Back to the beginning.....
Sometime around 1971 when I would have been around 6 years old I was given as a present the Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant kit, I can actualy remember building, it probably in about an hour and when it was built not knowing what the decals were we cut them out and glued them on !...I thought it was the best thing I'd ever seen and spent the rest of the day running around my grandma's house with it in hand making engine/machine gun noises,happy days.
Since returning to the hobby some years ago it has been at the back of my mind to build it again so just over a week ago I bought this one for 6 quid ( that's pounds) from a model show in the U.K. (south cheshire militaire),On returning to our club stand the lads took one look at what I'd bought and spent the rest of the afternoon mocking me mercilessly and not without reason,I was surprised at how truly rubbish this moulding is with no wheel well interior, a gap of 2mm between the wing/fuselage on each side, the ailerons being way too small and the wrong shape the whole kit is covered in rivets that to scale would be like pingpong balls cut in half and the decals sheet was out of register WOW!
The first thing I did was remove all the rivets then just built it up correcting things as I went including removing the rudder and positioning it and the tail wheel askew to add a bit of depth, I used most of the decals and just replaced a few where needed from my spares box ,I also added an aerial wire and she was finished.Comments please.
Neat! I've got one of these in the pending pile. Like you i got it for nostalgic reasons, and having viewed the contents of the box realise it needs a lot of work to bring it up to scratch. There are a couple of after market sets for correcting the nose & spinner for this kit but those will only scratch the surface in relation to the faults the kit has. A good fun build. Your one looks good with the shark mouth!
Thanks for looking,you really can go to town on these if you want,the improved nose/spinner being the biggest job, if I did another I would remove the rivets and scribe in the panel lines also the wheels need to be swapped for a set from maybe a hurricane and probably finish in battle of britain camo.
Cheers N.
You mean we aren't supposed to glue on the decals...? NOW you tell me..!
Seriously, I remember the very first model I made (although I don't still have it)...that Monogram open-wheel red race car - tube glue everywhere and not one drop of paint anywhere.
Thanks for looking Craig,you should do what I did and find that old kit on E-bay and build it again, I really enjoyed the whole experience.These days when I build a kit I enjoy the positve comments I get from my friends at my club,the Warrington IPMS and have to work long and hard to achieve that but sometimes it's fun just to do something like this because even the best modeller can't make a silk purse from a sows ear, it's just for fun.
Very nice work on that old piece of something the doggy left behind. it's a definite argument in favor of the joy through ignorance of youth. 🙂
Nice work Neil, like you I love working on old Monogram/Revell kits. Brings out the little kid still hiding inside.
I am very impressed that you had the perseverance to finish this kit, as it certainly was one of Airfix's worst ever. Having said that, my modeling career began with their Bf 109G-6...
Thanks for your interest, I only discovered your site recently but I really enjoy it, I love the interaction with other modellers .
N.
Glad to hear that you like iModeler. Enjoy!
Neil .. a little bit of history on the Boulton Paul Defiant Mk1, and Mk 2 ... it was perceived in '39, and production began, 1st flew in '40, although some reports say it 1st flew in '37 ! 1st Squadron to get it was No. 264 .. in May '40 they scored 65 kills of Luftwaffe planes ..the radio mast was placed underneath a wing originally, cause of the turret .. it was an experiment in fighter design, known as a "turret fighter", the MK 1 day fighter, the MK 2 night fighter, had a Rolls Royce Merlin engine, prop made by de Havilland, with variable-pitch.. a Defiant MK 2 is displayed at Royal Air Force Museum, ..Hendon, London... models can be got from Classic Airframes, and Airfix ... Airfix A01031 Military Aircraft Classic Kit Series .. some kits are from $8.13 up to $19.00 .. thought I would "pass the info on to you" ... BYW .. GREAT model !
Thanks for the info and for taking the time to look.
N.