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Bristol Beaufighter MkII


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Not one of the usual suspects for a Beaufighter kit, firstly a Merlin engined option and one from High Planes Models. Last but not least all three options in the box are Fleet Air Arm options. The FAA used Beaufighters in a number of secondary roles especially in and around Africa; fleet requirements and convoy protection being the main ones. 

 

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The HPM kit will take a bit of work to get it knocked into shape, the majority of the kit is a hard plastic with a fair amount of flash but under that there's a fair amount of nice detail. 

 

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Vac formed canopies (in duplicate for the crack handed like me), white metal undercarriage and a transfer sheet with three options. And some etch. 

 

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Fairly basic instructions, and colour call outs for three options. 

 

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Once the starting pistol goes I see a bit of sanding in my future. 

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Your a brave modeller @825, however so good to see a Merlined engined Beaufighter represented here. I’m sure with a lot of spit and polish she’ll turn out quite well. 

Cheers and I’d better send on two lots of best wishes.. Dave 

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I built the early Mk.1 version a while ago and it turned out Ok, just lots of cleaning up and test fitting. 

Getting the cowlings to look right took some time, although you won't have that problem, also shaving down the outside of the fuselage to get the canopy to sit snugly took time as well. I did the rear canopy open as I couldn't get it to fit right closed.

You need to trim A LOT off the cockpit interior plug and instrument panel to fit, I still have a photo as I have one more HighPlanes Beau' to do, although I have Airfix engines and props to put on that. 

Here's the photo of the instrument panel and cockpit compared to un-trimmed ones. The cockpit plug hasn't got the controls on yet, they need trimmed a swell.

 

 

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Here's the finished article. If I can build one, anyone can!

 

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Best of luck!

 

Davey.

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Go for it Dave,.... I`ve built a few of these in the past and have another on the go,.... they are nice and look the part,.... but the devil is in the preparation.  You can also use some Lancaster bits and bats for the engines/props if you have any in the spares box.

Edited by tonyot
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This will be an interesting one! Looks a challenge, so glad your the one building it. Really glad you have gone for the merlin beau, very attractive aircraft that you don’t see very often!

 

just need someone to build the one with the 4 gun turret now!

 

Rob

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I have just started work on one of these as well, but mine is the Night Fighter version. I would have prefered FAA decals, especially machine T3099, but I have what I have and I will have to make do. What is curious to me is that the plastic on mine is somewhat soft. I chose to replace the wheels and props with resin items - hopefully Defiant Rotol Props are similar enough to what I need. If not, I do have another to do anyways... Someday!

I will be following this one close - best of luck,

Tweener

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On 6/17/2021 at 1:41 AM, Tweener said:

I have just started work on one of these as well, but mine is the Night Fighter version. I would have prefered FAA decals, especially machine T3099, but I have what I have and I will have to make do. What is curious to me is that the plastic on mine is somewhat soft. I chose to replace the wheels and props with resin items - hopefully Defiant Rotol Props are similar enough to what I need. If not, I do have another to do anyways... Someday!

I will be following this one close - best of luck,

Tweener

 

HI, I have the decals for T3099 if you want them, happy to send them off to the USA.  You just need to source the wing roundels.

 

Davey.

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You're braver than I am Dave. I did treat myself to a set of the FAA decals & have somewhere an Airfix kit with a Mk.II conversion for when I feel more confident.

 

Edge

 

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7 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

 

HI, I have the decals for T3099 if you want them, happy to send them off to the USA.  You just need to source the wing roundels.

 

Davey.

Sourcing wing roundels would be no problem - would you like me to send you a PM?

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2 hours ago, Tweener said:

Sourcing wing roundels would be no problem - would you like me to send you a PM?

 

No problem. Just send me your address and I'll get them off to you asap.

 

Davey.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks @Rabbit Leader @tonyot @rob85 @DaveyGair @Edge @Tweener and @Greg Law for your help and encouragement. I have been working on the Beaufighter over the past few weeks but it's hard work at times and each piece of work takes time. I have done a lot of sanding and cleaning up each time I sit down to do some work on it. It hasn't helped I've been incredibly busy at work and time has been limited. I've generally spent my spare time modelling rather than putting the results up here on BM. I have been photographing it though so here's the work one Beau over the past few weeks in the next few posts. 

