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Fly Bristol Freighter Mk31M, 1/72nd scale FINISHED


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This is my entry for this GB, it is the Fly kit of the Bristol Freighter. The Bristol Freighter was designed towards the end of WW2 as a private venture  for a simple freight aircraft to give airborne forces more flexibility than that offered by gliders. The war finished, and the design was re purposed for the civilian market. The prototype first flew in December 1945 and a total of 214 were built, including the Mk32 Superfreighter offered by Airfix many moons ago complete with opening nose.

This will be my first build of a Fly kit. It comes in a proper box with grey injection mould parts, a bag or resin that duplicates some injection moulded bits A canopy mask is helpfully provided but no PE. Decals are for a New Zealand or Canadian aircraft. My plan is to do the latter as they were operated out of Langar in Nottinghamshire. A look at the parts shows that although there are tabs for the wings and tail, there are no locating tabs at all for most parts and so care will be  needed, for example with the engine nacelles that have scribed line to show where they fit on the wings. Laurie's build of his Freighter will undoubtably be useful.

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This build might be a bit slow to start due to other Group builds underway.

Edited by Mr T
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Excellent choice,.... wish I had bought one of these rather than humming and ahing about it! 

I would be torn on which aircraft to model,.... I have an old Airfix kit with vacuformed nose that I built as a Kiwi one years ago which I`m refurbishing,..... but a new one would be ace!

Good luck,.... it should look lovely in its RCAF markings.

Cheers

           Tony 

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Thanks Tony, I have the old Magna conversion for the Airfix kit that I was always going to do and never got around to it. Partly inspired by the Airfix magazine conversion article by Alan Hall from the late 1960s. I reckon I must have seen one when I was young as they were used by the RCAF from Langar until 1963 and occasionally appeared at airshows and so might have been at Hucknall which my dad always took me to until about 1965 as flying around.

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Yes, another kit I’ve always wanted to buy, however have not found the spare funds. The Kiwi scheme rocks my boat and I still remember making a hash of converting the Airfix kit by chopping off the nose to somehow make it look like a Freighter.. I was about 13 at the time and even with those naive eyes it still looked nothing like a Freighter!  I’ve now got another Airfix kit and the heaviest of nose conversions. If I ever used it I’m sure I’d have to add some weight to the tail to stop it from nosing over! 
Cheers and best of luck.. Dave

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When the new one came out I was very keen to get one until it was clear the front was fixed and there is no real interior. Big disappointment so I let it go. 

I remember seeing these regularly in the old days.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The only one I have built so far is the Buckmaster and it was OK, although the instructions were a bit vague and it needed some more parts adding to the undercarriage as they were short on retraction struts. This kit is newer and looks a bit more polished in places and the instructions are better. The fuselage will need locating tabs to help keep some rigidity when putting the halves together.

Some progress this week as other models are finished with a bit of luck. 

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  • 4 weeks later...


I have not forgotten about the GB, but life gets in the way of important things like modelling. Anyway, made some progress with the Bristol Freighter. The build is actually not as bad as I thought it might be and any of the issues I have had with the kit are only to be expected of a kit of this type, plus one are two interesting decisions on the part of the manufacturer.

First off, looking at the kit scheme. There is an error in the roundels, which are post 1964 versions of the Canadian roundel. A search revealed that none of the aftermarket sheets with the earlier roundels are currently available. The kit markings are based on a photo that show the aircraft before or after its time with 137 Transport Flight. A search of Air Britain Pictures website turned a photo of 9700 in the markings of 137 Transport Flight and was actually taken at Langar. So an afternoon on the PC and using a RCAF font I had downloaded some while ago resulted in a decal sheet with the additional markings I needed (the other markings are for a Miles M20)

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The new Silver Maple leaf centres will go over the existing centres with a white disc from the Fantasy Printshop sheet, or in the case of the large leaf, a disc cut out of a solid colour sheet I have. The backing for the unit fits a white stripe that will need to be trimmed at the ends. I have done spares for the maple leaves, as they might need a couple of layers to give some depth to the colour.

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This is the interior of the kit, made up of resin parts on an injection moulded floor. It is cruelly enlarged, and I have touched up the paintwork since. Interior photos show some variation in colours, but this matches some I have seen.

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The instrument panel dials come as a set of panels that are supposed to be cut out and stuck on the plastic panel. A bit like some Airfix kits from the early days. Unfortunately they are way oversize,  they were coped on my multifunctional home printer at a reduced size to get something that fitted.

