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

[Rabbit Leader]

40 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

There is a very clear picture of a single sideways mounted Lewis gun here , seventh picture down

 

Incidentally, FWIW, the gun mounting itself looks a little high compared to this picture. The pivot point should be at the centre of the arc described by the opening in the glass, so below the horizontal framing line.

 

How many times have I seen that famous Beam Gun photograph?, the single side mounted gun inside the turret is so obvious in that photo. 

That's also an interesting observation about the high gun mount. I'll have to do something about that, although not exactly sure what as yet. The supplied kit part is a little blobby. 

 

Cheers.. Dave  

[jackroadkill]

Morning Dave, the Beaufort's turret is something that's been giving me food for thought too.  I like your method of fitting it so there's a good chance I'll try it when the time comes to fit mine (hopefully soon!)

[Rabbit Leader]

Just now, jackroadkill said:

Morning Dave, the Beaufort's turret is something that's been giving me food for thought too.  I like your method of fitting it so there's a good chance I'll try it when the time comes to fit mine (hopefully soon!)

 

Hello 'Jack'.. there was no way I was going to get that rear fuselage piece smooth with that turret already in place. I'm glad you think this method may be usable too. 

Cheers and best of luck.. Dave 

[Dave Swindell]

7 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

Chris, do you know what timeframe this picture is from?

22 Sqn had adopted Night undersurfaces by December 1940, and the fuselage roundel is still A type, so before mid 42

W6537 came from late on in a batch delivered between Dec 40 and March 41 and went to 22 sqn before serving with 86 and 217 sqn before being SOC 6/7/44

Judging by the preponderance of welly boots but lack of overcoats I'd hazard a guess at late spring 41?

[MACALAIN]

21 hours ago, tonyot said:

Looking good Dave,.... that mask looks just the job. Your photography is awesome too.... really clear and close up too!

 

My pair are coming along,..... decided to built them both as Mk.Ia`s,..... one RAF & one SAAF,...... having got the engines done on both models I have drilled holes in the nose glazing `very carefully' to mount a pair of forward firing Vickers K Guns,.... using the spare ones for the kit as I`m going with the later style turret, using spares box Brownings. I`ve also dug out a part started High Planes Beaufort too which has been lying around painted for years!;

 

Glazing test fitted;

 

Cheers

         Tony

 

3 at one time !!! and not possible to find one in Belgium, self Airfix don't want to export in EU, snif, snif

 

Alain

 

PS : they look nice, and how many Maltese???

 

[dogsbody]

9 hours ago, jackroadkill said:

 

Chris, do you know what timeframe this picture is from?

 

The full caption for this photo:

 

Beaufort I W6537/OA-F of No 22 Squadron starting up at St Eval, December 1941. The accumulator trolley in the foreground supplied the necessary electrical power to the aircraft and was disconnected once the engines were running. Unlike other Beaufort squadrons, No 22 fitted a Vickers 'K' gun in the nose compartment of its aircraft, to be used for flak-suppression during low-level attacks.

 

 

I have now edited my posting above to include the full caption.

 

 

 

Chris

[tonyot]

5 hours ago, MACALAIN said:

3 at one time !!! and not possible to find one in Belgium, self Airfix don't want to export in EU, snif, snif

 

Alain

 

PS : they look nice, and how many Maltese???

 

Thanks Alain,........Well one of them is an Aussie High Planes kit which I have had on the go for over 10 years! ,..... the other two are Airfix,..... but none of them will be Malta based, the High Planes kit will be an RAF North African based aircraft and the two Airfix kits will be another North African based aircraft of the SAAF aircraft and an RAF one based in Ceylon. 

I am looking at upgrding a couple of part started Special Hobby kits (seen below),....as when compared to the real thing n the new Airfix kit you can really see how squat and fat the mid fuselage spine section is,.... as seen on the furthest SH model which is a Mk.II,.... so I`m experimenting with making this section higher using plastic card and filler on the nearest one which is an Aussie Beaufort,.... hopefully by sanding it to a better apex,..... we`ll see. If I`m successful with the Aussie aircraft,..... I`ll then crack on with the Mk.II,.... and that will be in Malta colours!

