Sanger 1/48Coastal Command Beaufort Mk1A

[dogsbody]

I'm pretty sure Beauforts had a fold-down seat beside the pilot, so the crew could move fore and aft as required. The Airfix 1/72 kit has this in the folded down position. 

This photo, from @Carl V ( author Carl Vincent) shows it in the upright position.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Chris, I thought that was the case, but every picture I could fine was photographed looking forward, focusing on the pilots area. The seat I had in my spares, now with a proper image I can easily correct what I have. 

[Ray S]

This is looking great @LorenSharp, it is nice to see vacforms being built, and you have come up with some crackers. I find it very informative as to how you get around some issues with this type of kit.

 

All the best for the rest of the build,

 

Ray

[LorenSharp]

Trundling along, The Halves have been joined and with much work, the nose windows and canopies have been added.

The navigators glass though close to good fit, when it was cutaway from its plastic wanted to curl in at the bottom. I ended up gluing one side down ,after giving it and the canopy several coats of Kleer, then carefully prying the other edge out to its proper position and holding it there so it could be attached solidly. The canopy fit over the pilots position was a little off as it was actually higher than the fuselage at that point. Not off much, about a mm or so, but did require a good bit of milliput and filler to correct.

The bomb/torpedo aimer's glass  I built out with milliput then sanded to the correct "pointed shape below the rounded upper glass. The only part so far that was really off. It originally was more flattened. I added masking tape to the glass before adding the putty to protect it from getting scuffed during the sanding stage. I'm hoping if there are any errors the clear coating will allow me to remove any problems and make corrections without too much damage.

The wing bracing was also added  along with the rudder. Added nav lights to it. and the elevators. I used .010 thin rod to enhance the  illusion of ribbed fabric. The idea I stole  borrowed from extra-terrestrial Vacuform building expert, @Martian

Finally, a coat of primer to see what needs to be dealt with before proceeding further.

I have some corrections and a touch more filling, not to mention re-scribing a re-riveting, but overall its coming along nicely I think. The primer will dry for a couple of days before I continue. The humidity of late has been terrible. Whist it's curing, I'll begin work on the wings. Flaps and ailerons removed.Wheel wells to be built up and detailed. After that I'll see what I can do about getting the white metal Bristol Taurus engines in proper order. Maybe I can get these updates, updated a little bit faster.

[Martian]

Seems to me you are doing just fine.

 

Martian 👽

 

PS: I'm not expert, I just know a few of the methods needed to build this type of kit.

[LorenSharp]

28 minutes ago, Martian said:

Seems to me you are doing just fine.

 

Martian 👽

 

PS: I'm not expert, I just know a few of the methods needed to build this type of kit.

Then that makes you an 'espert My intergalactic friend 👽. Cuz it's waaay more than I know, I just fake it, til I make it.

[LorenSharp]

Moving along with the "Faking It" part...  I finished printing out my next set of parts for the wings and the Torpedo arraignment.

The flaps and flap bracing.

Interior for the wheel wells and the oil cooler intakes

Fire wall, Cowling braces, and an improved Bristol Taurus Engine. I may redo the engines. The reduction gear housing is a bit small

And the Torpedo along with the mounting rack.

I left the fins in the print supports until I put it together. The first set fell apart when I separated them before curing

[LorenSharp]

Frist thing, second, attaching the the flap racing to the wing

Oil Cooler and fire wall

and the innards to the wheel wells.

From there masked around the nacelle to fill some slight gaps between the nacelle and the wing and the mating of the oil cooler cap to the leading edge.

Hopefully this will prevent me from doing any damage to the scribing and riveting on the wing.

Once these dry I'll attach the wings to the fuselage and begin further detail work to to the wheel wells.

[AdrianMF]

All looking very sharp, whether vac, scratch or 3D printed!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[LorenSharp]

Shifting into a slight higher gear, I added Scribed lines to the interior portion of the flaps. I wanted to add riveting but I should have done that before curing the resin. The surface is too hard to get an adequate indentation.

Added he wings and nacelles finally.

Thin masking tape around the joins again to protect the already scribed lines and rivets from glazing compound

 

[LorenSharp]

I let these dry overnight then did a light sanding removed the tape and... Viola!

Nice neat joins and my scribing is still intact.! Sometimes I scare myself when something works the way its supposed to.

From there everything got a coat of primer. Even me.(note to self... point paint  Nozzle AWAY from self)

Then painted the the flaps and gave the exterior a coat of aluminum.

I'll let these set for a bit then add salt to various panel lines and leading edges for weathering later on.

Tomorrow I begin shooting the paint in the form of weathering and shading lines and the the first of the light coats to the underneath.

ITs getting there. If you squint real hard it almost looks like a Beaufort.

 

So until tomorrow, same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel. Be there Aloha!

[rob85]

There’s so much going into this, I don’t know how you do it. It’s looking great though, keep it up!

 

Rob

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Rob, But as usual, I'm just fakin' it till I make it. The fact that some of these little additions are actually working is amazing to me as well. As the saying goes... "Forward into the Fog, Dang the Martinis and Full Speed ahead!"

[AdrianMF]

Come on, this is just showing off now. And did we mention it’s a vac??….

 

Regards,

Adrian

[LorenSharp]

Showing off? Perish the thought. I'm a denizen of the Naughty Corner. I just throw stuff  together to see if it will stick. This is OTJ. But not the legal beverages. I don't like to waste good booze.😜

[LorenSharp]

Got a little bit more completed on this today.. Can't work outside since it's decided to rain again, so as much as it pains me, HAH!, more work must be done on this Beaufort.

A light base aluminum coat on the leading edges and selected areas that I going to do some salt chipping on.

