I built the original kit when it came out years ago and wanted a replacement but as AIrfix haven't retooled this yet I bought the Kovozavody Prostejov (K.P. Kev, lol) kit upon it's release. The model comes on two grey sprues plus a clear one, a five page instruction booklet and markings for three aircraft, one of which is P-EA featuring Popeye on the side which was also the markings for the original Airfix kit. I however am not building as that aircraft. Flash is minimal but as with KP kits there are no locating pins and holes for the fuselage and wings. There are however a few 'knock out' points in visible places which will need to be removed.
It certainly looks clean. It shouldn't cause you much trouble Chris.
I hope not, I'm running out of Valium.
Quote from: cph64 on May 31, 2026, 05:45:02 AMI hope not, I'm running out of Valium.
What about pinching some of Tracy's? If you need it.
At the recent PlayDay I started scribing the bomb bay doors as I plan to have them open and fit bombs and cradles inside. Online research showed that the doors were in two parts and having only scribed the lower I subsequently opened the thinner upper ones. The bomb bay roof has been attached to one side but I will repaint this Black along with the door interiors. A start has been made on the cockpit floor and a major item has come to my notice, there are no internal bulkheads or a floor for the rear gunner. As the kit glazing is relatively thick I'll check to see what I can get away with.
I don't think there was an internal bulkhead behind the pilots seat Chris, though I may be wrong.
I have a Cutaway book of Bombers of WWII, and it includes the Hampden. I'll bring it on Sunday if your going to the Northern Model Show, otherwise I'll bring it to the next meeting.
Hi Kev, thanks. I'm not going to the Northern it's our village Open Gardens that day and ours is one of them. Tracy is running the tombola in the Village Hall so can't cover.
Anyway, I've seen a cutaway that, as you say, has no bulkhead behind the pilot but there is one aft of the wing spar into the rear compartment. On second thoughts I'm going to try and make this and a representation of the cover over the spar. Another case of IKIT!!
Bulkhead made and fitted, I even marked out the door! A piece of 10 thou was added to the back of the cockpit floor to represent the wing spar also. To fit the rear gunners seat I used some Evergreen strip to represent a fuselage spar, mirroring this on the opposite fuselage half. Digging through the spares box I found some bombs, first built around 60yrs ago, attached to the correct cradle so these and two others were quickly cleaned up and repainted before fitting. I didn't spend too much time on these as they will be mostly hidden once the fuselage is joined up.
Great to see you adding that extra detail.
Nice detail Chris.
Great
The fuselage has been joined and a Navigator's table made and painted for the front of the fuselage. The engines were built up but I had to sand the tops of the pistons to get the cowlings to fit, even then there were small gaps that needed filling. The undercarriage legs are fragile to say the least and when fitted to the 'base plates' they sat at the wrong angle once the wings were joined so I carefully prized one side off and inserted a small piece of 35thou plastice card. The wings also needed work once joined and then attached to the fuselage. The kit pieces for the rear end of the fuselage are larger than the main body they have to join to so I matched up the top panel lines and have used filler to try and blend it in. Failing that I may have to sacrifice some panel and rivet detail. The tailwheel also sat too low in it's 'housing' so another piece of 35thou was inserted as a base.
Thank heaven for plastic card with this one........
And as if that wasn't enough the cowlings now don't want to fit to the wings!!!
Looks like it's still trying to fight you, but you will win in the end. A little bit of judicious sanding methinks will be in order.
Confession time!!! I'd put the wrong halves of the nacelles together not realising that they were handed, doh!!! So I carefully spilt and rebuilt them before fitting to the wings. There were slight gaps to contend with but nothing PPP couldn't resolve. The transparencies were then attached using Glue and Glaze. As photos show no machine guns visible when the aircraft are on the ground I decided not to drill the transparencies and attach them. Masks were then applied before a coat of primer followed by Tamiya Nato Black for the Night finish underneath.
Oooops!
No major harm done then. Looking good so far.
The upper camoflague of Tamiya Matt Earth and RAF Dark Green has been applied. The cooling fins on the cowlings were masked and painted Vallejo Chrome and the exhaust collector ring and exhausts were first painted Gunmetal followed by coats of Citadel Seraphim Sepia. I find this gives that nice compromise between Brass and the grey colour these parts turn once used.
We all learn from our mistakes, an easy one to make.
It seems to me that not many modellers admit to making mistakes.
I agree with Dave, we all make mistakes from time to time. As long as we learn from them, that's what really matters.
Keep at it Chris, it's looking good.
Yes we all do that. It wouldn't be the first time I've done that sort of thing either with handed parts. Good recovery though Chris.
After a coat of Klear the decals were applied and took some effort to position. As soon as they hit the model they grabbed so I stopped using setting solution and applied plenty of water. Even so some broke and I had to repair as best as. The tail flashes are supplied as full oblongs and not angled as per the fins consequently I applied several coats of setting solution to them once in place and trimmed with a new scaple once they had chance to fix properly. Paintwork touchups were then done followed by a coat of Humbrol Satin varnish. All the masking was removed and the framework cleaned up. I have to say the clear parts are the worst part of the kit as none fit their designated areas properly, either being too big or too small. There are no landing lights behind the clear part provided so I cut a piece of card to fit, painted it Cockpit Green and fixed two Little Cars lenses to it. Once fitted the frame was painted. The wingtip formation lights are only supplied as clear parts at the front of the wings and these were too big so again work was needed to get a best fit. Different coats of Flory wash were then applied before the aileron counterbalances and the pitot tube were glued in place. The kit version of the latter need amending to look like the actual thing. Definitely not a 'shake and make' kit but I got there in the end.
Yup, it's definitely a Hampden.
A good result Chris. Another one to be proud of in the display cabinet.
Great
Thanks for the positive comments.
Always nice to see your models posed on the grass and outside.
Nicely finished Chris.