Airfix's modern Blenheim Mk.I 1/72

[Adam Poultney]

So I just finished my Zvezda Bf109F2, immediately I'm jumping into my next project. I'll be building this Blenheim, I love the Mk.I so I chose to get this kit rather than the Mk.IV, the original nose is just so much nicer.

 

Well I'm not all that knowledgeable on the Blenheim and haven't really done all that much research into the type beyond the surface level stuff, unlike the V Bombers which I just finished a 5000 word essay on for college. So I'll be going into this build pretty much blind, but so long as I end up with a Blenheim shaped object, I'm not going to complain. Any knowledge I pick up along the way is certainly a bonus.

 

I haven't decided if I'll do the RAF scheme or the Romanian scheme. While an RAF scheme would fit my collection better, and give me a reason to try out my new Hataka paints I just bought for another model I have in the stash, the Romanian scheme does look really nice. 

The RAF scheme is L1134 which, upon googling it, I found has quite an interesting story. That's what is represented on the amazing box art for this kit.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/2653

 

 

I started with the nice easy step of putting the fuselage halves together (and adding one peice inside). I am trying out a filler made from plastic card dissolved in Tamiya cement, which I have seen others use rather effectively.

 

Wing bits go together well enough, it's all one colour according to the instructions so I'll airbrush it at a later point. I know some would put all sorts of etch in there but I don't really go staring into the wheel wells of my models very often

 

there was some damage to the parts, this one had snapped. Easy fix though, glued it in place and I'll deal with it tomorrow. Also just noticed a bit of flash I missed. More stuff to start with when I do some work on this tomorrow.

 

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

So what's with the two turrets in the kit? The instructions say you can use either turret.

[bigbadbadge]

Nice kit, great start, I tried the Sprue gloo myself recently and it is great stuff and now use it a lot as a filler.  

Chris

[stever219]

31 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

So what's with the two turrets in the kit? The instructions say you can use either turret.

I haven't got my kit to hand at present but I think it's to cater for the semi-retractable turret.  To allow the guns to reach maximum elevation the turret cupola retracts into the fuselage, the guns are pivoted inside the turret ring and as the breeches descend further below the top line of the fuselage the muzzles are driven higher.  For the model if you've got the guns fully depressed you'll use the taller turret transparency.

[Dave Swindell]

25 minutes ago, stever219 said:

I haven't got my kit to hand at present but I think it's to cater for the semi-retractable turret.  To allow the guns to reach maximum elevation the turret cupola retracts into the fuselage, the guns are pivoted inside the turret ring and as the breeches descend further below the top line of the fuselage the muzzles are driven higher.  For the model if you've got the guns fully depressed you'll use the taller turret transparency.

Correct in that it's to represent the semi retractable turret, one part for retracted, the other for extended.

However my understanding is the turret is extended by springs on release of a catch for use, and retracted by winding a handle when not in use to reduce drag, and has nothing to do with max elevation.

The gun can be elevated and depressed through its full range whilst the turret is extended. Use at max depression with the cupola retracted might not be possible due to lack of headroom as the gunners seat rises when the gun is depressed (it drops when elevated)

See half way down this page https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=20042&start=15 for more info on the Bristol B.1 turret 

[dogsbody]

Got my beverage opened and my chair pulled up, to watch this build.

 

 

 

Chris

[FalkeEins]

Built a couple of these - I was going to say attaching the front fuselage parts to the rear pieces and then fitting them together as two halves worked best for me....

[Solvent Parrot]

I'm definitely interested to see how this turns out in the hands of someone more skilled than me. 

 

I've been building one and as a rusty recent returner to model kits it's been a real irritant on fit in some places. I'm sure better skills than mine will dispatch it easily enough but that idea of putting the cockpit halves on the fuselage could have saved me a lot of bother a few weeks back.  

[Adam Poultney]

22 hours ago, FalkeEins said:

Built a couple of these - I was going to say attaching the front fuselage parts to the rear pieces and then fitting them together as two halves worked best for me....

