Fairey Battle

[cph64]

At a Club Meeting I picked up a French magazine as it had an article on 'Bodenplatte', the Luftwaffe's final big offensive in January 1945. One of the other articles was about the 'Last Battle of the Battle', the RAF's use of the Fairey Battle in France as part of the Allied Advance Strike Force. To my great surprise included is a photo of a 12 Squadron (PH code) aircraft with the individual aircraft letter of C. As this gave my initials C-PH this just begged to built, which it will but prior to the photo of it in a field after it was shot down on a sortie to Sedan on May 14th 1940. The crew, Sgt. H.R.W. Winkler, Sgt. M.D. Smalley and AC1 I.R. Clarke survived to become POWs.
I'd built the original Airfix kit, with it's incorrect nose shape, back in my childhood then missed the initial release of the Azur-Fromm kit first time around but bought one on re-release. The kit is moulded in softish grey plastic on three sprues with a clear sprue giving options for open or closed canopies and a decal sheet for 3 aircraft. Discussions with Neil about not being able to see clearly from the photo if the a/c was finished in the A or B scheme opened a can of worms when he informed me that Battles were sometimes finished in the C or D schemes. These being colour reversal of A and B. I'm still trying to decide which one of the four it is but will have to make a decision at some point. Some of the parts are small but it's nice to see throttle controls and other levers moulded on the blocks they fit onto rather than trying to glue etch together. The interior and other areas have been painted Tamiya Cockpit Green with all the small parts painted whilst still on the sprue. The instruction booklet gives a mostly positive location for parts but one or two have to be worked out. No seatbelts are provided so I made some from Tamiya tape. All the small parts have been fitted to the cockpit sides so following a clean up a wash will be applied.

[chriswil42]

Good detail Chris.

[Bigkev]

Super start on this one Chris,
The interior looks nicely detailed. It should keep you busy for a while.

[cph64]

The rest of the internal parts were fitted but I detracted from the instructions for the ribbing with holes in the rear cockpit as no matter how I tried I couldn't get the three parts to fix together strongly so I glued one side in then added the other, with the bulkhead after. Thannkfully it all went together well. The machine gun mount was painted internally and on the downside which would be for the stowed position. The two fuselage halves were then joined up with only a minimum aamount of juggling to get all lined up. The landing lights position comes in four parts, one being the lens, and I had to sand the spar to get the main cover to fit on both sides as I'd postioned everything with a slight lean forward. The rudder hole had to be enlarged slightly but once done the rudder just popped into place, no cement required. The fuselage was then joined to the wings. Next up were the tailplane parts where some filler was required in places. After a general check all round for any tidying up it was on to the spray box. Tamiya Nato Black was mixed with some flow improver and self levelling thinners before being sprayed in light coats. I added some light grey to try and get a differnce in shade for the fabric elevators and ailerons. This isn't obvious so I may go back to it.

[Bigkev]

Hi Chris, some nice work there.
I like the finish on the black undersides. You seem to have stopped it becoming monotone, by your painting techniques, something I'll have to try to achieve.
A good job so far, can't wait to see the finished article.

[chriswil42]

Looking very nice Chris.

[MSea]

well on the way looking good

[cph64]

After looking at the reference photo countless times I believe the aircraft is finished in the 'D' scheme, which is the 'B' scheme with the colours reversed.  Confused? I was/am. The cockpits were filled with sponge and the lower surface demarcation line taped. Tamiya Dark Earth was sprayed on and once set Vallejo Masking fluid was used to create the camoflague pattern and also onto the upper fuselage between the two cockpits as I read that all Fairey Battles were Dark Earth in this area, after which Tamiya RAF Dark Green was applied. Once dry the masking fluid was removed. I've used this fluid before and found the best way to get it off is to wet it and then rub it, sometimes it lifts in large pieces. Two coats of Klear have been appiled ready for the decals.

[Bigkev]

looking good Chris. The 'Battle' always made me me think of the saying 'Always the Bridesmaid, never the Bride', an often overlooked subject.
You'll do it justice I'm sure.
Good work so far for a 'confused' man.

[cph64]

Decals applied, the codes and frame numbers are from the Kits World set with the roundels coming from the kit. The only tail flash I could find in my stash was a very old one from, I believe, a Matchbox Jet Provost. It's darker than the white of the roundels but by the time I've weathered the plane then hopefully it will blend in.

[Bigkev]

Looks good Chris.
Almost there.

[chriswil42]

Looking good.

[cph64]

The propeller has been fitted and the front and main canopies put in place and masked with sponge positioned in the cockpits, sliding cockpit and rear gunners canopies were masked and painted off the model. The aerial mast has to be positioned onto the airframe with the canopy sliding over it. Once the paint was dry satin varnish was applied followed by fitting the rear Lewis gun followed by the canopy. The pilots sliding canopy part, which the instructions say you can position open, would not sit properly despite several attempts so I've just gone with it as is. All the remaining small parts were then fitted to complete the model. Just a small amount of weathering was applied.
C-PH of 12 Squadron took off on it's last flight at 1533hrs from Amifontaine on the 14th May 1940 to attack roads and bridges in the Sedan area during which it was shot down, The crew of Sgt. H.R.W, Winkle, Sgt. M.D. Smalley and AC1 I.R. Clarke were all taken prisoner with Clarke escaping in March 1945 and the other two being repatriated after the war.

[Bigkev]

Very nice Chris.
Will it be appearing at the Lincoln Show?

[chriswil42]

Looking very nice Chris.