and secondly it may marr what is an excellent piece of plastic engineering. Trust me, if you read that anyone has had wing fit issues - its not the kits fault! 

 

Apologies for the long winded text, however this is a major stage that deserves to be explained in some depth. 

 

Cheers and thanks again for watching... Dave 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Edge]

Great explanations Dave - she's looking fab!

 

Edge

 

[Beard]

Nice work Dave.

I'm just at the point of fixing the undercarriage and their nacelles, I'm doing them before attaching the wings, but won't spoil your enjoyment by telling you how they go together.

[AdrianMF]

Very nice! The Beaufighter wings fitted just like that onto the spars too, even after I'd butchered the centre section to fit around the FROG fuselage. I used to push them on and off just to hear the satisfying little "click" as they bedded in! Also interesting that the wheel wells have slightly different detailing from the Beaufighter ones - Airfix are not missing a trick!

 

Just for giggles, here's the same stage from the pre-Airfix-Beaufort epoch:

 

Regards,

Adrian

[dogsbody]

Dang it! When will I be able to purchase one of these kits? Hannants still doesn't have any and I've not heard of any in North America yet either.

 

 

Dave, I see you went with Interior Grey-Green for the bomb bay.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Rabbit Leader]

7 hours ago, Beard said:

I'm just at the point of fixing the undercarriage and their nacelles, I'm doing them before attaching the wings, but won't spoil your enjoyment by telling you how they go together.

Sounds like the fun just continues, I look forward to the next few stages. Cheers 

 

2 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Dave, I see you went with Interior Grey-Green for the bomb bay.

Yes Chris. Part of the reason was that I painted the whole cockpit assembly one colour and it will also make a nice contrast to the silver underbelly. Let’s see that when I get there. 
 

Cheers.. Dave

[Beard]

1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Sounds like the fun just continues, I look forward to the next few stages. Cheers 

I'm now assembling the engines and (look away now, if you don't want your fun spoilt) I can report that the cowling fit round the engines.