Fairey Battle (GB that's not really a GB)

[stona]

Here she is ....done. Had to rush a bit to meet the deadline as I'll have no time tomorrow. Not a bad little kit which I could have done better with but in the spirit of "warts and all" I present a few piccies.

The sharp eyed will notice that the gunner has gone AWOL! In order to pose the canopy open I had to move him and his seat in a gynacaelogical style operation. This went hideously awry and he (and his seat) have now superglued themselves,luckily out of sight,in the rear of the fuselage. The only 1/72 figures I have are somewhere in the loft so I've just had to get over it lol.

Pretend he is wounded and slumped down in the fuselage as his pilot makes his bombing run!

Cheers

Steve

[yak face]

Hi steve , brilliant stuff , i love it. The gunner has probably heard the battles reputation and bailed out before getting shot down! I see what you mean about the subtle codes on the underside, might as well have had a big neon target on the belly! Lovely build though and even with all the window panes i still fancy getting this and the hampden. Cheers tony

[tr1ckey66]

What a beauty! I love it Steve - an aircraft build down the path less trodden! Quality stuff. I think the gunner was doing a bit of modelling in the back and dropped a fiddly piece down the fuselage - he's now on his hands-n-knees looking for it. I like the aircraft though - pre war aircraft have a certain look to them don't they? The finish is cool and the mount is a nice touch.

5 stars from me

Paul

[Guest]

Very nice steve and what better example of what modelling is about. We seem to so easily get into the rut of chasing the latest kits and moulding technology while dissing the venerable kits that Airfix and others have produced over the years.

It sometimes seems that the better we get at modelling, the easier we want our kits. Must be quite confusing for newcomers who often see Airfix, especially the older and cheaper ones, as an into to modelling. In reality, it is the newcomers that should be buying the Tamiya masterpiece 'shake and make' kits while those with a bit more experience should be delving into the back catalogue and build kits that, based on their release dates, are older than some of the modellers.

Very nice work Steve. Love the story behind the rear gunner lol. I can only suggest that more modellers of a certain age and experience should build some of these old kits just for the fun of it, it really can be an uplifting experience.

[AlanG]

Lovely model Steve

[Guest]

Spot on Steve, a beutiful job.

Andy

[stona]

Thanks everyone.It was certainly fun to build! I honestly could have spent a bit longer on it (that's not excusing anything!) but I did want to stay within the "GB non GB" time frame. Just because these little kits have fewer parts does not intrisically make them easier to build than one of my more usual large scale kits with an extra 300 parts.

I probably will replace the absent gunner eventually and I'll definitely take the exhausts off and reduce them to look less like a pair of "canard" wings.

Cheers

Steve

[colin m]

A very nice well presented model. And in 1:72 ! So, do you fancy a few more 1:72 now ? On the subject of scale, be honest, how long did it take you ?

Regards

Colin M........

[stona]

Cheers Colin. It took me about a week to build,but I didn't alter my schedule,allowing ,for example,a coat of Klear at least 12 hours before doing the next phase. The total time spent actually sticking things together was probably about an hour! Cutting,filling and sanding was a lot more. Also masking that bloody canopy.

It really was fun to build and actually,probably due to it's age,more work than I expected. All enjoyable though,I think there's a consolation in knowing that if I really had made a complete arse of one of the more radical "adjustments" the kit only cost £7 (IIRC).

More 1/72? I'm sure I will do. I'm away for three weeks or so over Xmas but I've got the Trumpy 2 seat nightfighter version of the Me262 lined up at 1/32 for the new year. I bet that takes more than a week to build lol.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

great job Steve,I like seeing subjects off the beaten path and nicely done

[Guest]

Lovely job of an unusual aircraft. Again nice to see it in flying mode to show off it's lines to the best of thier advantage. As for the gunner, maybe he's just nipped aft to get his sandwiches!

[spanner570]

Nice one Steve. That canopy must have took a bit of doing!

Ron

[Guest]

Nice one Steve. I too reckon the gunner has seen sense and done a runner.

I'm with Fenlander on this; Airfix have produced some cracking kits of subjects that other manufacturers wouldn't touch with a bargepole. And they don't charge £15 for a single engine fighter (yet). I've just finished a build of their re-released Buccaneer and enjoyed every minute of it. You can build a decent replica out of the box for a tenner, or choose from a number of aftermarket sets to correct its deficiencies. I know the CMK kit is a masterpiece but I just can't bring myself to spend £70 on something I may well end up gluing to my own fingers!

Have fun with the 262.

Andy

[Guest]

Cracking model Steve!

Andy

[Guest]

very nice steve, a super bit of work, so clean. and well presented in the photo's.