Luke1199 Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 Hi all, going to do a WIP thread for this kit as it's my first stab at a building a prop, I've only made jet aircraft so far so this is new for me. I'm not a massive fan of props but there are a few exceptions, one of which is definitely the Beaufighter. This is also my first Tamiya kit, and first British aircraft (shocking- I know). Any tips or guidance will definitely be appreciated. Here's the kit. I think I'll be giving the kit a quick soak first as there's some sort of muck on a few pieces, it was a sealed kit so I'm not sure what it is. Thanks for looking in! 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 Okay, finally made a start on the cockpit and rear seat with a few coats of interior green, its a lot more low-tech than what I'm used to in there lol. Just need to paint what I assume is some sort of heating/cooling duct for the interior and put the fuselage together. Dry fitted the interior and fuselage halves and it looks spot on so hopefully get it together tomorrow. Thanks for looking in! 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 Great start, looking forward to seeing this progress, I have a soft spot for the Beau and will tag along. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 Gidday Luke, although I'm a ship modeler I rather like the big twin-engine fighters of WW2, including the Beaufighter. Regards, Jeff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 Hi all, good progress today. The wings went together very easily and onto the fuselage. The fit has been great overall, only the nose has given me any trouble- Tamiya definitely living up to its reputation. Just a small bit of filler was needed along the centre seam line and a little more along the connection between the wings and fuselage. The nose needed a little sanding too but nothing drastic. The engines and landing gear/wheel wells are basically small modules that slot onto the aircraft so I'll just be building those separately and adding them towards the end of the build along with the small antenna's etc. The nose needed a helping hand... It's a decent size, especially next to the other build I'm working on at the moment... may need another can of primer lol... She just needs a prime and a spray which I'll hopefully manage tomorrow. Not sure about how much weathering I'm going to do, I do like seeing scraped paint and wear and tear but I've never really tried it before. I'll have a look around on the forum and YouTube to see how it can be done and go from there. Thanks for looking in! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 One slight oversight here on my end, I've build an all-black plane and didn't have enough black paint. Hopefully pick some more up tomorrow and crack on. Still got it primed and the top sprayed flat black though. Thanks for checking it out! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Bell Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Awfully glad to see this. I put aside my 1/32 Tamiya Mosquito after planting my knee firmly in the middle of some critical cockpit parts. So I picked up my Tamiya 1/48 Beaufighter Mk. VI. Mine is apparently a different boxing, because the top is a dayfighter with nightfighter option. Still, the parts appear identical to yours. True to my habit, I have two other builds in the works: a 1/32 Roden Siemens-Schuckert D.IV and a Tamiya P-38H Lightning. Everything you've heard about the latter is true -- it's just about perfect. Now if I can just figure out a way to screw it up. Tom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 10, 2022 Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 Okay, got my hands on some more black paint so we're in action again. All sprayed black now, hopefully get the landing gear and engine's assembled tomorrow then put on the aircraft. Going to try and dry brush some silver along the leading edges in places to hopefully give it a little more of a weathered look, so should be fun to try something new. Thanks for looking in! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 (edited) Hi all, progress has been slow the past few days because of the heat, its unbearably hot upstairs. Stayed up last night after it had cooled down and cracked on some more. Engines are assembled and fitted, I didn't have any bronze so just used the burnt iron I'd used on the exhausts, propellers need their tips painting yellow still. Landing gear went together easily, they just build into small modules which are slotted in under the engines, fit has been great still. And with the landing gear doors fitted.. Started glossing it now, once thats done its just the decals and canopy to go on and small odds and ends like antennas. Thanks for looking in! Edited July 13, 2022 by Luke1199 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 The Burnt Iron is a way better colour for the exhaust collectors. Shiny bronze and/or copper are wrongJust look at the exhaust pipe on any vehicle to see what colour the metal gets after some time. It's not shiny bronze. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 13, 2022 Author Share Posted July 13, 2022 21 minutes ago, dogsbody said: The Burnt Iron is a way better colour for the exhaust collectors. Shiny bronze and/or copper are wrongJust look at the exhaust pipe on any vehicle to see what colour the metal gets after some time. It's not shiny bronze. Chris Yeah I agree Chris, would make it look like the engine had never actually fired up before. Much prefer burnt iron over coppers and silvers when doing exhausts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 39 minutes ago, dogsbody said: The Burnt Iron is a way better colour for the exhaust collectors. Shiny bronze and/or copper are wrongJust look at the exhaust pipe on any vehicle to see what colour the metal gets after some time. It's not shiny bronze. Chris There's a niche in the market here; one of the PE manufacturers (looking at you, Eduard...) could make metal collector rings that can be substituted for the kit parts, Modellers could then heat blue them with a sooty flame and wipe them down when cool. Et viola, heat-cycled metal in a colour of your choice. Can't help thinking they'd be a bit on the dear side, though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 Hi all, decals are on. No issues at all really, though the 'trestle here' decals are tiny on the instruction sheet and I couldnt tell which way they were supposed to face so had to consult the reference material. Had a minor issue with the gloss cote running over the leading edge but nothing major. Went for the 29th Squadron scheme as I liked the Bambi nose art. Just a bit of weathering left to do and some odds and ends, then a matte cote. Thanks for looking in! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArnoldAmbrose Posted July 15, 2022 Share Posted July 15, 2022 6 hours ago, Luke1199 said: Went for the 29th Squadron scheme as I liked the Bambi nose art. Gidday Luke, yeah that nose art makes the plane look a real killer and must have put the fear of god into the intended victim. Assuming of course the said intended victim could actually see it with the Beaufighter approaching head on in near total darkness. 😁 Bambi with a bite. Has a nice sound to it. She continues to look good. Seeing your model here I'm tempted to do the plane myself sometime, although the planes I do now are usually in a different scale - 1/600. Regards, Jeff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke1199 Posted July 15, 2022 Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 1 hour ago, ArnoldAmbrose said: Bambi with a bite. Has a nice sound to it. Hahaha you're right there Jeff. I'd definitely recommend the kit if you ever fancy having a go, don't think they go as small as 1/600 though 😅 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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