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The fuselage halves are big and have no locating pins, hence the tabs visible in the photo. The lower part of the nose has been removed, ready for the transparency that is required for this version of the Freighter. One thing not immediately apparent on the photo is that on my kit the fuselage halves are not the same thickness. Didn't realise this until the halves had a final test fit and some tabs were pushing the fuselage out of shape. A bit of fettling sorted the problem out. The windows were fitted at this stage as I had visions of them disappearing into a closed up fuselage if I left it till later (the instructions also tell you to put them in now, but what do the kit makers know). They need work to get them to fit and most are a good interference fit with Glue and Glaze around the window surround on the inside. They have all been taped over  to protect them.

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The major elements of the kit. The wings, tailplanes etc. all went together quite well with some tape to aid alignment and mating faces smoothed down. The trailing edges all needed a bit of work to thin them. The fuselage joint had to be sanded down the most, but so far little filler has been used. The undercarriage fairings and engine nacelles are also assembled. A test fit of the wings, tail and fuselage suggest some work will be needed. Net up will be the canopy and nose transparency, as it is going to be easier to fit and fair them in them before the wings are attached.

Its going to be a big Bristol for two engines

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  • 2 weeks later...

I now have a Bristol Freighter airframe and since the photo was taken it has engine nacelles. So far I am quite pleased with this kit given that it is not a 'mainstream' manufacturer. Some filler on the model is possibly  down to my ineptitude. The canopy also turned out to be a reasonable fit, which is always a relief.

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The engine cowlings have been built up and the wheels and props are in the paint shop. I'd like to think that this kit will have some paint on it by the weekend, but we shall see.

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You are doing an excellent job and without the engines fitted it is strange how much the shape of the aircraft matches a Hamilcar style heavy glider!! 

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Hi Tony, thanks for the comments. It is interesting that you should say that as I thought the same thing

 The Hamlicar was probably about the same size. 

Currently the Freighter has its engine nacelles etc on and the underside coat of PRU Blue. The kit comes with paint masks that make life a bit easier. 

With the engines on it transform the look of the aircraft

I plan on photos when the camo is on before decalling. 

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5 hours ago, tonyot said:

You are doing an excellent job and without the engines fitted it is strange how much the shape of the aircraft matches a Hamilcar style heavy glider!! 

 

2 hours ago, Mr T said:

Hi Tony, thanks for the comments. It is interesting that you should say that as I thought the same thing

 The Hamlicar was probably about the same size. 

Currently the Freighter has its engine nacelles etc on and the underside coat of PRU Blue. The kit comes with paint masks that make life a bit easier. 

With the engines on it transform the look of the aircraft

I plan on photos when the camo is on before decalling. 

Its not unheard of, the C-123 started life as a heavy assault glider designed by the Chase corporation. Which in turn was bought and upgraded to transport with engines by Fairchild. So it is possible at some stage this was supposed to be a heavy glider ? 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-123_Provider

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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My understanding of the origins of the Bristol Freighter was as a powered  replacement for the Hamlicar for use in the Far East. It would explain the size and configuration of the Freighter. 

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The paintwork is virtually done on the Freighter. The PRU Blue and Dark Sea Grey were airbrushed on and, the Dark Green added with a hairy stick. Some of the Blue lifted where I do not think I had cleaned up after handling, but not the end of the world. The engine cowlings were painted separately, as it was easier to paint the exhausts that way. The struts joining the undercarriage legs and fuselage were fractionally too short, I might have put the engines in the wrong place, but I did line them up with the lines engraved on the wing. They were replaced with some of my precious stock of Contrail struct material. A little left to do with the paintwork, but decalling beckons.

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What I have found interesting is the fairly subtle changes in markings and details  that occurred on these aircraft during their time at Langar.  For example, the fin top anti collision beacon sees to be a fairly late addition, as was the anti glare panel on the nose.

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  • Mr T changed the title to Fly Bristol Freighter Mk31M, 1/72nd scale FINISHED

Decalling completed with a mixture of kit decals for the serials and parts of the roundels and some lettering and homemade decals for the underwing roundels, fuselage codes and some lettering. Looking at the homemade roundels on the underside, I wished I had done them all like that. Final assembly, aerials and wires attached and a final varnish coat that needed a bit of work due to silvering issues. This model is now finished and going into the gallery.

 

Thanks to rod for this GB and Enzo for keeping an eye on us.

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Thank you very much, although I think the photos flatter my handiwork somewhat. It was a nice project. The 'short run' nature of the kit created a bit of a challenge, and looking up about the aircraft and working out the details for the airframe and the time frame was interesting. I am not the world's most expert modeller or one who wants every rivet in the right place. I build models as I am interested in aircraft and enjoy what I do and find it satisfying. My hobby has helped me to weather a few of life's storms over the years.

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  • 1 year later...

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