HP Halifax B I/II/GR.II ***FINISHED***

[Rob S]

21 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Rob,

 

Sounds promising. That's one h*ll of a lot of vac canopies by the sound of it! I look forward to hearing from you later.

 

Pete

 

 

Hello Pete :

 

 

 

(Best Alec Guinness voice On)

"This is the Set you are looking for!"

 

 

(Best Alec Guinness voice Off)

 

Found at the seventh attempt!  I'll PM later tonight. 

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Rob S

[JOCKNEY]

Keep faith Pete, help is on the way.

 

May the Force be with you ! 

 

Cheers Pat 

[PeterB]

Well, Rob @Rob S has found the turrets etc, so if he is able to post them from Oz to the UK I will be able to complete the kit with a mid upper turret - if not then back to Plan B. I suspect he has been hit by the heavy flooding around Brisbane so we will have to wait and see. Besides two Matchbox versions of this kit (however they are boxed) in this GB there are already another couple of the later Revell re-pop in the "Big and British" one so we could end up with a glut😁!

 

Pete

[PeterB]

Well, this has been on hold for a month now - how time flies! Rob @Rob S has found the Falcon set in question and has very kindly offered to post it to me, but seems to have been delayed. I believe it takes up to a month for post from Oz to get over to the UK, so it is getting a bit tight. Not to worry, I can always build it without the mid upper. perhaps as one used by SOE. Compared with what is happening in the world at the moment it is of small consequence!.

 

Pete

[JOCKNEY]

I'll tell you what Pete, I'm struggling to get my builds done in this GB, you may have noticed I've been doing a bit of hosting on the side  !

If you endeavour to get the Halifax finished in this GB, I'll join you with either my Stranraer or Wellington,  you choose 

Cheers Pat 

[PeterB]

Hi Pat,

 

Yes, I can understand why you and the other hosts would struggle, given the way this GB has musroomed. Barring unforseen events I will get it finished one way or another, though I suspect adding a mid upper turret at this stage could be a bit of a nightmare, but it does appeal to me if it is possible. However, I will not be cutting out the blanking plug unless I am first very sure I can build a passable turret.

 

As to your two stalled builds, you are lucky I am not Enzo as we all know what he would say. I like both kits, but if you now have all the appropriate bits then the Wellington might be easier as it does not need rigging. At the end of the day they are your kits so I would not presume to tell you which to build and I do know you like biplane flying boats.

 

Cheers

 

Pete 

[Rabbit Leader]

It’s been an age since I’ve commented on this and many other threads so fingers crossed you find the time and spare parts to get this Halifax over the line. That reminds me, I haven’t spoken to @Rob S in a while so I’ll badger him with a text shortly to see how he’s gone with that replacement turret. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[PeterB]

Many years ago, when I started building Airfix RAF bombers, when there was an option I always went for the later colour scheme/markings/parts, eg my Stirling was the Mk III with the 4 gun upper turret and red codes. In the last couple of years I have decided to build a batch of the earlier versions, so my Hampden, Wellington II and Manchester are all in the early camo with low(er) demarcation on the sides, grey codes and “A1” roundels and fin flashes. The Stirling will be the Mk I when I build it, and this Halifax will also be an early version. I had hoped to build one with the mid upper turret although it is not provided in the kit, but for whatever reason it seems the Falcon set Rob offered to send me from Australia will not now arrive in time, and although Adrian has kindly offered me one of his DIY versions I think I will keep that for my refurbishment of my Hudson. If I had known this would happen I would have bought a set from Hannants but there we are.

 

So, with the deadline only a few weeks away I have been looking at other options. I had intended to use the alternative kit decs for a B II Series I used by 138 (Special Duties) Squadron, but that has the later red codes and roundels. I could have used the kit decals for the 76 Squadron one, but that plane was a B.I Series II so the engine mods I made for a B.II would have to be “undone”. However I have been doing a bit of digging and came up with this option from 10 Squadron who transferred from Whitleys at the end of 1941 to become the third Halifax squadron in 4 Group. BB194 was the 5th B.II Series I in the numbers allocated to London Passenger Transport Board to build and clearly did not have the upper turret.

