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Halifax Mk II (Revell 1/72)


Scargsy

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Another rendition of this Revell kit for the GB...

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It's going to be mainly OOB - I think I've picked up some masks (camo and window) somewhere in my stash over the years as well as some resin wheels - which may or may not get used.

This has been sat in the stash some time, I think I got it when the Model Zone chain of shops closed down when they were selling off stock, certainly one of the larger kits in my stash (I'm sure I've already filled the hole it's made in it).

 

I'm not sure I like the Mk II tailfins (I prefer the later D shaped ones) or the yellow strips on the wing leading edges but I'm not in the mood for going for any more aftermarket and will just build it as is - the kit does give 2 options and I think with the different nose and possibly the D tails for the GR coastal command version but I'm going for the box art version I think, if I can dig out that camo mask, I've been doing too many grey or black aircraft of late so a bit of sand and spinach camo will be a welcome relief.

 

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Hi,

 

As you may have noticed I am building the Matchbox version over in that GB as is Greg, so that makes 4 on the go at once which can't be bad. In case you missed it in my previous posts, the "yellow" leading edges were almost certainly the "anti-icing" paste used on early bombers and it seems to have been a sort of orange/brown colour - one RAF groundcrew member described it as looking like mashed brown figs! You will be able to see my take on it in my Wellington build in this GB later today. Incidentally I still have part of the Xtradecal early Halifax sheet if there is anything you would like - it includes a B.II Series 1A with the larger fins, 4 gun upper turret, glazed nose fairing and H2S from 102 Squadron based at Pocklington in August 1943 amongst others.

 

At this point I probably should say something like "Well I'll go to't foot of t' stairs" if I was a pantomime Yorkshireman (translates as "I am amazed") - at one point both Tony and I lived within a mile of each other in BD6, though he later moved slightly to Wibsey and now it seems you are from only slightly further afield, and I know there is another member of BM in Halifax - small world! Tony and I have both "emigrated" from God's Own County - what about you if you don't mind me asking?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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5 hours ago, PeterB said:

Tony and I have both "emigrated" from God's Own County - what about you if you don't mind me asking?

I'm now living The Good Life in Surbiton (SW London) - though without the goat or Felicity Kendal next door.

 

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6 hours ago, Scargsy said:

I'm now living The Good Life in Surbiton (SW London) - though without the goat or Felicity Kendal next door.

 

Well I suppose we can always claim to be missionaries to the misguided foreigners - at my age I think the goat would be more useful - at least you can milk it if it is a nanny and it would save using a lawn mower😄

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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  • 2 weeks later...

So time to start this build, on opening the box I'm immediately confronted with a mountain of sprues, mostly packed 3 to a bag...

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I can forsee lots of frustration trying to find the correct sprue/part with all that lot, though there seems lots of optional pieces - e.g. 3 or 4 blade props.

The parts themselves look nicely moulded with lots of detail, I haven't seen much flash or other marks so far.

 

Also the single biggest clear sprue I think I've ever seen (sorry about the reflections, I like to keep the clears sealed until I need to open the bag)...

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The instructions are the older Revell style of black and white booklet, there's 101 steps in there (OK some are for various optional parts and 2 are actually paint guides).

Some of it isn't overly clear though - e.g. optionally removing things that from the image I can't see what and more importantly I can't see why, I'll need to study it to work out what options I'm going with and maybe cross out bits before I start gluing.

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Here's the aftermarket stuff - turns out I do have some decals!

I also found (for some odd reason) I'd put the sales receipt in the box so I can tell you this has been sat in the stash since September 2012, almost 10 years!

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I've also got some Hataka "Bomber Command" paints (orange line = lacquer) that I previously used on the Bristol Beaufort build and somewhere a Haynes manual for the Halifax, which should come in handy for reference.

 

I decided to dive right in (so much for reading the instructions first), fit seems pretty good - I'm using the fuselage halves as a jig to help ensure the alignment of the interior parts. Oddly the cross wing spars are moulded directly onto the floor piece. Interior detail looks pretty nice, though I'm not sure how much will be visible when completed.

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I find it helps to attack the runners with a cutter and take out all the optional (and if necessary original) parts I won't be using, placing them in clear bags and storing them carefully away.  Never know when you might change your mind and need them!  You can also do much the same with sub-assemblies such as the bombs and their carriers.  One thing to note if you are doing an open bombbay is that the kit moulds the outer doors shut, but has a recess on the inside so you can carefully saw though the ends and then bend them open.  Then the inner doors can be repositioned properly.  If you feel like it you can then fit the bombs the correct three abreast - you can't manage that with the kit doors as they come.

 

PS  You will also find lots of spare turrets and guns.  Save for a Hudson or Ventura.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So I finally managed to make a start on this - the M3/M4 GB taking priority due to closing dates...

 

Interior parts built painted and built up.

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Clear parts have been dipped in Pledge awaiting drying before attaching to the interior parts. I might give the interior parts a quick wash before closing up the halves.

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Small progress - the wheel wells were built up and wing halves closes up, I couldn't help test fitting them onto the spars.

