Airfix 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant, 264 Squadron, England, July 1940
Hi all,
Hope you are all doing fine.
My next submission is a 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant from Airfix.
A remarkable plane which was eventually not that successful in combat.
The build itself was pretty straight forwarded.
No real issues, but this is what I have observed also from my other 'new tool' Airfix builds.
Mainly out of the box except for the seat belts and brake lines.
This time I also tried to add some oil and exhaust stains.
For the antenna wire Ushi wire is used.
Paints used are DarkEarth (71.323) and DarkGreen (71.324) for top side and a 1:3 mixture of DuckEggGreen (71.009) with GreyBlue (71.103) for the bottom side, all from vallejo.
Just one thing that I ran into were imprints (grease remains I think) of the patafix.
On one of the images you can clearly see the mark on the green color next to the brown one.
Luckily I was able to pretty simple remove this using white spirit.
I also got some great advise from Spiros @fiveten to use a coating after each applied layer.
The chosen scheme is the one from 264 squadron in July 1940, reason for this is the letter combination PS-V.
Once my daughter noticed this combination, I had no other choice.
She is fan of the Dutch soccer team PSV, so you get the picture.
Any advise or critic is welcome so next time I can improve on that.
20 additional images. Click to enlarge.
George Henderson said on November 6, 2020
Very nice John. I cheated on the camo with mine and used AML Camouflage Masks
John vd Biggelaar said on November 6, 2020
A nice solution as well George.
Wouldn't call it cheating.
Spiros Pendedekas said on November 6, 2020
This is a wonderful Defiant, John!
The Defiant is such a gorgeous looking plane and your build represents it in all of its greatness.
Your painting looks great, Patafix seems to having created nice demarcation lines.
Excellent job on the decals, they look as if they are painted on!
I love your weathering too, including all small details", like the fuel stain running down the cap.
The cockpit looks super, as well as the brake lines.
Glad the Airfix kit is up to a good standard, the Defiant needed a good mainstream quarter scale rendition. I will definitely get myself one, your build definitely will be used as reference.
Well done, my friend!
John vd Biggelaar said on November 6, 2020
Thanks a lot, Spiros @fiveten
Everything came along nicely at the end.
This patafix makes appying curved schemes much easier.
Next build will be a Petlyakov Pe2 from Historic Plastic Models, which seems a bigger challenge.
Spiros Pendedekas said on November 7, 2020
Wow, a HiPM Pe-2, John @johnb!
I love this kind of challenging-towards-ultra challenging kits!
Congratulations on deciding to tackle it!
I've got the 1/48 MPM one, planning to build one day, really tempted to start it now, but I will restrain myself, due to many ongoing projects!
I cannot wait for your build! And, with already an excellent Patafixed project in your pocket, you will easily tackle this one, should you wish to use the Patafix method!
dale travis said on November 6, 2020
Great looking Defiant John! The camo scheme really looks good.
John vd Biggelaar said on November 6, 2020
Thanks a lot, Dale.
George R Blair Jr said on November 6, 2020
This is awesome, John (@JohnB). The camouflage is perfect, as is the interior. It looks like you used separate decals for each instrument in the instrument panel. Did they come that way in the kit, or did you cut them out? I was thinking about buying this kit, and I think you have convinced me (as long as I can get some canopy masks for it. :o)
John vd Biggelaar said on November 6, 2020
Thanks George @gblair.
The instrument panel is just a single decal.
I used however quite some decal softener to make it form the way it looks right now.
After that I did a bit of dry brushing with blackgrey paint to make it less shiny.
George R Blair Jr said on November 7, 2020
Well, however you did it, John (@JohnB), the instrument panel looks great.
Eric Berg said on November 6, 2020
Looks absolutely terrific John.
How did you like working with Uschi thread? Can you stretch it? Is it better horse tail hair?
John vd Biggelaar said on November 6, 2020
Thanks, Eric @eb801
The Uschi thread is indeed stretchable and, for the first time use, the impression is great, much better than horse tail hair.
Jaime Carreon said on November 7, 2020
Beautiful rendition of an often overlooked subject. Spot on, John, and I'm sure your daughter was pleased as well!
John vd Biggelaar said on November 7, 2020
Thanks, Jaime.
Although she is not into planes and modelling, she will for sure remember this one.
Louis Gardner said on November 7, 2020
John, @JohnB
This is a fantastic model... and it REALLY looks great ! I won this exact same kit several years ago when Imodeler was awarding the "Random Kit Award". I built mine and posted it here on Imodeler as part of the 100 Years of the RAF group build. I added a set of resin wheels on mine, but other than that it was out of the box.
To be perfectly honest, I think yours look much better than mine does... by a long shot, especially the cockpit details. Those Instrument panel gauges are remarkable.
Well done and I pressed the liked button too. 🙂
John vd Biggelaar said on November 7, 2020
Thansk, Louis @lgardner
Among other builds of this Defiant here on iModeler, yours was one that I used as a reference.
To be honest, I think my build did not reach the quality level of your build.
Tom Cleaver said on November 7, 2020
@JohnB:
Beautiful work and a great result. I like this a lot!
One eensy-weensy-teensy minor thing: put the ailerons in neutral. They can't both be down. Fix that and you have a completely 100% successful model.
John vd Biggelaar said on November 7, 2020
Thanks a lot, Tom @tcinla
You are right, no idea why I made that error.
Maybe too much focussed on other details.
Jimmy Zed said on November 7, 2020
Lovely job on an ill fated aircraft. Cockpit and paintjob look the bee knees, beautiful work John 🙂
John vd Biggelaar said on November 7, 2020
Thanks, Jimmy.
Tom Bebout said on November 7, 2020
Well done John, like those above that cockpit and IP looks great.
John vd Biggelaar said on November 7, 2020
Thanks Tom.
Always good to have some images of the interior, later on all is nearly invisible.
Dirk Derks said on November 7, 2020
Hello John,
As mentioned in a PM, this is a kind of flying artillerie piece. Must have been a very robust construction. The model is finished to perfection. My compliments. Not to forget your excellent photographs.
Regards, Dirk.
John vd Biggelaar said on November 7, 2020
Thanks , Dirk @orion
The plane is indeed like flying artillerie, it could have been more succesful when more forward firing power was installed and a much better powerplant.
Still looking for a better way to present my builds with a diorama like yours.
Greg Kittinger said on November 9, 2020
Beautifully done! Great work in the cockpit, and nicely subtle weathering.
John vd Biggelaar said on November 9, 2020
Thanks a lot, Greg.