It seems that there was perhaps some confusion regarding the colour of codes and serials during 1941. The official instruction ordering a change from Medium Sea Grey to dull red was not issued until July 1942 (AMO A.664/42) but in January 1941 a signal was issued mentioning that certain aircraft “identification letters” were to be painted dull red and some manufacturers assumed this meant the serials, whilst some squadrons though it meant the code letters, so for a while both colours could be seen in use and according to at least one source the kit decs for the 76 squadron machine should have had grey codes and red serials – not grey serials as in the kit! I am pretty sure that the codes in the above pic of the 10 Squadron machine are grey, though within a couple of months they seem to have switched to red, but the serials are not visible so I suspect they were red – anyway that is what I am going with, and I have repainted the fuselage demarcation to match the pic.

Usual problem with my study lights making green look brown at times!

 

This plane seems to have made use of the “Kilfrost” anti–icing paste which I have mentioned from time to time in my Wellington (Big and British GB), Enzo's Wellington (Bomber/Strike) and a couple of other build threads, though I am not sure if I will bother. This was a paste that came in a drum and had to be “painted” on all 6 leading edges – illustrations show it to be anything from yellow to red but an eyewitness described it as “smelly, sticky and the colour of mashed brown figs” and this is how it looks on my Wellington II.

 Now all I have to do is clear some space on my work bench, so I better get a new shelf put up in my roof!

 

Pete

[Rabbit Leader]

Glad to see this Halifax back on the bench Pete and for what it’s worth, one less frustrating turret to paint is probably a good thing in my books! The early Mk.II, with low riding demarcation look good as does your Merlin engined Wimpy. They will all make a nice collection of kits when parked together. 
Cheers.. Dave 

[Ray S]

It is good to see this one back, all the best with the rest of it. Also, thanks for the historical information too, you are always excellent at giving us background information, it is very much appreciated.

 

Ray

[PeterB]

As I mentioned earlier the photo I have of the plane I will be modelling definitely shows that it had "Kilfrost" anti-icing paste applied, so although it is a bit of a fiddle mixing it up and masking, I have decided to go ahead and do it. Bit of touching up to do but here are the wings.

As I mentioned elsewhere in my Wellington build, in certain lighting it does look quite yellow, though it is in fact an orange/brown. I will get the tail leading edges done and then I am at last ready to start putting the decs on - the end is in sight!

 

Pete

[TonyW]

The Killfrost covering is going to make for a unique looking model I think. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've never noticed the covering in pictures before this GB, despite the finish staring back at me from reference book pages.

[PeterB]

Well, I am about ready to add the wings.

As I mentioned previously most Halifax B Mk. I had a sliding window in the rear fuselage for the beam guns and sources suggest that this carried over into the early production of B.II Series 1 before the mid upper turret was fitted, but not all seem to have had them and this is one of them. Whether it was not inserted on the production line, was plated over later or just painted over is not clear but I have done the latter. Whilst they may have been of some use during the initial daylight bombing phase, once the switch to night operations was made I suspect the beam/waist guns were not used much if at all. The A1 type roundel provided in both the kit and the Xtradecal sheet looks a bit large compared with photos but I have used it anyway, and I should perhaps have used the kit fin flashes with the clipped top edge but they were a bit dodgy looking - I may carefully overpaint the red with the kilfrost..

 

The placement of the individual aircraft letter so far back seems a bit odd but photos show that it was common on early Halifaxes with the grey codes - I have used some from an old Modeldecal set no 53  which included MSG code letters in both 30" and 48" which I see from the receipt I bought for £2.05 in 1989. Fortunately they still worked as there was only one pair of each letter on the sheet and for some reason Hannants do not seem to have re-issued that particular sheet (unless it is out of stock)! On a white  sheet they look too dark but Modeldecal correctly pointed out that on a dark background they look a lot lighter! The placement of the serial is however unusual and may be unique to 10 Squadron as so far I have only seen it on photos of their machines - normally it would have been between the "E" and the leading edge of the tailplane.

