Bristol Beaufort Mk.1

[cph64]

This is the Airfix kit and comes on 5 sprues of the newer grey plastic along with one clear sprue, a booklet which gives a comprehensive break down of the build and decals for two options. I purchased an Eduard masking set for the canopies and I'm modelling another 22 Sqdn aircraft, seen from a photo of them at North Coates in December 1940, the decals for which I'll source from the Kits World set of letters and numbers. I had started cleaning the parts up in previously and have painted the interior with Tamiya Cockpit Green, followed by a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil. Seats and details were then picked out.

[chriswil42]

A good start Chris.

[cph64]

The interior went together easily with the only trouble being the pilots seat which fits onto small mountings. Painted overall in Tamiya Cockpit Green with details picked out using black, silver and red. The instrument panel has a decal which took a couple of attempts to get in the right place and was then treated to setting solution and a coat of Klear. The pilot's seat belts are from spares and the navigators are Tamiya tape. There's even a toilet which just like Adrian's in his Sunderland won't be seen once the fuselage is closed up. The same goes for the wireless operators station.

[Bigkev]

Very comprehensive interior, even down to the loo!
Great work so far.

[cph64]

With the tailwheel bulkheads fitted the interior was inserted and the fuselage closed up with only a slight gap at the front. The wing halves were joined and fixed to the fuselage and I have to say this is the best fit for wing to fuselage I've ever come across. The tailplanes were then fitted followed by all the control surfaces. The instructions call for part of the undercarriage to be fixed to the wings before adding the nacelles and once in postion are followed by a two part intake on top of the nacelles which didn't sit correctly and needed initial work.

[chriswil42]

You're cracking on with this Chris. Looking good.

[Bigkev]

Looks good Chris.
Is the kit moulded in two shades of grey plastic? It looks like it does from some of the pictures.

[cph64]

I'd primed the smaller parts Kev leaving the wings, fuselage etc to be primed once fully built. The darker parts are those which were near the small parts.

[Bigkev]

Aha, that explains it. I thought Airfix had decided to go down a two colour plastic route for a second.......... 

[cph64]

Come back Matchbox, all is forgiven!!

[cph64]

The canopy parts have been glued in place and these showed a problem which I'm not sure was of my making. The top main part had been glued in place but once I came to fit the front nose piece the top part showed an overhang. When I'd joined the fuselage halves there was a gap at the front of the nose which I had to fill, so if I'd left that and the nose wider then the canopy would have fitted okay but then the nose piece wouldn't have and there would have been a gap. Hmmm. After this the 'doors' required for the torpedo fit were added and I also found these somewhat difficult to position correctly. Why is it everything fits perfectly until we commit to glue? These were followed by the remaining undercarriage parts and the prominent fuel dump pipes on the underwings.

[Bigkev]

Looks okay to me. Interesting to see the torpedo was offset to one side.

[chriswil42]

Looking good Chris.

[cph64]

The Eduard masks were applied, though a great help they were somewhat difficult to initially see on the backing paper. I'd built up the turret seperately, without the gun, and left it out to ease painting the aircraft. Tamiya Nato Black was applied to the undesurfaces and once dry masked for the Dark Earth and Green, also from Tamiya. Looking closely at the photo the model is based on there is a pale line between the upper and lower camoflagues, I assumed this was the original Sky colour that wasn't completely covered when black was applied to the undersides so painted this in. The cowling fronts and exhausts are Vallejo Gunmetal. Some chipping liquid had been applied to the upper surfaces and this was removed before a coat of Klear was applied. Decals are a mix of the kit's and from spares. I had to cut the red W to fit, this worked better on one side than the other. The torpedo body was painted Vallejo Oily Steel with a black warhead and brass detonator and propellers before fitting. The dorsal turret fairing had been held in place with Maskol to enable me to remove it to fit the turret, which according to the instructions is a straight drop-in. I had to turn mine through 90deg to get it in. The fairing is supposed to sit flush with the top of the aircraft but whether with or without the turret it wouldn't, despite some modifying. All the masking was removed, the wingtip lights were added after painting red and green dots on a silver background and some exhaust staining was added.
OA-W was part of 22 Sqdn at North Coates in December 1940 and sadly, not long after the photo was taken, was lost when it crashed due to engine falure on take-off resulting in the mine exploding. Torpedos, as was the ordnance used on the Dambusters raids, were classed as mines not bombs.

[Bigkev]

A great result Chris, well done!
You always give that little bit of extra information with your builds which shows that you do your homework on the subject you are modelling.
Nice Job, next please..........