 

The first thing was to remove the main main parts from the runners and clean them up. The plastic is hard and takes a fair amount of effort with a fairly coarse sanding stick. 

 

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I also did the engines. Later on you'll see I started on the wrong ones. It took me a couple of weeks in to realise there's two sets.  And yes Murphy's Law applied as I started work on the wrong ones. A number of the other smaller parts for the cockpit done too. I also cut out and trimmed the main canopy, a job I usually shy away from until near the end. However the HPM instructions tell you to do a fit test when assembling the fuselage in case the fuselage needs shimming to fit. 

 

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On 6/17/2021 at 1:41 AM, Tweener said:

I have just started work on one of these as well, but mine is the Night Fighter version. I would have prefered FAA decals, especially machine T3099, but I have what I have and I will have to make do. What is curious to me is that the plastic on mine is somewhat soft. I chose to replace the wheels and props with resin items - hopefully Defiant Rotol Props are similar enough to what I need. If not, I do have another to do anyways... Someday!

I will be following this one close - best of luck,

Tweener

I fancied T3099 as it has an unusual but attractive look.  However, with the amount of work that has to go in I didn't think I'd get a good enough finish for a natural metal or even a high speed silver finish. It'll probably be the TSS option. A few layers of paint will cover a fair amount of 825 bodging.  

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The cockpit parts added together and some thinning down commenced. And the beginning of a replacement seat for the observer from plastic card. 

 

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The instructions say to thin down the inner walls walls of the cockpit area and as Davey @DaveyGair above says a lot of thinning is needed. It isn't that simple as there's a fair old amount of plastic to remove, the walls are a couple of millimetres thick and the curve at the front prevents just hacking away with a sanding stick or file. I used a combination of scraping, filing , sanding and mutttering under my breath and finally got somewhere. I also managed to get a couple of ridges on the outside that needed cleaned up too. 

 

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Theres no detail at all in the observer's cockpit and with the nice vac form canopy there will be a little something to see. There should be a seat but there was none in my boxing. So that had to be made. I've added some basic detailing. I looked at the instructions for the latest Airfix boxing on Scalemates and some pictures on Google. But there doesn't seem to be anything much in there. I would have expected at least a radio and a radar set. The only thing apart from the ribbing that was obvious was a panel on both sides of the seat. 

 

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The engines went together not to badly and cleaned up nice. Shame it's the wrong ones which I didn't find out till later. 

 

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The observer's seat hacked into a reasonable resemblance. It's amazing what one can do with a few bits of plastic card and strip and a a bit of sanding. I've also added a couple of panels from plastic card. I think the card is about 40 years old and I got it in Argyle Models in Glasgow, a shop that is sadly long gone. 

 

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And finally some paint on. Starting to look like I'm getting somewhere

 

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The Pilot's cockpit looks not at all bad when painted. I will add some seat belts before finishing off. And I know the control column has to be added. The observer's seat is mounted on a plinth so that it sits half way up the fuselage. I cut off a bit of runner and sanded a flat on both ends, the shorter one is under the seat and the longer one will lie along the bottom of the fuselage. Not prototypical but should be functional. 

 

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Coming along well mate,...... hope it is taking your mind off work a bit. Don`t over stress about posting on here bud!

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Looks a challenge! I can empathise completely with a busy work life and trying to carve time for yourself. It feels good to build and take you mind of the work and feel you have achieved something. Just post as and when you can, biggest thing is making a bit of time for the hobby and getting out of work.

 

still need to post my progress from 3 days ago!

 

Rob

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8 hours ago, tonyot said:

Coming along well mate,...... hope it is taking your mind off work a bit. Don`t over stress about posting on here bud!

Thanks Tony. Work is busy but to be honest I really enjoy it. I work in a clinical role in a hospital and also support vaccination clinics so I know what I'm doing is worthwhile. And your right, a bit of modelling is good for taking ones mind off work. This Baeu is definitely doing a bit of modelling, and despite the early days I can see progress. 

