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BOAC Whitley


Adam Poultney

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After considering a number of options for this group build, I settled on Whitley. I've been looking forward to starting this one for a while, this is the perfect opportunity to do so. Obviously I won't be doing the box scheme, that's got guns and bombs so it's no good for this. The secondary scheme though, that's much better. It's A BOAC Whitley in camouflage over bare aluminium. 

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I have only seen a few in this scheme, should be fun.

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187 crisply moulded (mostly) flash-free parts. I've heard this is a well engineered kit that fits well, so hopefully it'll be a trouble free build.

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Good quality instructions as always from modern Airfix

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I love the look of WW2 bombers converted to transports with the turrets removed. I have an old Airfix lanc with a few parts started and no usable turrets I got second hand somewhere, I might make a Lancastrian from it.

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These have got to be some of the biggest decals on any model I have

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Now that's got my attention!

I had no idea there was a BOAC option in the box. It's going to make for a very distinctive model indeed.

I'll definitely be following along with this build.

 

Tony. 

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57 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

It's A BOAC Whitley in camouflage over bare aluminium. 

 

They were actually painted aluminium dope, not bare metal. Please don't do a shiny polished bare metal finish. ;)

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7 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

 

They were actually painted aluminium dope, not bare metal. Please don't do a shiny polished bare metal finish. ;)

ah good to know, I don't want to do it shiny anyway. 

1 hour ago, TonyW said:

Now that's got my attention!

I had no idea there was a BOAC option in the box. It's going to make for a very distinctive model indeed.

I'll definitely be following along with this build.

 

Tony. 

Now you need to get one for yourself 

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Making an immediate start to this, I've done some of the cockpit. Hopefully I can avoid the mistakes I made with the Lancaster I built last year where poor assembly and stray paint messed up the fit

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Hataka airbrush paints apply well by hairy stick over a layer of Mr Surfacer

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Last night I managed to get a good bit of work done on the cockpit. A wash and some paint chipping was applied

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And then one cockpit side was painted up and attached. Annoyingly the small window at the front of this part is missing in my kit (sixth Airfix kit in three years with missing or unusably moulded parts... grump grump). Nothing worth going through Airfix spares for, easy enough to fill it in with something clear. it's only a small window so this was relatively easy. 

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It's a good job that I looked ahead in the instructions and test fitted the fairing that covers the turret positions; the need to remove some material to fit this is not mentioned, it's obvious what you need to remove when you look at the parts.

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I added in the last few cockpit parts. Once I applied the map decal I wasn't happy with it at all, it just looks flat, oversaturated and out of place. So similarly to what I did with my Dambuster Lancaster last year I decided to replace it with paper. I cut the image of the decal from the instructions and used that instead. Airfix should just give a printed sheet of maps on paper to cut out and attach with a bit of pva or superglue or whatever instead of a decal.

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And this is the result. I also added a book which I made. Probably a flight manual or some log book, maybe a bit of light reading for the navigator during the flight.

 

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Edited by Adam Poultney
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Nice work on the map and book.

 

Realistically, any map, logbook or documentation would be removed from the aircraft by the crew when they left. Nothing would be left inside for possible spies to find.

 

 

 

 

Chris

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2 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

Nice work on the map and book.

 

Realistically, any map, logbook or documentation would be removed from the aircraft by the crew when they left. Nothing would be left inside for possible spies to find.

 

 

 

 

Chris

Yeah I know, good job I'm modelling this on the ground. Perhaps someone just wanted some peace and quiet so went to do the paperwork in the cockpit 😂

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19 minutes ago, Adam Poultney said:

Yeah I know, good job I'm modelling this on the ground. Perhaps someone just wanted some peace and quiet so went to do the paperwork in the cockpit 😂

 

No worries! Just me, being my usual anal-retentive self. Just ask the wife!

 

 

 

 

Chris

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Quite a lot got done yesterday, and by the end of this update there is a somewhat Whitley shaped object.

 

The central part with the wing spars and part of the interior was built and painted. This won't be seen very well, so as long as it's the right colour it's good enough. The front spar was a poor fit as the brackets that are supposed to help get it at the correct angle are wrong.