 

So before long it should be done.

 

Pete

Edited May 1, 2022 by PeterB

[PeterB]

10 hours ago, TonyW said:

The Killfrost covering is going to make for a unique looking model I think. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've never noticed the covering in pictures before this GB, despite the finish staring back at me from reference book pages.

Hi Tony,

 

I am unsure just how "deep" a band they had to put on the leading edges - mine may be too deep, but given that it was "smelly and sticky" it must have been a fairly tedious/unpleasant job, and probably had to be repeated quite frequently, maybe with the old paste having to be scraped off first which may explain the worn appearance of the leading edges in some pics where the paste was not present. Sadly, it seems it was not particularly effective anyway and the flexible rubber boots and/or heated systems which were introduced later were much better for all concerned. However, it was a feature of at least some early RAF bombers, perhaps depending on the time of year/weather/altitude of the mission and as you say it certainly makes quite a difference to the appearance of the model.

In daylight it will look less yellow!

 

Pete

[PeterB]

Whilst waiting for the decs on another kit to dry, I have been browsing 10 Squadron's Operations Record Books at the National Archives in Kew, whilst they are still free to download. Whilst they did indeed switch from Whitleys to Halifax II's at the end of 1941, this particular machine does not seem to appear until the night of September 4/5th 1942 when it was one of 3  machines that each dropped 5x 1000lb bombs on Bremen. All got back safely though this one picked up a few small holes in the wings from flak, and one of the others encountered what is described as a Ju88 night fighter which the rear gunner claimed to have hit causing one engine to catch fire and it to fall away in flames - it was claimed as a kill.

 

The date is interesting because it is actually a couple of months after the instruction to switch to red codes that I mentioned previously. I guess it arrived on Squadron just before they started to change the colour so must have been amongst the last ones they painted in grey, and maybe it would have been repainted red not long afterwards - even making allowances for the usual problems with the way certain B&W film emulsions render colours, I am pretty sure the codes in the pic I posted a few days back were grey! If I am wrong I am not changing it now as this is the third or fourth scheme I have been looking at doing. Coincidentally, one of the options in the Airfix Whitley I am about to start in another GB is an all black machine from 10 Squadron - they do seem to have been slightly individualistic when it comes to paint scheme etc.

 

LATER

Oh B*gger - I have just seen another photo of this plane which is captioned L9619!

One good thing about it - the serial is definitely red and in yet another unusual position!

 

The ORB confirms this was also "E" and arrived in December 1941. I will re-number it as that seems a safer bet in terms of the grey codes. So once again it highlights the problems modellers can run into if they are not careful, even when they have photographic evidence!

 

Pete

Edited May 2, 2022 by PeterB

[TonyW]

Your picture also shows that I have cut off a bit too much off the dump tubes on my build. Ho Hum. 🙄

[PeterB]

Well, this has to be one of the most muddled builds I have ever done – at various stages this has been intended to be a Halifax B.I Series 2, one or more early B.II Series 1, and a late B.II Series 1 with mid upper turret, and there have been 4 previous intended serial numbers before this – L9619 E of 10 Squadron, which was one of the first B.II built by Handley Page.

 

As you will have gathered I have been looking at the ORB (Operational Record Books) for 10 Squadron and here is the story of this plane.

 

As I mentioned earlier, 10 Squadron converted to the Halifax B.II from Whitleys in late 1941, and throughout December of that year most of their raids were flown by Whitley B.V but just after 9.00 AM on December 18th they launched their first Halifax mission with Wing Commander Tuck in this plane leading another 5 aircraft to join in a daylight raid on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Brest. Unfortunately the Starboard u/c leg refused to come up after take off so they ditched their load of 4 x 2000lb AP bombs in a designated area in Filey Bay and went home where it was found that the hydraulic pump and linkage had failed. The rest of the planes joined up with other aircraft, bombed with unspecified results and got home with a few holes from flak.

