Bristol Beaufighter TF.X Airfix 1/72. Building the iModeler random award

Started by Ferry Dierckxsens · 15 · 4 years ago · 1/72, 144 squadron, Airfix, Banff, Beaufighter, Bristol, RAF
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    Ferry Dierckxsens said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Yes I finaly started my iModeler random award which I won just over a year ago. The Bristol Beaufighter TF.X in 1/72 by Airfix. The complete new tooling and it's a lovely kit to work on.

    With two build options I ve made my choice to go for the version of No.144 squadron RAF Banff, Aberdeenshire october 1944.

    Starting with the interior. The floorpanel hold both seats and the crossmembers for a solid wing construction. Painted the whole interior using Hataka interior grey-green from one of their RAF paint sets. A wash will follow to give more depth. Next will be the instrument panel and sidepanels to install and paint. The wings are a quick assembly with only the upper and lower halfs to fit. Ailerons are separate parts. A dryfit of the fuselage and wings shows an allmost perfect fit. To be continued...

    13 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Greg Kittinger said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    I'm gonna have to get one of those! I saw one built up at a contest last weekend (it beat me out for 1st place in the category...), and looked great built up. I've yet to build an Airfix new-tool kit, and this one looks like could be one of the first.

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    Allan J Withers said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Good start Ferry, I also chose this as my random award, will do it RAAF !

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    David Mills said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Great choice Ferry!I love the look of this aircraft.

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    George R Blair Jr said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Looks great. I think you started a trend by building your iModeler Award. I got my Award (an Airfix 1/48 Hurricane), a few months ago and have not started it yet. I have a couple of small kits to complete to clear off my work table, but your build has motivated me to get started.

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    Ferry Dierckxsens said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Thanks guys. You're right George, the kit was shouting at me from the stash and now I got the time to build it. Looking forward to the build of your Hurricane.
    Little update as I made some straps for the seats. Instead of using Tamiya tape I used painted Bare Metal Foil cut to small strips. It's a liitle more work but as the foil is very thin it curves better in and around the seats. And I couldn't resist in a dryfit of the wings and fuselage. What a great aircraft.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Ferry Dierckxsens said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Done some work on the Beaufighter. Interior ready, so fuselage is closed now with no major issues. Bottom side of the fuselage is a seperate part showing where the 20 mm guns are located. Also before attachement drill out 4 indicated holes to install the torpedo in a later stadium. Another dryfit of the wings and on we go with the tail section for the next update.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    George R Blair Jr said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    I love the way the new Airfix kits have plastic spars that assure wing alignment. Looking good!

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    Jeff Bailey said 4 years, 10 months ago:

    Ferry, in my opinion, (as if that matters - LoL!) the Beaufighter, P-38 Lightning, & the F7F Tigercat are the best looking (and best performing) "twins" (twin-engined prop "fighters") ever made ... and in no particular order!

    I really look forward to the finish of your Beau. It sure looks like a great kit. I remember doing the early 1960s Airfix Beaufighter in 1/72nd scale and it was a total junker, compared to this NEW version!

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    Ferry Dierckxsens said 4 years, 9 months ago:

    Thanks Jeff, I agree with the aircraft you mention and would add the Mosquito to that line-up as well. All very pleasing to the eye.
    Just a little update, with the engines build up and the nose fitted to the fuselage.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Ferry Dierckxsens said 4 years, 1 month ago:

    It's been a long time. Due to this unhappy times going on in the world, I'm grounded for a couple of weeks at least, and maybe longer. All our work has stopped, so time to hit the bench and get some kits finished. So I did a lot of work on my Beaufighter. Still building strait from the box, the only thing I added are the landing lights in the port wing leading edge. Airfix provides the correct glazing but there is nothing inside. As the lights are quite visible form the outside I scratch build some using a tiny strip of Evergreen for a base and added two small pieces of Evergreen rod, after painting added two small pieces of Bare Matal Foil. Another item which Airfix does add in the kit is the wooden stabilizer, mounted at the rear end of the torpedo. Decals worked absolutely fine, with also a lot of stencelling. Paints used are from Hataka acrylics and came from their RAF coastal command paintset . With the last items to work on I'll add some pictures to this posting with the progress I made. Hope you all like it, and as allways your comments are welcome.

    10 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    John Healy said 4 years ago:

    Nice work, Ferry. I built the postwar version of that kit and really liked it.

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    George R Blair Jr said 4 years ago:

    Nice job on the invasion stripes. They are always fun to do. Looking forward to seeing it complete.

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    David Adams said 4 years ago:

    I have also built this kit. The only complaint (minor) is the assembly of the 3 piece engine cowlings. That part of the build can be a bit fiddly. Fortunately, Airfix designed the kit such that the cowling seam lines are buried under the intake/exhaust. Oh, and the wing tip lights are a little fiddly too. Other than that, a fun build.

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    Greg Kittinger said 4 years ago:

    Looking great! Like the added light details. I'm going to have to get one of these - it IS 1/72!