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I'm planning on doing it wheels up but thought I'd stick a little bit of something greenish in the wheel wells just in case it's visible. I haven't decided whether I'll do the bomb bay open or closed - open will require cutting the single piece into 4 parts!

 

The interior I gave a bit of a wash with Army Painter 'dark shade' acrylic wash and attached the inner fitting windows before sealing up the halves and adding the nose extension pieces. The rear of the bomb bay didn't want to nicely sit against the lower part of the hull but with a bit of glue and persuasion via pressure from the back of a knife handle pushed through the turret ring and it finally played ball.

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Engine nacelles/parts were attached, I need to do a whole heap of seam cleanup on the wings and fuselage halves before fitting any of the smaller fiddly bits and risking snapping them, for now the wings are just slotted on and not glued.

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To do the bomb doors properly, you should really cut the upper doors away from the fuselage sides and pose them open.

 

This drawing shows how they should look:

 

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Chris

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Oooh I hadn't expected them to swing/slide inside, I'm not sure how the kit version/parts work - I presumed they hinged on the ends/flapped open like a door there are hinge parts I guess I'll have to take a look later, luckily there are also some photos on the box of a completed model so I can reference how they presume it fits together.

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  • 4 weeks later...

With the Jaguar build taking up a lot of time I haven't managed to put much into the Halifax but I did get some progress over the weekend...

 

Firstly on the doors issue - it does look like the kit has hinges so they will slide inside, however this all looked too fragile and like too much messing about (cutting the parts) so I've made the executive decision to do it buttoned up (too many kits on the go to be messing around with it).

 

I managed to get all the window masks on, which seemed to take an absolute age, one thing - I didn't see any masks for the other variant in the sheet, which is lucky for me I guess. I built up the sub-assemblies for the rear tail parts too - the tape there is just holding the parts together as they all hinge, the tape everywhere else is because I'm a tight northerner and might reuse it later, plus it helps protect it from my greasy fingers :)

 

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Wings and tail parts went together nicely, just a small amount of filling needed.

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Hopefully this should all go together quite quickly now, not a huge amount of work left before paint I think.

I'm going for the wheels up - one thing (should have taken a photo) but the wheels mount into the doors, so they stick out slightly - though the contact points are tiny (since they don't quite fit - it only just connects at the very front and rear, so I added a few sprue offcuts left and right inside the wheel well doors which seems a perfect fit - that should hopefully increase the contact points for the glue and help stiffen it all up, I'd hate to paint everything then place it down and a wheel pop up inside the model!

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I managed to get some bench time (or rather kitchen table time) and get it finished!

 

Firstly on with the black primer, I've been using Mr Surfacer 1500 black but unfortunately I've run out and it seems to be as rare as hen's teeth in the UK at the moment, so the top side was a bit incomplete (also a .2mm airbrush needle doesn't help with rapid coverage).

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The underneath and sides were then given a coat of Hataka black, before I masked off the black areas.

I first applied a bit of Mr Surfacer 1000 Mahogony to help with the incomplete areas before over spraying with Hataka dark earth.

Had a fair few issues - spilling some thinners down one edge for example but overall that came out quite well.

After leaving that to dry overnight I placed on the camo masks and then the dark green...

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As you can see I had a few issues with the camo masks - firstly I probably shouldn't have attached the tiny wing probes (as it was a pain to mask round but the masks seem to have aged quite badly (they haven't been stored in the best of conditions - right next to a radiator for example and are quite old). Firstly they seemed to have shrunk slightly in places (compared to where they'd been cut on the backing sheet, they seem to be a flexible plastic material, secondly they don't seem to want to adhere initial though the stuff on the black parts seemed to either rip off the primer (though that might be me not cleaning the surface first) or leave some nasty sticky residue (especially on the wing cutouts towards the back of the main wings).

They also seemed to want to pull up the window masks though with a bit of care most survived in place, other than a couple of the small fuselage round window masks which I had to rescue from the tape and replace.

 

After a bit of touchup I gave the whole thing a coat of Mr Topcoat clear rattle can.

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Then set about adding the few decals. I used a bit of 2500 sanding sponge under the main roundal positions - to try and reduce the bumpiness of the clear and also thin any camo pattern edging.

I have to say I'm glad I used some aftermarket decals as the kit originals seemed quite thick and to have aged badly (kit has been in my stash for about 10 years).

I moved the side demarkations backward slightly as I didn't fancy trying to cut the small port hole out of the roundal as shown in the decal placement sheet.

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With the decals in place I gave it another clear coat, then added some weathering - I started with some Flory model wash (shown below) it looks drastic but you can just wipe it off to taste once dry.

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I then gave it a light overall oil wash with some Abteilung Starship Filth (it's a very dark grey/brown colour) as a bit of a panel line wash/filter/sealing agent for the Flory stuff.

 

The smaller parts were fitted (tail wheel), props, etc. and I gave it a coat of Mr Topcoat Flat before removing the final window masks. Unfortunately this did chip up a bit of paint on the nose, so I had to do a few little touchups, then add the final lense parts and eventually it's all finished!

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This looks fantastic! Great work!

 

Mine is up and running again, though I'm unlikely to make the GB deadline... maybe I'll give it a shot but no promises.

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