 

On December 30th they were to visit Brest again, and Squadron Leader Thompson took off at around 11.00 AM in this plane with another 3 aircraft, one having aborted due to engine problems. Once more the plane encountered difficulties, this time with leaking glycol coolant from the Port outer engine, and another 4 x 2000 AP plus 2 x 500lb SAP bombs went into the sea south of Pembroke! The rest of the planes attacked. One lost an engine due to flak and then on the way home another two by fire from a fighter. They ended up ditching and being rescued except for the rear gunner who was killed by cannon fire.

 

January was quiet, perhaps due to weather and L9619 did not fly any missions, but in February it flew 3 – on the 11th it took part in an abortive daylight attempt to locate and bomb a German convoy reported off the coast of Holland but bad weather prevented it being found. On the night of February 14th it was one of a group of aircraft which bombed Cologne, and the following day it was up again at 6 PM for a raid on St. Nazaire. The weather was bad with solid cloud and, after bombing blind on ETA they set of for home. Although they saw the homing beacon at Church Fenton they could not raise their base due perhaps to radio equipment problems. After wandering around trying to follow bearings for a while and low on fuel, they spotted hills beneath them ruling out a landing, so the pilot climbed to 5000ft and they bailed out safely. The plane crashed in Cumberland, well to the west of their base at Leeming. It could be said that it was an unlucky plane, but at least the crew survived.

 

Pete

Edited May 2, 2022 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Got there in the end, not without one or two final problems.

Due to a combination of me being untidy and having a cluttered workspace, having at least 5 builds on the go simultaneously with bits all over the place, and finally a delay of well over a month waiting to see if the mid upper turret arrived, I managed to lose the short length of clear sprue to which the landing light was attached. It may turn up eventually but I fabricated a replacement from clear plastic sheet. Also, the sharper eyed amongst you may have noticed that the prominent balance weights on top of the ailerons are missing. I don't know if it was intended to protect the more fragile parts but Matchbox sandwiched the gun barrels, aerial masts and balance weights between the sprues with attachment at both ends, and when I tried to cut them off with either a scalpel or sprue cutters it compressed them making the parts either bend or break. I had to re-glue the nose turret gun barrels together and when I was fixing the balance weights they must have been weakened as they promptly snapped. If I come across the problem again I now know to cut the sprue on either side first to relieve the pressure.

 

The way they engineered the lower pitot tube, towel rail aerial, upper aerial masts, D/F loop fairing and the upper fuselage handrail leaves something to be desired - instead of sensible pins and locating holes, they provide "notches" which the base butt fits into - not ideal as it does not make for a robust joint, but at least they did include the handrail - I thought I was going to end up fabricating one from stretched sprue of wire. I suppose that is typical of Matchbox - miss out quite a bit but still manage to put some relatively insignificant detail in. Once the weight/drag reduction programme started to produce the "Specials" and later B.II Series 1a it was removed! In the above view you can see the reported problem with the upper nose profile which Tony W described in his very rapid build as a "ski jump". As several others including Dave aka Rabbit Leader have mentioned the slope is too great but I had neither the inclination not the patience to try and correct it as it would have involved raising the turret as well. Speaking of the nose turret, since taking the above pic I have scraped off some of the paint to reveal a bit more glazing in front of the solid rear section.

 

Incidentally, I don't know if it just me being a thrifty Yorkshireman (with perhaps some Scottish heritage to boot), but as you can see I am reluctant to throw away lengths of Tamiya masking tape as long as it is still sticky - hence the bits stuck all over my computer/modelling bench - it is not cheap! So all that remains is a bit of touching up, some careful masking (which should use up some of the old tape) and a coat of flattish varnish.

 

Is it accurate - hey it is a Matchbox kit so the answer is yes and no. Besides the problem with the nose profile, then as Graham and others have pointed out the turrets, canopy and engine cowlings are not quite right, but it does look pretty much like an early Merlin engined Halifax to me, and better than my old DIY conversion so I can live with that.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 5, 2022 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Well, I got there in the end.

It has been a slightly confused "on and off" build but quite good fun. From this angle the faults are not too obvious and it looks quite good - well at least to me!