 

22 hours ago, Solvent Parrot said:

that idea of putting the cockpit halves on the fuselage could have saved me a lot of bother a few weeks back.  

mmm on test fitting in beginning to think that might have been best...

 

Yesterday evening I put together the wings and fuselage subassemblies, then painted some of the cockpit components (and some others in the same colour). I had a little trouble with the primer not being thinned correctly and the Hataka paints took a little getting used to, but I think they're good.

 

 

 

A few more bits were then added including the tail parts, with elevators deflected downwards.

 

The cockpit looks detailed enough for the scale, fit is a little... bad... in places. The clear parts are really awkward to get into place and need filler on the outside.

 

 

I dry fitted the cockpit halves and dry fitted them to the fuselage. There would be a nasty gap without putting in some work. So I tried to reduce it a bit, but I'll finish that up once the cockpit is properly assembled. I also only just remembered to order a mask set, I really don't want to do this one myself 

 

 

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

I plan to get the last cockpit components painted later today and start on the engines. I also looked at aftermarket decals, but didn't find any that I particularly like any more than the kit ones.

[Jeff G]

I had the exact same gap on the Mk IV I built a few months ago. Frustrating to say the least, but as you say, putting in some work should do the trick. 

[Adam Poultney]

I managed to get the engines and cockpit done today. The fit of the engine cowling parts was.... painfully poor for a modern Airfix kit

 

 

 

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

The masking set has arrived and I’ve masked most parts, but I’ll post that later. Before I do any painting, I need to figure one thing out. On the painting guide, a number of canopy panels are plated over. I know the Mk.If had some plated over (circled in red), but I don’t know about these pure bomber variants. The masking set does have the necessary tape bits to mask these. Is Airfix correct? The same panels are plated over on the RAF scheme.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[Solvent Parrot]

Not definitive but a quick scan of Google images seems to show most pictures of them with the glass painted out but I'm far from knowledgeable enough to be sure and a lot are probably post restoration pics. 

 

I'd be interested to know the answer as I've got one of these just ready for painting (just carrying a base of brown) on the main surfaces and black underneath (I'm going for the RAF scheme).  

[Adam Poultney]

1 minute ago, Solvent Parrot said:

Not definitive but a quick scan of Google images seems to show most pictures of them with the glass painted out but I'm far from knowledgeable enough to be sure and a lot are probably post restoration pics. 

 

I'd be interested to know the answer as I've got one of these just ready for painting (just carrying a base of brown) on the main surfaces and black underneath (I'm going for the RAF scheme).  

most photos I could find were of the airworthy Bolingbroke converted to a Blenheim Mk.If, unfortunately no use for this one.

[dogsbody]

Are you talking about these?

 

 

 

 

If so, these little pips should be sanded off. The restored aircraft that Aircix scanned to make the moulds was made from a Fairchild Bolingbroke. These pips are little intakes used to provide heated air for cockpit, wing gun and carb heating. They were never on British built WW2 aircraft.

 

 

 

Chris

[Adam Poultney]

3 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Are you talking about these?

 

 

 

 

If so, these little pips should be sanded off. The restored aircraft that Aircix scanned to make the moulds was made from a Fairchild Bolingbroke. These pips are little intakes used to provide heated air for cockpit, wing gun and carb heating. They were never on British built WW2 aircraft.

 

 

 

Chris

Not what I was after but useful nonetheless, I'll remove those. I'm on about the canopy panels which may or may not have been painted over

[dogsbody]

Just now, Adam Poultney said:

Not what I was after but useful nonetheless, I'll remove those. I'm on about the canopy panels which may or may not have been painted over

 

Ah! Well, I can't help you there. You really have to study a lot of photos to be sure.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Adam Poultney]

1 minute ago, dogsbody said:

 

Ah! Well, I can't help you there. You really have to study a lot of photos to be sure.

 

 

 

 

Chris

the Airfix instructions also state that info has been pieced together for the RAF scheme, so I think I'm going to have to just take a guess based on other aircraft from the same time, same squadron if possible.

