1/48 Boulton-Paul Defiant

[Dave W]

Well, all these people behind the sofa just leaves more room for me on it !!! This looks fun, I'll shall be watching with interest while dunking bourbons in my mug of rosy lee..... Oh and that mat is far too clean, Dave

Cheers, Neil

That's a new mat my wife bought me for Xmas.She got it to fit the Humbrol Workstation my son in law gave me.Unfortunately the workstation is too small for anything except maybe figure painting.

[Dave W]

You're a brave man Dave! But seriously; a CA kit is a challenge, but nothing the experienced modeller can't handle. I've made their Meteor mk8 and it wasn't that bad. Having said that, I also have their DH Hornet to do, but might just wait to see what Trumpeter's new offering is like first!

This kit is no worse than old Airfix stuff.The trickiest bit so far has been trying to mask the vacform canopy.There are two canopies and turrets in the box.So I can afford to mess one up.Later issues of this kit have an injection moulded canopy.But the turret in that one is moulded in two halves.So I'd rather have this one.

[Dave W]

Glued both top halves to the bottom wing.Some would glue the bottom wing to the fuselage first.Then add the top halves to get a good wing to fuselage joint.But I wanted to make sure the L/ E landing light cut outs were lined up properly.In going to have to fill the wing joins anyway as a dry run shows them to be a poor fit.

First mistake of the build.In my excitement at the model progressing so well,I superglued the resin cockpit assembly into the fuselage.Then I noticed I'd forgotten to cut the pouring block of the bottom of the cockpit floor.This now fouls on the top of the gear bay and the wing won't fit!.So last night I got the motor tool out,reached for my mask and Snap!.The strap on my mask broke!.No way was I about to sand resin without a mask.So this morning I bought a new mask.Will sand the model in the shed later today.

[Dave W]

I'm supposed to be decorating the house.But the wife's at work so I thought I'd do a bit more to the kit.Ive sanded the resin blo ck off the underside of the cockpit and the wing fits now.Not a bad fit either for a limited run kit.Just needs glueing on,filling and sanding now.the kit gives you some PE mesh for the underwing radiator.But nothing for the intake (oil cooler ?) under the nose .So I need to sort that before I glue the wing on.

[BarryW]

I would love a BP Defiant in 1/32 but from a major manufacturer, not a short-run kit. You are doing a great job there Dave with all those challenges, I really look forward to seeing the result.

[Guest]

Dave, this is real modelling from a by gone era. Not a shake the box and a model falls out type but a struggle from start to finish that is going to produce a one of a kind model you will be very rightly proud of. I think sometimes when we look at the standard of modern kits it can be easy to forget the very basics of modelling that we grew up with where filling and filing were standard requirements. You are doing a fantastic job on this and reminding me of my similar experiences as a youth when kits were all like this.

That was at a time when my father used to criticise plastic modelling as "Not proper modelling" because it wasn't carved out of a block of wood and it was all done for you!!

[Dave W]

Dave, this is real modelling from a by gone era. Not a shake the box and a model falls out type but a struggle from start to finish that is going to produce a one of a kind model you will be very rightly proud of. I think sometimes when we look at the standard of modern kits it can be easy to forget the very basics of modelling that we grew up with where filling and filing were standard requirements. You are doing a fantastic job on this and reminding me of my similar experiences as a youth when kits were all like this.That was at a time when my father used to criticise plastic modelling as "Not proper modelling" because it wasn't carved out of a block of wood and it was all done for you!!

I think it must be the challenge of making something presentable out of a kit like this that appeals to me.In my stash there are 7 or 8 Tamiya and Hasegawa kits that Ive had for a few years.Whilst I marvel at the level of detail and superb fit,they don't give me as much satisfaction as building something like this.

[Dave W]

Wing glued on and first round of filling and sanding done.I took my time sanding the upper wing to fuselages edges to get as good a fit as possible.So these joins only need a bit of Mr Surfacer 500.Ive gone over all the other joins with Mr Surfacer as well.The Squadron green filler works really well.But you occasionally get tiny holes that only show up when you paint over it.This is the third Classic Airframes kit Ive made and they all have very fine engraved panel lines.The control surfaces are engraved the same and barely show under a coat of paint.So I've taken my Tamiya scriber to them and made them more prominent.Ive also cleaned up the tailplanes and glued them on.The green line is filler where I slipped with the scriber!.

[yak face]

Filler fest! I love it!

[flyjoe180]

Me too!

[monica]

great job so far Dave, well i had to have a look at how it was coming along, i think you have

done yourself proud ,

oh that Tamiya scriber looks scairly ops: like it could do some real damage to your fingers, but would be a handy tool to have

[Guest]

I'm learning a lot Dave!! I like it!

Keep the good work

Polux

[Ian M]

Looking good Dave.

Ian M

[Dave W]

Done some more filling and sanded.Still a bit to do.building the radiator as well.There are a couple of pieces of etched mesh provided which is a nice touch.Once the radiators on and the sandings finished I will finish the cockpit and fit the canopy.

[yak face]

I love these high precision 'shake and bake ' kits , they just take no effort at all do they! Its looking good Dave , I never realised how big the turret on these aircraft was , the hole for it is huge! No wonder the performance suffered it must have weighed a ton! tony