 

3 hours ago, rob85 said:

Looks a challenge! I can empathise completely with a busy work life and trying to carve time for yourself. It feels good to build and take you mind of the work and feel you have achieved something. Just post as and when you can, biggest thing is making a bit of time for the hobby and getting out of work.

 

still need to post my progress from 3 days ago!

 

Rob

Thanks Rob. All I've done today on the Beau on my day off, is sand and clean up the engines, the right ones this time. But I attacked a few other builds that were sitting around. A lot of paint has been applied.  Tomorrow is a shift in the vaccination clinic in the morning and off to watch some rugby in the afternoon. Probably too many beers to try anything after that so next sit down will be Sunday morning. Onwards and upwards. 

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I'm impressed watching this come together. Some really good tips for when I get around to building mine, I've only ever done a test fit of the wing roots & was pleased with those, so hope I can manage mine as well as you're doing this one. :)

Steve

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/10/2021 at 12:26 AM, stevehnz said:

I'm impressed watching this come together. Some really good tips for when I get around to building mine, I've only ever done a test fit of the wing roots & was pleased with those, so hope I can manage mine as well as you're doing this one. :)

Steve

Thanks Steve. Once you get the flash off and the joints cleaned up the fit overall is pretty good. Though I suspect the engine to nacelle joint will be a bit of a challenge. 

 

A bit bit of work done today, wings glued together and nacelles added. The wings went together very well and there's only a small amount of filler needed. Oddly despite being the same size one sticks out further than the other. And both too far as I thought. A it of cleaning up will be needed. Some filler has already been applied to the nacelle wing joint. 

 

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I've added some Eduard seat belts as well. Also glued together the wheel halves and the tailplanes. 

 

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Test fit of the fuselage front end to check width width with the canopy placed on. Looks just about right to me. 

 

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On 7/10/2021 at 12:26 AM, stevehnz said:

I'm impressed watching this come together. Some really good tips for when I get around to building mine, I've only ever done a test fit of the wing roots & was pleased with those, so hope I can manage mine as well as you're doing this one. :)

Steve

Thanks Steve. Once you get the flash off and the joints cleaned up the fit overall is pretty good. Though I suspect the engine to nacelle joint will be a bit of a challenge. 

 

A bit bit of work done today, wings glued together and nacelles added. The wings went together very well and there's only a small amount of filler needed. Oddly despite being the same size one sticks out further than the other. And both too far as I thought. A it of cleaning up will be needed. Some filler has already been applied to the nacelle wing joint. 

 

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I've added some Eduard seat belts as well. Also glued together the wheel halves and the tailplanes. 

 

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Test fit of the fuselage front end to check width width with the canopy placed on. Looks just about right to me. 

 

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After a bit of fettling I've got the engines on. And the fit was a lot less bad than I expected. There is a need for some filler as well as some tidying up but all within the bounds of doable. As there will be a bit of work being done, I'll leave it to firm up for a while before addressing it. 

 

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The interior is finished, apart from the control column which I'll insert later. There's a piece of 60 thou used as a base for the tail wheel. It should be shaped but as it's underneath I thought a flat plate would do. 

 

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A dry brushing of aluminium has brought things to life a little. 

 

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The nacelles and cowling cleaned up, this took quite a while an drew I don't think it's quite the final version but I'll wait until there's some paint on. 

 

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Then I took a deep breath and glued the fuselage halves together. It took a bit of time, starting at the rear of the cockpit and glueing it bit by bit and taping the joints down. There was a bit of warping in the fuselage so the very front, which is a vital piece of a Beaufighter's identity, took a bit of persuading into place. Best to leave alone for a while. 

 

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This is coming along really well,..... I`ve built a couple and they are not the easiest kits to make,....... but you are mastering it well. ,.if you are going for the silver aircraft based in South Africa,..... it doesn`t have any paint along the top of the fuselage and it is highly polished  bare metal overall,.....  

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