[Adam Poultney]

 

Here's the picture of it all masked up, I have since removed the Bolingbroke style parts and one clear panel will be painted over as most of the Blenheims I found images of had it that way, so I took an educated guess.

 

 

Next up was the interior colour, the same was applied to the turret. I think this is looking like it will become quite a nice model if I don't mess up the painting. Speaking of painting, I settled on the RAF scheme.

 

 

Are there any further Bolingbroke differences modelled in the kit? Did Airfix really accidentally make a Bolingbroke instead of a Blenheim? They should do a rebox with decals for a Bolingbroke....

Edited March 28, 2021 by Adam Poultney

[Adam Poultney]

 

Model primed and ready to paint. Need to do another coat on the smaller parts I primed separately, but hopefully I'll at least be on to pre shading today. 

 

 

[dogsbody]

The actual Canadian Bolingbroke was based on the Mk.IV Blenheim. Externally, there wasn't much difference. The port nacelle had a more humped appearance, due to life raft stowage. There was a small porthole on the starboard fuselage side, just forward of the turret. Internally, the pilot's engine controls were moved to the right-hand side of his seat and in the rear fuselage, the radio gear was moved to the rear, behind the turret. Plus there were a few variations on the added intakes around the exhaust collector ring, to provide extra heating.

 

 

Chris

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good,  this has really come on since I last looked in.  

I have an Xtradecal sheet for this if any use, I did a bomber version and there are some RAF, an FAA machine and some foreign ones left, I will need to check and see what's left on the sheet . Let me know if of any use to you.

Chris

[Adam Poultney]

6 hours ago, dogsbody said:

The actual Canadian Bolingbroke was based on the Mk.IV Blenheim. Externally, there wasn't much difference. The port nacelle had a more humped appearance, due to life raft stowage. There was a small porthole on the starboard fuselage side, just forward of the turret. Internally, the pilot's engine controls were moved to the right-hand side of his seat and in the rear fuselage, the radio gear was moved to the rear, behind the turret. Plus there were a few variations on the added intakes around the exhaust collector ring, to provide extra heating.

 

 

Chris

So it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to image a Bolingbroke kit being released

4 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Looking good,  this has really come on since I last looked in.  

I have an Xtradecal sheet for this if any use, I did a bomber version and there are some RAF, an FAA machine and some foreign ones left, I will need to check and see what's left on the sheet . Let me know if of any use to you.

Chris

Hopefully I should be ok, Airfix's decals are usually pretty good. I'll let you know if I have any disasters (wouldn't be all that surprised!)

 

Right so today's progress report. A lot of work today and the first full test run of the Hataka paints outside of the cockpit, must say I am quite impressed.

But I didn't start with those, Vallejo white was used to preshade. The airbrush threw a bit of a strop and wasn't working very well, with quite a splattered effect. Oh well, it's a just a preshade. After a good clean it was working better. Turns out that ultimate acrylic primer is a nightmare to clean out properly. 

 

 

I decided to do the top colours first, masking should be easier this way. Thinned Hataka Dark Earth was airbrushed freehand for the brown areas. I'm happy with close enough for the camo, it's not a Vulcan where I'll know if it looks off. So I masked it roughly with white blue tack (which leaves less residue than the regular blue variety) and cut up plastic packaging from a kit.

 

Hataka Dark Green for the green areas, a couple of layers were needed in places. I didn't realise I'd forgot to mask around one area on the nose which should be green and just masked the whole thing off, so I'd need to correct that later.

The masking which I started to remove here worked perfectly and has resulted in a good line between the camouflage colours.

 

 

A couple of areas that needed corrections as they weren't what I would consider "close enough". There aren't any photos of this Blenheim so I could probably get away with some not quite close enough parts but I had to paint that one green area I forgot to do anyway.

 

 

And that is a camouflaged Blenheim.

 

 

Next up is the black underside, which I've done but haven't yet taken photos of. I'll get those and post them here in a bit. 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Oooooo this looks very nice so far  great Jo  o  the paint. 

 

Chris