Boulton Paul P.100

[chriswil42]

Not much room for the weighting. Looks as if it will be a bit heavy.

[cph64]

Despite my best efforts and lots of hot to boiling water the fuselage wouldn't join so it was out with the superglue, force it together and fill the gaps!!!. The observant amongst you will have noticed that the kit only has 3 exhaust holes for the Griffon engine where there should be 6 and 3 of these aren't in line!! The box art shows 6 but the paint guide 3. I'm deciding whether to go along with the kit or fill, sand and source 6.
I managed to get one wing to fit nicely, at my first attempt re pining and drilling, but the second was way out so that's a W.I.P. The spinner for the contra-rotating propellers has no guide holes for the blades and after wondering how to space them I decided upon cutting pieces of masking tape to length, measuring them and dividing by three to get the spacing. It appears to have worked but the blades will need some serious work, or replacing,

[Haddock]

This looks like a labour of love, don't surrender.
Haddock.

[MSea]

It will be worth it in the end - or that's what they always say - just enjoy turning bents bits into a finished model Chris

[cph64]

After much fettling and sanding both wings are finally attached, these and the foreplanes have received layers of filler but will need further work. In the background are the exhausts I will be using. They're from the old Airfix Bf 109 kit and only have 5 outlets but are better than the 3 holes of the kit. I decided against trying to 'boss' the kit propeller blades and sourced two sets from my spares. The black ones had to be cut down and shaped with the grey ones coming from the MPM DB8A kit.

[chriswil42]

It's looking good Chris.

[MSea]

Keep at it Chris

[cph64]

The vacform canopy has only a few faint frame lines so was interesting to mask up and when cut out it took a lot of fettling to get the best fit.  Two days of masking and painting revealed some rookie mistakes. 1) I didn't match up the de-icing strip masking and was left with a line of white undercoat. 2) I forgot to prime the resin undercarriage doors so the paint peeled off when removing the tape, doh!!! Re-masking and painting solved the first issue with the doors primed and now awaiting hardening. Next up will be getting the beast onto it's legs which could prove interesting/exciting/infuriating.

[zak]

It is certainly an odd beast.

[Haddock]

JuSt shows that perseverance pays off.

[chriswil42]

Looking good Chris.

[Bigkev]

Hi Chris,
looking.......different to say the least.
Keep at it, it will all come together.
Bigkev

Good work so far.

[cph64]

Fitting the undercarriage did prove interesting as once fitted the plane had a distinct nose down attitude. I'd checked the legs I'd made against the resin ones and they were the same size so as there are no diagrams/pictures of the plane with gear down I went with this. The next problem was the main wheel bay covers, they were too long. Some sanding down was required trying to follow the initial sit. The contra-rotating rotor and exhausts were then fitted along with an aerial was using a bristle from an old brush. Two coats of Klear went on before the decals, all sourced from spares. Some split but I left as best as to imitate wear due to constant low level flying. Then it was a coat of satin varnish and a mix of Flory washes.
A challenging but interesting build during which I learnt more, which is what modellings about isn't it? Not a kit for the faint hearted but the only other option, I believe, is a vacform.
I wanted to photograph it outside but rain stopped play yesterday.

[zak]

Well, it's finished and you overcame the problems.

[MSea]

Well, it's finished and you overcame the problems.

Not only that but it looks good as well