 

And some more progress with the Airfix kits,..... drilled out the hole for the nose guns on the 2nd model, then painted the frame around them both,....canopies glued on, nose glazing tacked on for now (so that I can add the nose guns at the end, as otherwise I will break them!), wing light covers added, engines added,...... seams sanded smooth,...hopefully,..... so once the canopies have dried I`ll sand a few seams smooth and then begin adding some paint!   I spent the entire morning sanding and filling the wing trailing edge sections with the extentions added as both were short shot,..... so needed filling and sanding and it wasn`t very easy to accomplish while still retaining the raised detail,..... I`ve done the best I can anyway! ;

 

PS,.... re the complaint that Airfix have not sent any to Europe yet,...... the container could very well be held up in the Suez Canal somewhere,..... have you thought of that? I don`t think it is anything personal,.... although the rather over zealous custom`s checks being carried out at the European ports could have something to do with it too?

 

Cheers

          Tony 

Edited April 2, 2021 by tonyot

[tonyot]

20 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Don't forget that bit of framing around those nose guns!

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

All done Chris,..... I did the second one today,..... then painted both frames together.

I`ve covered the holes with tape now to stop any dust getting in! 

Edited April 2, 2021 by tonyot

[tonyot]

16 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Let's talk about that Daimler turret? 

 

Just another one of those 'too the side' interludes that perhaps needs some discussion.

The early Beaufort Mk.1 Daimler turret sits snugly within the rear half of the fuselage and Airfix suggest that you build up the turret as one assembly, insert all these parts inside the turret locating hole and trap this all together by attaching the rear fuselage fairing across the top. A quick dry run of the corresponding parts left me a little unsure about this sequence. My preference would have been to get the rear fuselage fairing join right, without having to deal with a nice painted up clear turret getting in the way.  Attaching the fairing first, will not allow you to insert the completed turret in place, so after a few head scratching minutes, I managed to come up with a new sequence that I think might work.   

One quick note - these photos were taken a while back and I've since closed up the entry hatch and smooth it all over. The kit looks pretty rough in these close-ups, however its really not that bad to the naked eye. 

 

Photo 1. The rear / upper fuselage piece sits over the turret opening. Note the ugly gap at the top and sides that all need to be filled and sanded. 

 

 

Photo 2. The turret's clear parts are split vertically and I plan to install the rear half to the main turret mechanism and dropping this assembly into the corresponding fuselage hole.

Since taking these photos I now believe that if one wishes to model their Beaufort with a single Lewis gun, the gun should be located in the sideways mounted position rather than the top position (as I have done?)  If anyone can confirm or deny this, I'd be most interested.  

 

 

Photo 3.  Once this assembly is installed, the second clear piece can be attached to close up the turret. This way, all the heavy filling and sanding can take place prior to installing and potentially damaging the clear parts... something I'm prone to do. Anyway, I'm sure there's many ways to tackle this stage, so if anyone else has another method, please feel free to add your comments here.  I'll take better photos later on to show how successful (or otherwise) my method has been.  

 

 

Cheers and regards.. Dave 

If I were you Dave I would add the inner workings minus the guns,...... get on with building and painting the model and then at the end add the gun, the rear section of glazing and then join it to the front section (ie the bit where the guns stick out of!),..... then nothing gets damaged.

[TheyJammedKenny!]

Not to hijack this thread (but I'll hijack this thread), how do you get the delicate black or dark grey borders on your canopy/glazing frames, @tonyot?  Is this with a wash after everything is painted/decaled/clear-coated?  I like it, because I think it gives the appearance of "scale" thickness perspex, which is otherwise impossible to achieve in 1/72.

[Greg Law]

The rear gun was definitely on it's side.  I was doing mine like that. 

Canopies are looking good. I seem to have trouble when I Future my Canopies.  The masks damage the film surface when I remove them. This is what happened to my Me 163 Canopy. 

