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1:72 Bristol Beaufort Mk.Ia, No.2 Torpedo Training Unit *FINISHED*


Dunny

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Hi All,

 

Further investigation on the Mk.Ia turret. Whilst searching I found this thread:

 

Although it's mostly related to DAP Beauforts it may be of use to somebody! I also managed to find the instructions for the 1:48 ICM Mk.Ia (which has not yet reached these shores). Here's a screenshot of the instructions showing the construction of the turret:

 

Screenshot-20230128-104104-Drive.jpg

 

You can see that it does not differ radically from Auntie's although the ammo boxes do not appear on the Airfix turret, along with the armour plate - both should be easy enough to scratch. I feel like I'm getting towards a solution - I think that by this point (1943) armament would more like be twin Brownings rather than a single Lewis gun, and it should be simple enough to adapt to a twin-mount configuration. Right, time to shut up and get on with the build!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

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16 hours ago, mark.au said:

I’ll get this post in here.  At the rate you’re building I expect my next visit (probably tomorrow evening) will be congratulating you on another fine result.

 

15 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great find re the ICM instructions,  yep won't be long now till finished.

Chris

I really ought to get a job - stash depletion rate is rather alarming 🤣

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I didn’t know this white scheme was an option for a Beaufort until I saw your post.  I’m following this one- you’ve got me thinking about building mine in this scheme, now…..

 

I see you have the Print Scale decal sheet. 

 

I was looking for different options for the Airfix Beaufort kit, and found the XtraDecal X72319 sheet, which also has “LR906” on it.   It has this note on it:

 

”Modelers Note:  This airframe had the Yagi ASVII aerial arrays mounted under the wings.”

 

I have used Printscale decals on several of my WW1 builds.  I like the decals well enough, but I find that sometimes their color info for the plane is questionable or incomplete.  I don’t have any experience with Xtradecal-  wondering what their research/reputation is like…?

 

 

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15 hours ago, RC Boater Bill said:

”Modelers Note:  This airframe had the Yagi ASVII aerial arrays mounted under the wings.”

Thanks for that Bill! I have always been quite impressed with Xtradecals, although I think others have pointed out inaccuracies on some sheets. I guess always use photos of the airframe as the first point of reference,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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On 29/01/2023 at 13:35, Dunny said:
On 28/01/2023 at 21:19, mark.au said:

I’ll get this post in here.  At the rate you’re building I expect my next visit (probably tomorrow evening) will be congratulating you on another fine result.

 

On 28/01/2023 at 22:21, bigbadbadge said:

Great find re the ICM instructions,  yep won't be long now till finished.

Chris

I really ought to get a job - stash depletion rate is rather alarming 🤣

 

Are you not posting an update to spite us now? 😉

 

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27 minutes ago, mark.au said:

 

Are you not posting an update to spite us now? 😉

 

Priming and painting - not much to show 🤣

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Hi All,

 

Some progress on the Beau after what has been a rather busy week of preparation and job interviews (which will hopefully bear fruit!) First job of the day was the instrument panel. I'd fluffed up applying the decal yesterday, so I repainted the base colour black, dry-brushed with white and then applied gloss coat to the instrument faces:

 

20230204-120516.jpg

 

I reckon that'll do seeing as it won't be seen! Here's the cockpit starting to come together:

 

20230204-135609.jpg

 

And here we are mostly completed after an oil wash:

 

20230204-150135.jpg

 

Before joining the fuselage halves I added the beam hatch (on my previous Mk.I build I'd left this hatch open), and added the tail wheel bay, central bulkhead and Elsan. Here's the lot ready to go together:

 

20230204-150626.jpg

 

Aaand all buttoned up:

 

20230204-152352.jpg

 

Not looking too bad! Next I thought I'd better double check the fit of the turret in the Mk.Ia fairing (which is not noted in the instructions). Here it is:

 

20230204-152955.jpg

 

It all seems to fit okay, but I did need to remove a small pip at the base of the turret structure in order for it to sit down on the mounting ring:

 

20230204-153032.jpg

 

You can see that I've chosen to paint the entire turret black (the glazing will also be this colour). No doubt someone will now pipe up and prove me wrong, so there's still time to correct it! The last thing I've done today is apply the glazing, and Airfix really are to be congratulated on the fit of these components - a lovely, vice free operation for a complex glass house!

 

20230204-155057.jpg

 

Tomorrow I'll get on to the wings and empennage, 

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

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30 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Looking good Roger, excellent progress.

 

Good luck with the interview(s), though it’ll be difficult to fit work in around the modelling.

Thanks Mark - real life is so inconvenient, don't you think?!

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19 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Nice progress Roger,

All the best for the interviews.

 

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Thanks Alistair! I am optimistic at this stage...

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3 hours ago, dogsbody said:

 

Retirement - the best career move - EVER!

 

 

 

Chris

I couldn't agree more Chris - sadly my bank manager does not...🤣

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Hi All,

 

A bit of an update from Sunday and today! Sunday was mainly about construction, which proceeded very smoothly. Here we are with the wings and empennage in place, which all fitted beautifully:

 

20230205-132457.jpg

 

Here's the mounting frames for the undercarriage in position:

 

20230205-134207.jpg

 

These elements sit inside the nacelles, with the u/c legs themselves to be added after painting. Here's one of the engines assembled, taken from this angle to show where I drilled the exhausts:

 

20230205-155132.jpg

 

So this was the state of play at the start of today, with the engines posed in position:

 

20230205-155205.jpg

 

By jings it's a Beaufort! A reasonable proportion of today has been devoted to designing the stencils and masks for the glazing. Although I'm happy with the stencils, the masks require a little finesse:

 

20230207-195917.jpg

 

You can see where I gave up and resorted to Tamiya tape and a sharp scalpel - result achieved. The problem with a glass house as complex as this is that it is no mean feat to transfer a 3D shape to a 2D pattern (perfectly achievable in 3D CAD but I was trying to do it directly - learning point). Once the glazing was all masked I turned my attention to cleanup. As with my last Beaufort there is a rather large sink mark on the starboard wing root:

 

20230207-173553.jpg

 

So out with the sprue goo and soon filled:

 

20230207-173921.jpg

 

I don't think I'll be too far away from primer tomorrow, which will be nice!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Roger

 

 

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4 minutes ago, AliGauld said:

Excellent work Roger,

Looking every inch a belter.

Getting the masks right for the greenhouse must be a tricky affair.

Tamiya tape may be the way to go, for me, with a well defined edge.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

Thanks Alistair - I now think it's the way to go but nothing ventured, nothing gained!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

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Excellent progress Roger.  Looking forward to the paint.  
 

Am I to understand that you attempted canopy mask design/cutting on the Silhouette?  I’ve thought about having a go at that but with the price and availability of commercial masks I’ve not been bothered to try it just yet.

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Looks a very nice kit, I use the Cameo Silhouette, and find it very useful indeed, especially if you want to create raised panels that have awkward shapes etc, and also window masks such as passenger windows, the complex window frames still require the old method of cutting out with a blade to begin with, to get the shapes correct and then copying them into Illustrator so you can draw around the shapes before sending it to the Cameo cutter software, but this is really only if you are going to do more than one.

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