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There is a part on the spar that shouldn't be there, it leads to a gap of exactly the same angle and means it doesn't quite line up where it should to the top half of the wing as the whole part is at a slightly wrong angle. This also caused one minor and easily fixable fit issue deep inside the fuselage where the part it messes up can't be seen easily. I've not seen anyone daye anything about this in reviews so I decided not to risk removing the spar to correct this once I noticed. Upon dryfitting the main subassemblies with the wings clamped in place it doesn't seem to cause any further issues. If my Whitley ends up a bit wonky with a huge gap somewhere, this is probably why.

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Paint on inside the upper wing halves where it will be visible.

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That's a bit more wingspan than I was expecting

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I taped the fuselage together and the other upper wing half held in place just fine for a photo. That gap on the wing root disappears when it's fitted properly.

The model is about the length of a Lancaster, I'd guess it's about comparable to the size of a 1/72 Manchester. That's another plane I'd like to build if someone would kindly make a plastic injection kit of one....

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And that's pretty much where I got up to yesterday evening. My hamster, Victor, had my attention after that, he is an adorable floofball

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On 21/04/2021 at 17:11, TonyW said:

This is definitely making me want to build one. 

It's definitely worth building! 

On 21/04/2021 at 17:11, TonyW said:

Nice touch with the assorted paperwork.

Thanks :) I think it really brings it to life a bit more than a very flat decal

 

One engine nacelle on but needs a fair bit of filler, should clean up nicely enough. Once the other is on and it's all cleaned up, I think it'll be ready for the nose, fuselage and wings to all be put together. From there, it won't be all that far too completion, I hope.

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On 4/19/2021 at 2:15 AM, dogsbody said:

Nice work on the map and book.

 

Realistically, any map, logbook or documentation would be removed from the aircraft by the crew when they left. Nothing would be left inside for possible spies to find.

 

 

 

 

Chris

How about a mini diorama with one of the crew in the cockpit whilst another does the external checks?

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Looking good so far.

I've got two Whitley's on the go, one to be a Bomber, the other a BOAC one but I'm going to do G-AGCF with the rear turret featured in the 'Warpaint' book on the subject. A subject discussed on here but it seems the illustrator, David Howley, wouldn't have made the mistake. I'll be able to do the registration from cobbling two sheets together (both the Whitley's I have were cheap GR Mk.VII's from Amazon!)

 

:goodjob:

 

Davey.

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I missed out on the cheap Whitleys from Amazon because I didn't intend to build one at the time. Now regretting not buying a few...

 

The turreted freighter is interesting, but looking through the vulcan book from the same series, there are a few mistakes in the illustrations which are also by the same guy, such as a white Vulcan B2 with a TFR blister (these weren't fitted until the white scheme was gone). Getting a turret wrong is a pretty big one though if it is a mistake, so surely that's come from other source.

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I'm just catching up with this one Adam.  I had no idea that BOAC operated these (not just Mosquitoes!).

I'm impressed by Victor's name - we have a cat called Misha, which gets shortened to SHAR, but to be honest that's purely coincidental.

 

Cheers

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On 25/04/2021 at 07:28, CliffB said:

 

I'm impressed by Victor's name - we have a cat called Misha, which gets shortened to SHAR, but to be honest that's purely coincidental.

 

Cheers

Could we get some pictures of said cat? 

 

 

The main subassemblies are finally finished and assembled. The engine fonts were a right pain to fit, if I build another of these I need to make a note that they should go in before the parts are sealed up. I ended up making a tool from a bent paperclip that helped to align them properly.

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That super aerodynamic nose...

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Hi Adam,

 

The Planet Models Manchester kit is still available but rather expensive - OK it is not injection moulded plastic but resin, but actually it builds up pretty well - just needs a little extra care and some 5 minute epoxy for the big parts.

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I built this one last year in the Lancaster STGB.

 

Pete

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On 4/26/2021 at 8:43 PM, Adam Poultney said:

Could we get some pictures of said cat? 

 

With pleasure Adam.  Misha's made a few appearances on BM over the years.  Here's one from last year's Lancaster GB.

 

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