[Mi Tasol]

On 28 March I wrote

The Australian Mk I/IE turret blind remains I have seen were tan, fabric like used for covering the aircraft control surfaces, and reinforced with steel strips about 3/8 wide spaced on about 5/8 centres.  I do not think the colour had changed from new as they were inside the box that held the roller that they retracted around but there may very well have been discolouration from the box and reinforcing strips rusting with age.  It is about 30 years since I saw them so the memory is not guaranteed perfect.

 

Thanks to Geoffrey Sinclair I am able to correct that statement regarding the fabric.  It was a light canvas on the Australian ones and I doubt that the Australians changed anything on their Aus built Mk I turrets in this area.

 

NOTE if I find any more material on the various Beaufort turrets I will post it on the thread below (I cannot seem to get it to link to the first post in the thread)

 

 

And from the same source  

Edited April 3, 2021 by Mi Tasol
trying to fix link

[MACALAIN]

13 hours ago, tonyot said:

Thanks Alain,........Well one of them is an Aussie High Planes kit which I have had on the go for over 10 years! ,..... the other two are Airfix,..... but none of them will be Malta based, the High Planes kit will be an RAF North African based aircraft and the two Airfix kits will be another North African based aircraft of the SAAF aircraft and an RAF one based in Ceylon. 

I am looking at upgrding a couple of part started Special Hobby kits (seen below),....as when compared to the real thing n the new Airfix kit you can really see how squat and fat the mid fuselage spine section is,.... as seen on the furthest SH model which is a Mk.II,.... so I`m experimenting with making this section higher using plastic card and filler on the nearest one which is an Aussie Beaufort,.... hopefully by sanding it to a better apex,..... we`ll see. If I`m successful with the Aussie aircraft,..... I`ll then crack on with the Mk.II,.... and that will be in Malta colours!

 

And some more progress with the Airfix kits,..... drilled out the hole for the nose guns on the 2nd model, then painted the frame around them both,....canopies glued on, nose glazing tacked on for now (so that I can add the nose guns at the end, as otherwise I will break them!), wing light covers added, engines added,...... seams sanded smooth,...hopefully,..... so once the canopies have dried I`ll sand a few seams smooth and then begin adding some paint!   I spent the entire morning sanding and filling the wing trailing edge sections with the extentions added as both were short shot,..... so needed filling and sanding and it wasn`t very easy to accomplish while still retaining the raised detail,..... I`ve done the best I can anyway! ;

 

PS,.... re the complaint that Airfix have not sent any to Europe yet,...... the container could very well be held up in the Suez Canal somewhere,..... have you thought of that? I don`t think it is anything personal,.... although the rather over zealous custom`s checks being carried out at the European ports could have something to do with it too?

 

Cheers

          Tony 

Thank you very much

 

Alain

[tonyot]

16 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Not to hijack this thread (but I'll hijack this thread), how do you get the delicate black or dark grey borders on your canopy/glazing frames, @tonyot?  Is this with a wash after everything is painted/decaled/clear-coated?  I like it, because I think it gives the appearance of "scale" thickness perspex, which is otherwise impossible to achieve in 1/72.

Hello,..... the frames on these Beauforts have been brush painted. Sometimes I will score around some frame lines and add a wash which can be rubbed away with a tissue ifI think it needs it,.... but usually it is just painted.

[tonyot]

A bit more progress with my small squadron,.....

 

All sanded and ready to paint,..... showing the framework around the guns for Chris. I have also added an ASV receiver alongside the pilots position, left over from a recent Mosquito model;

 

And then some paint,.... Aeromaster Dark Slate Grey;

 

And,.... the Special Hobby Aussie Beaufort,......

Sanded,... with the spine extension,.... a left over fairing from the Airfix kit has been cut down and used in the turret position. I`ve already snapped off and lost the barrels of the nose guns, so glad I took them out of the Airfix kits for now,.... hopefully I`ll have some in the spares box;

 

And the first coat of paint,... Polly Scale RAAF Earth Brown;

 

Cheers

           Tony

    

[Rabbit Leader]

As always, looking great Tony. Nice to see an RAAF one in the mix. 
Cheers.. Dave 

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

As always, looking great Tony. Nice to see an RAAF one in the mix. 
Cheers.. Dave 

Cheers Dave,..... I intend to build a few more RAAF Beaufort`s using the Airfix kit as I believe that there is a conversion on the way from High Planes?