 

Thanks to the organisers for letting me finally build this.

 

Pete

[stevej60]

She looks superb in the Gallery Pete,great job.

[John]

That's a beauty. 

 

John 

[TonyW]

That's a good looking model. Every inch a Halifax. The icing paste really does add a lot to the overall look of the build.

[bigbadbadge]

Looks lovely Peter, great work. 

Chris

[PeterB]

7 hours ago, TonyW said:

That's a good looking model. Every inch a Halifax. The icing paste really does add a lot to the overall look of the build.

Thanks Tony,

 

I hesitated for a while but I agree the paste does make a difference. It was a bit of fiddle but a lot less trouble I suspect than the real stuff was, and leaving the wings off made it a lot easier - at least your GR build won't need it. I know that the Wellington and the early Halifax's seem to have used it at times, but there is no evidence I have seen of it on Hampdens, and very little on Whitleys - the Warpaint book on the latter does show 2 with it but that is a bit odd as that plane introduced rubber boots on the wings of the Mk V so at best it would only be needed on the tail leading edges I would have thought. It seems to be one of those things which, as you mentioned earlier, was staring us in the face in some photos but I only noticed when I came to do the MPM Wellington II. The well known Charles Brown photo of the Wellington III is a dead give away if you look -

but I suspect many people just thought it was a dodgy wartime colour photo!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Rafwaffe]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:23 AM, PeterB said:

Got there in the end, not without one or two final problems.

Due to a combination of me being untidy and having a cluttered workspace, having at least 5 builds on the go simultaneously with bits all over the place, and finally a delay of well over a month waiting to see if the mid upper turret arrived, I managed to lose the short length of clear sprue to which the landing light was attached. It may turn up eventually but I fabricated a replacement from clear plastic sheet. Also, the sharper eyed amongst you may have noticed that the prominent balance weights on top of the ailerons are missing. I don't know if it was intended to protect the more fragile parts but Matchbox sandwiched the gun barrels, aerial masts and balance weights between the sprues with attachment at both ends, and when I tried to cut them off with either a scalpel or sprue cutters it compressed them making the parts either bend or break. I had to re-glue the nose turret gun barrels together and when I was fixing the balance weights they must have been weakened as they promptly snapped. If I come across the problem again I now know to cut the sprue on either side first to relieve the pressure.

 

The way they engineered the lower pitot tube, towel rail aerial, upper aerial masts, D/F loop fairing and the upper fuselage handrail leaves something to be desired - instead of sensible pins and locating holes, they provide "notches" which the base butt fits into - not ideal as it does not make for a robust joint, but at least they did include the handrail - I thought I was going to end up fabricating one from stretched sprue of wire. I suppose that is typical of Matchbox - miss out quite a bit but still manage to put some relatively insignificant detail in. Once the weight/drag reduction programme started to produce the "Specials" and later B.II Series 1a it was removed! In the above view you can see the reported problem with the upper nose profile which Tony W described in his very rapid build as a "ski jump". As several others including Dave aka Rabbit Leader have mentioned the slope is too great but I had neither the inclination not the patience to try and correct it as it would have involved raising the turret as well. Speaking of the nose turret, since taking the above pic I have scraped off some of the paint to reveal a bit more glazing in front of the solid rear section.

 

Incidentally, I don't know if it just me being a thrifty Yorkshireman (with perhaps some Scottish heritage to boot), but as you can see I am reluctant to throw away lengths of Tamiya masking tape as long as it is still sticky - hence the bits stuck all over my computer/modelling bench - it is not cheap! So all that remains is a bit of touching up, some careful masking (which should use up some of the old tape) and a coat of flattish varnish.

 

Is it accurate - hey it is a Matchbox kit so the answer is yes and no. Besides the problem with the nose profile, then as Graham and others have pointed out the turrets, canopy and engine cowlings are not quite right, but it does look pretty much like an early Merlin engined Halifax to me, and better than my old DIY conversion so I can live with that.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

 

Great looking Halifax!