Now for something a little different: 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant

[stona]

Strange that the Defiant seemed to have little success against bombers compared to the German schrage musik upward-firing guns.
Pete

EDIT:
I'll leave my post below, but I think I misunderstood your gist, for which I apologise. As Barry said, the problem for the poor old Defiant was that it couldn't find bombers to shoot down by night

Because the Defiant was operating in day time against heavily escorted bomber formations, something it was never intended to do. German night fighters had a good run against British bombers which had no effective protection other than darkness, until Germany lost the technological battle, blinding the Luftwaffe's night fighters and making them vulnerable to British night fighters and other counter-measures.
Don't forget that when the Defiant was designed the idea that enemy (meaning German) S/E fighters would be able to operate over the UK was not a consideration. France was continental Europe's pre-eminent military power and nobody could have imagined its defeat, providing the Luftwaffe with bases 25 miles from the English coast!

[BarryW]

I think he was referring specifically to the Defiant’s night fighter role in which, unlike later night fighters, it did not have the benefit of radar fitted to find their prey. Comparing the (early night fighting) Defiant with the later aircraft equipped with what was new technology is not a good comparison.

[rtfoe]

Looking good Barry, just wondered whether both kits from the different box tops are the same and if there were any differences to Mks and variants or just decals. I just searched for it and it's wedged under a pile of other kits so will extract it later to compare the parts.

Looks like it's going to go together nicely. Your test fit of the turret means I don't have to cut those lugs just yet as they help with alignment. Look forward to your canopy masking.

Cheers,
Richard

[stona]

I think he was referring specifically to the Defiant’s night fighter role in which, unlike later night fighters, it did not have the benefit of radar fitted to find their prey. Comparing the (early night fighting) Defiant with the later aircraft equipped with what was new technology is not a good comparison.

Yes, I may have misunderstood. I'll edit my post.

Great choice anyway Barry. I did think about this one myself, but wanted something I knew I could complete for the GB. I will definitely be following along to see how it goes together.

[BarryW]

Well done Airfix. The control column has arrived.....

On the meantime I have cemented the fuselage halves and wings together. There is space to dice the control column in place.

The Eduard seatbelts and masks arrived.

Pics of the pit tomorrow.

[ATTACH]402075[/ATTACH]

[BarryW]

The major components did not fit quite as well as the rest.

In fitting the wings I had a choice, a wide gap at the top of the wing and the back flush or a narrow gap at the top and some filling of a sunk area at the back. I chose the latter and used Vallejo Plastic Putty to fill the sunken area with a smear to sort the top wing/fuselage join and Mr Dissolved Putty on the seams. I will use my David electric sander tonight.



Above you cn see the filled area.

Below, the cockpit.




You can see a little sanding on seams is needed, particulary on the small area in front of the pit.

[BarryW]

The David sander made sanding down the VPP very easy. I finished it off with sanding sponges. Next I sanded the seams and the. Did my second application of Mr Dissolved Putty where needed. More sanding tomorrow and a decision on whether additional MDP is needed..... when all done primer time......

I have also attached the tail and stabs.
[ATTACH]402274[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]402275[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]402276[/ATTACH]

[adt70hk]

Looking good Barry.

[rtfoe]

The major components did not fit quite as well as the rest.

In fitting the wings I had a choice, a wide gap at the top of the wing and the back flush or a narrow gap at the top and some filling of a sunk area at the back. I chose the latter and used Vallejo Plastic Putty to fill the sunken area with a smear to sort the top wing/fuselage join and Mr Dissolved Putty on the seams. I will use my David electric sander tonight.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1135655[/ATTACH]

Above you cn see the filled area.

Below, the cockpit.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1135654[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1135653[/ATTACH]

You can see a little sanding on seams is needed, particulary on the small area in front of the pit.

Very Airfix to have these little sinkages in the tiniest of places. Definitely worth the extra attention there Barry.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

The David sander made sanding down the VPP very easy. I finished it off with sanding sponges. Next I sanded the seams and the. Did my second application of Mr Dissolved Putty where needed. More sanding tomorrow and a decision on whether additional MDP is needed..... when all done primer time......

I have also attached the tail and stabs.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1135728[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1135729[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1135730[/ATTACH]

Good choice of spot to fill rather than the other end which would have been more complicated to sand.

Cheers,
Richard

[BarryW]

Thanks Richard. Not so much shrinkage than good old fashioned poor fit. It could be warpage but the plastic at that point is quite thick so I dont think so. I did do some sanding and scraping inside, reducing the thickness of the plastic which helped but the end part just seemed to be at the wrong angle for it all to align properly. It looked OK on a dry fit before joining the fuselage halves with all the 'gubbins' inside though.

[BarryW]

I have been getting on with the camo

[ATTACH]402629[/ATTACH][ATTACH]402630[/ATTACH][ATTACH]402631[/ATTACH][ATTACH]402632[/ATTACH][ATTACH]402633[/ATTACH][ATTACH]402634[/ATTACH]

There is a little touching up to do.

[BarryW]

It is no secret that I find decals to be the most difficult part of a build. I always regret not getting masks when I use them and this model is no exception. That is not to say that the decals are bad, they are actually very good overall and went down well. I had a real problem positioning the port side serial numbers and while struggling the ‘H’ code letter came away on my thumb and, in the end both decals were unusable. Fortunately I have some aftermarket sets of RAF codes and serials so I was able to use them.





below is with the a/m code in place. As you can see it is a perfect match. There was an issue with the ‘P’ as you can see. I will have to do something about that.


Below I have lined up the individual serial letters and numbers ready. I have found that it is best to cut the decal film close to the edge of the serial to be able to position it in the right place. The film is not individually cut around each serial which provides a few issues of its own.


I have also found that it is important to use masking tape to provide a guide line to get them straight.


above you can also see an issue with the decal film on the a/m H. I will deal with that by pricking it all over and applying decal solution, but that’s for later.

when positioning a letter, don’t place it too close to the tape. Whatever you do....







The starboard side decals went down OK and no a/m was used.

I will use strong Daco solution on them of which several doses may be needed on the a/m decals where there is a hint of silvering. The Airfix decals are actually better than the a/m ones and I cannot see any sign of silvering at all. Only one treatment of Daco needed on them.

[rtfoe]

Hi Barry, decals are scary even for me. I always have nightmares of decals folding over themselves or out of alignment when set.

Quite a good recovery. Sometimes silvering can only be dealt with by cutting very closely to the letter and pealing away the carrier film if poking or slicing with lots of decal juice doesn't work. Good use of the masking tape too.

Cheers,
Richard

[stona]

Those decals should come out alright in the end.

I do tend to cut the carrier film away as close to the letters as I can, but it entails another risk. For example, on that 'H', the removal of the film increases the chance that the letter will fold on itself creating another problem. Cutting away the film on a curve over and under the bar of the 'H' helps, and you can usually figure out something similar for other letters

Your camo looks really good.