[Rabbit Leader]

25 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Dave,..... I intend to build a few more RAAF Beaufort`s using the Airfix kit as I believe that there is a conversion on the way from High Planes?

 

You are quite correct. Here is a FB link - https://www.facebook.com/HPMHobbies/

From what I know, the Engines, Cowls, Props and possibly tail are all done and Chris needed a kit sample to complete the nacelles and u/c doors. he seems to be pretty advanced, so hopefully it won't be too much longer. 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

[tonyot]

1 minute ago, Rabbit Leader said:

 

You are quite correct. Here is a FB link - https://www.facebook.com/HPMHobbies/

From what I know, the Engines, Cowls, Props and possibly tail are all done and Chris needed a kit sample to complete the nacelles and u/c doors. he seems to be pretty advanced, so hopefully it won't be too much longer. 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

Brilliant news,.... Chris seems to be a nice bloke too,..... I`ve had a few dealings with him and he was a proper gent. 

[Rabbit Leader]

1 minute ago, tonyot said:

Chris seems to be a nice bloke too

 

Unlike what you might read in today's press, there are still a few of them out there! 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Ed Russell]

3 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Chris needed a kit sample to complete the nacelles and u/c doors.

Thanks to a helpful local model shop he received one very quickly (and gratis) and is well advanced on his conversion parts.

I would second the notion is is a very nice guy!

[Beggsy]

I'm eagerly awaiting that conversion as well.  I though the engines were all I needed for an early Mk.V, but Chris was kind enough to explain the differences in the nacelles to me as well, which saved me from making some major accuracy blunders!

[k5054nz]

On 4/4/2021 at 11:39 AM, Rabbit Leader said:

 

You are quite correct. Here is a FB link - https://www.facebook.com/HPMHobbies/

From what I know, the Engines, Cowls, Props and possibly tail are all done and Chris needed a kit sample to complete the nacelles and u/c doors. he seems to be pretty advanced, so hopefully it won't be too much longer. 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

I just wanted to pipe up and add that Uncle Les is hard at work on one too - I have two RAAF subjects (Moorabbin's A9-13 and Caboolture's A9-141) I'd like to build so hopefully I can try one of each.

[tonyot]

Another update on my Airfix Beauforts,..... I got them painted today,..... the 22 Sqn RAF one based in Ceylon has been painted to represent a very faded aircraft, while the 16 Sqn SAAF one from N.Africa is slightly less faded! Both have Azure Blue undersides,...... Dark Slate Grey uppers,..... but with differing shades of Extra Dark Sea Grey added,.....

 

 

Here they are with the High Planes Beaufreighter restoration which I am also carrying out;

 

And individually,... the faded 22 Sqn RAF aircraft, which will wear SEAC markings;

 

And the slightly less faded 16 Sqn SAAF machine;

 

I then decided to fit some `sun shields' which I had made from painted tissue, painted and folded to resemble folding sun shield blinds, as seen in reference photos,..... in fact I had forgotten to fit them earlier,.... but they were fixed in using Klear Fix;

 

And both seen together,....

 

......the next stage will be to add some gloss varnish and then add the decals. For the 22 Sqn RAF aircraft I`ll be using mostly High Planes decals,.... although I seem to have used the upper wing roundels on something else over the years,..... but I`ll think of something! For the 16 Sqn SAAF aircraft,...... while helping DK Decals research one of their Beaufighter sheets I suggested a 16 Sqn SAAF aircraft as many of their Beauforts wore the same raging bull insignia on the nose which was also applied to their Beaufort`s,..... with half a mind whether to use it on the Airfix kit when it arrived,......so I`ll surrender my Beaufighter option and apply it to the Beaufort instead!

 

Cheers

           Tony   

[Rabbit Leader]

You’re making great progress with these Beauforts Tony and I do say, I quite like these colour schemes. Now you mention DK Decals, by any chance have you been asked to assist with any up and coming Beaufort decal sheets? 
Cheers.. Dave