Not its not snowing and no @Martian that IS NOT Plutonium Nyborg spread all over everything.. Just Salt. Allowing it to dry Started with the painting of weathering lines on the scribed lines and rudder, ailerons, and elevators.

Against my normal procedure, I painted the upper surfaces first instead of the underneath. Starting off ,attaching the nacelles temporary then a coat of Slate gray then RAF Extra Dark Sea Gray. The only issue I've had with the paint is the AK Drk Gray wanted to separate after applying with my airbrush. But to tell the truth is  is more of a happy accident because the paint once it settled  down and dried actually looks more weathered than I would have done with more steps of ever lighter shades to give a sun bleached look. I take that as a plus. Doubt i could replicate it again .(Note to self... So don't mess it up!)

Now its a matter of gently scrubbing off the salt giving me my "chipped paint" look.

 

[LorenSharp]

Now that those have I can remove the masking from the windscreen and the green house nose. Definitely have to wash dose winders!

While these are drying more, I'll finish up the Taurus engines, mounts and attach the cowl flaps to the nacelles. Plus finish up the bomb bay rigging and finish up the torpedo. That just leaves the Landing gear and final weathering. So one more step closer to completion..

[LorenSharp]

While all of this is drying, I printed out navigation and landing light covers.

I wanted to do something different this time with the navigation lights.. After  printing I used mu pin vise and a small drill to create a place for the light. To do the light I dipped a piece of thin rod in the appropriate colour and used it to paint the inside of the area drilled. It actually worked.

About now I realized I forgot to cut out for the landing lights. I cutaway the area from the leading edge and blocked it in with thin card and then used tiny kids gemstones for the lights themselves.

Then put the cover on. I'm still working out getting anything made with  transparent resin to stay transparent after curing. I though maybe a coat of kleer or gloss lacquer would help but its still hit and miss. The nav lights stayed fairly clear with the lacquer, but the landing lights are still cloudy. The 'sperimenting will continue.

 

[LorenSharp]

Added the Torpedo rack to the bomb bay.

Carburetor intake to the top of the engine. These I also printed out.

And printed out a simple set of engine mounts, same design that I used building an Oxbox recently.

[LorenSharp]

Speaking of engines, Time to work on the nacelles and the exhaust.

I printed out the bracing for the front of the nacelle and cutaway the old cowl flaps adding new ones in the open position.

Printed out an new exhaust pipe.

Then painted it all up. RAF Interior green for the insides and then the camo/white undersides. The exhaust ring and pipe I sprayed a coat of Burnt metal then at the front of the ring a light mist of copper and Aluminum for the bracing.

From there I mounted my version of a Bristol Taurus engine and added the  nacelles.

 

[LorenSharp]

Looking at some of the refences I had there seemed to be a slight raised frame around the cockpit and nose windows. I had some thin strip that was close enough. I wish it was a tad thinner height wise but will work none the less.

and to the bombardiers glass.

These have been masked off and paint their appropriate colours.

Time to finish up the landing gear, rear turret and torpedo. The finish weathering, add decals and the stuff that usually breaks off if not careful

So until later. stay cool, stay healthy, stay safe and Model On!

[LorenSharp]

Working on the landing gear, the main struts are fairly correct just bare. so I added some stuff. Mostly extra bracing and the hydraulic brake lines.

and the gear doors were sparse as well so I added some plastic rod and bits of plastic sheeting

Attaching it all together along with the aftermarket Beaufighter wheels I got

Before attaching everything I gave it all a wash of thinned down acrylic art paint.

The rear main brace ended up looking like twisted spaghetti so I made new ones from plastic rod.

Attached the torpedo to the rack

[LorenSharp]

The new marker lights. I still wish I could come up with a good way to keep the translucent resin clear through the curing process. Still wants to fog up a bit.

Added the flaps , gave them a wash before attaching.

Props are ready to attach when I get everything else done. I hoping they don't tear the front of the nacelles off being made from white metal and weigh a fair bit. We shall see.

I still have to print out new Bomb bay doors and make a new vac turret glass. Those I will do tomorrow while beginning the weathering process. After that put the decals on and stick a fork in it, cuz it'll be done. So until later,

Stay safe, Stay healthy and model on!

[LorenSharp]

Down to the wire now. I printed out the Bomb bay doors ,pitot tube and main antenna

I'll attach the little stuff tomorrow, I put the pitot  tube on and immediately snapped it. C’est la vie.

Of course my camera decided it didn't want to focus on the tiny perforated hinges. C'ste  la vie vie.

Attached the bay doors( they didn't snap off...)

Did some weathering on the top and bottom before adding the decals

She's starting to look like a proper Beaufort. I'll let the decals dry over night then finish with the finals. Last of the parts ,rigging, rear turret,  and a coat of clear matt varnish to even thing out, then it's off to the RFI. 

So stay tuned for tomorrow's exciting conclusion. Until then, Stay safe, Stay healthy, and Model on!

[LorenSharp]

Well it's time for the final installment on myMk1A. After letting the decals dry overnight  I began the final weathering. Touching up chipped paint oil and fuel stains and exhaust smoke stains. After which I gave it all a nice light coat of flat varnish.

Installed the rear turret. I didn't like the single barreled gun the kit came with so I printed out a .303 twin set up

Also made a new turret. The kit supplied was a tad too big.

Added the aerials and antenna wire and DF loop antenna.

A mug only a Mother could love.

And there you are. Stick a fork in her, She's DONE! Thanks for following along on this little jaunt. I want to thank  @rob85 and @Enzo Matrix for this GB. I wasn't sure if I was going to get this done in time, but got across the wire just in time.

Here is the gallery link:

Now off to another GB... so, until next we meet, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and Model ON!.......