Ventora3300 Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 I'll sneak in with this one, if I may - the Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk IV in the 'red stripe' boxing and 'all action' artwork. Look at that sky blue plastic!!! There were a couple of extra clear parts in the box and there is an 'empty' spot on the trees - might be a bit missing. Locate and cement..... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 I’ll look forward to seeing this come to fruition, as I’ve the later boxing of the same kit. I was hoping to include it in this GB but wildly underestimated how long the Beaufighter would take. Hope you enjoy the build. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 You have a missing control column (part 7). If you need a spare drop me a line. Looking forward to seeing your build. I have also been wildly underestimating, in my case how much time my work will take, so I’m not going to get to build my copy of this one either! Regards, Adrian 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) On 19/09/2021 at 01:20, jackroadkill said: I’ll look forward to seeing this come to fruition, as I’ve the later boxing of the same kit. I was hoping to include it in this GB but wildly underestimated how long the Beaufighter would take. Hope you enjoy the build. Thanks @jackroadkill. I'll be cutting it fine just with this early boxing - a lot of parts on page 2 of the Instructions! On 19/09/2021 at 08:57, AdrianMF said: You have a missing control column (part 7). If you need a spare drop me a line. Looking forward to seeing your build. I have also been wildly underestimating, in my case how much time my work will take, so I’m not going to get to build my copy of this one either! Regards, Adrian Thanks Adrian. Luckily, I also have a later incomplete boxing of this kit and the control column is there but thanks for the offer. Now have the cockpit floor built up but it looks to be a bit low - the pilot may need a cushion to sit on. Why is the bulkhead behind the pilot so far back? Edited September 21, 2021 by Ventora3300 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecov Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Looking forward to seeing you build this as I built one of these last month. A lovely light blue plastic experience although the transparencies were bit of a nightmare. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 On 21/09/2021 at 23:49, davecov said: Looking forward to seeing you build this as I built one of these last month. A lovely light blue plastic experience although the transparencies were bit of a nightmare. Dave Thanks, Dave. You'll know the issues, then! I decided to make the cockpit a bit more accurate and pulled the bulkhead forward to behind the pilot's seat, cut the floor in half and raised it in the port fuselage to bring the seat up to windscreen level. Some frantic painting going on here! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecov Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Only a few issues but watch out for the navigator/bombardier figure. Although he comes "Bader-esque" with no legs, you may find that you still need to chop a couple of mm from his underside otherwise his head stops the canopy from fitting correctly. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 (edited) Put a bit of a sprint on with the Old Tool Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk IV but there's loads to do so not destined for the gallery, I'm afraid. Turret bottom half is in the fuselage and the fuselage halves are together. A little filler required at the usual top and bottom seams, which refused to be aligned. Stabilisers are on. Undercarriage is in and the wings are together. A bit of trimming and sanding required on the port wing seams. Engines and all the other bits getting some colour. Well done to everybody and Host @rob85 - some fantastic builds here so tomorrow, I'll browse through them again! Edited October 3, 2021 by Ventora3300 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 On 03/10/2021 at 15:26, davecov said: Only a few issues but watch out for the navigator/bombardier figure. Although he comes "Bader-esque" with no legs, you may find that you still need to chop a couple of mm from his underside otherwise his head stops the canopy from fitting correctly. Dave Thanks, Dave, that's an excellent 'heads up' - pardon the pun! I'll do a dry fit of the Nav to check on headroom. In the meantime, the wings are on - a fairly decent fit and the dihedral outside of the engine nacelles looks good. I'm hedging my bets on whether the undercarriage should get fixed in one position or the other and waiting until I get the 'doors' on. The front of the fuselage needs another taping to hold it together while more glue dries. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) The Blenheim Mk. IV is moving on. The top and bottom fuselage seams needed filling (Airfix Old Tool speciality) and there was a little PPP required on the wing joints. Wing seams just got the edges sanded. Engine cowlings had some mold lines to remove. I've dry fitted the gun pack for a Mk. IVF and also the engine cowlings to help during painting. I've decided to dispense with masking tape other than for the rear fuselage (always comes a cropper on a rivetted surface) and got on with the Light Blue underside (Humbrol 65) and Dark Earth top surfaces (Humbrol 29) using my best flat brush - two coats apiece. Top tip from others during the GB - inside of the landing light cut-out painted 'Aluminium'. Edited October 12, 2021 by Ventora3300 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Dark Green Humbrol 30 (new tin) going on the Mk. IVF Blenheim now. I'm enjoying this 'free hand' painting. This will need a second coat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 The second coat of Dark Green is on the Blenheim Mk IV and the crew are painted and in - headroom under the main canopy seems to be just sufficient (the pilot's seat was raised) but I'll check again at the next stage. The engines are fitted to the cowlings with the tube intakes in - I cut in the little cut-outs you see in the exhaust collector rings for the lower intake and the unused one on the other side - I wonder why that was there? The collector ring is painted and I added the front ring in silver which I've seen in reference pics but also on the box art. Aerial post is on and pitot tube and fuel dump pipes on underneath. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted November 22, 2021 Author Share Posted November 22, 2021 The old tool Airfix Blenheim Mk IV has been moving along with all the parts assembled now and the canopy frames painted with a tidy up to do. There is a bit of touch up to do along the front as the fit of the bomb aimer's windows was slightly out but more importantly, the props still spin!! Ready for transfers now (coated with Decalfilm just in case....) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 The Airfix Old Tool Bristol Blenheim MK.IV is finished now with transfers on - behaved immaculately - and aerial wire fitted. The bomb aimer's window was tidied up along with some other touch-ups. I added in the red doped patch over the single forward facing '303' in the port wing and added in the navigation and formation lights at the wingtips plus the white rear light on the tail. Matt Cote overall but always looks a bit Satin to me. Lovely build- took a while and bust the deadline but a real nostalgia build for me. At the end of the day, the undercarriage had to be glued in the up position but the props still spin! Now for the desert/Free French version...... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Very nice! Still fond of that kit, despite its many shortcomings compared to the new one (and even the contemporary FROG one). Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Great stuff, really enjoyed following the build thread as well. I remember trying to build this one as a nipper, and had an absolute nightmare with the canopy...... a gluey fingerprint fest, as I recall ! Really need to build this one again. Congratulations cheers Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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