Geoffs Hobby 2000 1/72 Bristol Beaufighter Mk.I

[langy71]

Very nice so far Geoff, the fit looks awesome.

[Geoffers]

Following along Geoff, great start.

Thanks Steve 😊

Great choice for the GB. Looks a nice kit and the cockpit has turned out very well.

Cheers Jim, it is Hasegawa plastic so good heritage, shame they don’t seem to do anything new 👍

Very nice so far Geoff, the fit looks awesome.

Cheers Chris, your right it’s very good 😊


Sorry for the slow reply chaps, I haven’t been on the site much recently so hadn’t realised you’d commented 😳

Geoff.

[Geoffers]

Although i haven’t been on the site much I have managed to find some time to push on with the build 😊

Its been quite a straight forward build, the only thing I have needed to do extra was fill the wing cartridge ejection holes.

The first fifty Beaufighters delivered did not have the six wing mounted .303 machine guns fitted. I presume due to shortages as it was in the Summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain.

I believe they were filled/plated over so decided to fill them with plastic rod and filler which was sanded flush.

Once this was done it was on with the primer. I have used thinned Mr Surfacer as usual but have tried Dark Brown for a change. I wanted to see if it made any difference to the upper coat colours.


Once this had dried it was on with the upper coats. The scheme is the classic early war RAF Temperate Land Scheme of Dark Green/Dark Earth over Sky.
I used a AK Real Color for the Dark Green/Dark Earth and Hataka Orange Line Sky type S.

No real issues, main hassle was the masking which I always find a chore 🥱.

I’m pleased with how it has turned out though.


The underside picture looks more mottled than it does to the naked eye for some reason.

Clear coat next before the transfers go on. Hopefully another update soon.

Thanks for looking 👍

Geoff.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Very nice Geoff. Probably the false lighting that you have on it for the photos that may be exaggerating the mottle effect.

[flyjoe180]

That camouflage scheme has turned out nicely Geoff. I also dislike masking!

[yak face]

Looking sharp geoff ! The exaggerated mottle you mention is probably due to the Hataka paints being quite shiny when dry , it’ll no doubt disappear when you give the final matt coat . How did you find the AK paints ? Ive used their luftwaffe set quite a bit and thought they were excellent .

[Geoffers]

Very nice Geoff. Probably the false lighting that you have on it for the photos that may be exaggerating the mottle effect.

Cheers Steve, yes it didn’t help, anyway I’ve dusted another light coat over and it’s a lot better 👍

That camouflage scheme has turned out nicely Geoff. I also dislike masking!

Thanks Joe, yep masking is the worst bit of modelling in my opinion 🙄

Geoff.

[Geoffers]

Looking sharp geoff ! The exaggerated mottle you mention is probably due to the Hataka paints being quite shiny when dry , it’ll no doubt disappear when you give the final matt coat . How did you find the AK paints ? Ive used their luftwaffe set quite a bit and thought they were excellent .

Cheers Tony, I really like the AK paints too 😊

Geoff.

[Geoffers]

Well chaps a bit more progress but it’s a bit of a case of two steps forward and one step back 😳

I gave the underside another light dusting of Sky type S just to tone down the mottling a bit.

Once that had had sufficient chance to dry I gave it a gloss coat ready for the transfers.

These all went down well or so I thought

This was followed by a flat coat ready for a spot of light weathering.

However on closer inspection I noticed that there is some silvering under the code letters 😱.

Its only visible at certain angles but its really bugged me 😤

I’m quite surprised really as I hadn’t noticed it before.


Fortunately I do have a spare set so may strip these off and try again.

Hopefully another update soon, thanks for looking 👍

Geoff.

[flyjoe180]

Looking good Geoff. I had this issue on my recent 110 build. If you don't want to risk stripping the decal off. Slice gently with a new blade, and try decal setter/softener first. It didn't completely solve my problem so took the nuclear option with Extra Thin Cement. Apply it very sparingly on the pre-sliced offending carrier film. You might want to experiment with that on your brand of varnish first, but it worked on mine.

[Airborne01]

Looking superb!
Steve

[Geoffers]

Cheers Joe, I’ll give that a try before stripping them off.
I’m more puzzled why they silvered, it had a good gloss coat before application and they are from Cartograph so should have been fine 🤔.

Looking superb!
Steve

Thanks Steve 👍

[Geoffers]

Well I tried the fix on the transfers suggested by Joe unfortunately with no avail 😔

As I had a spare sheet of transfers I decided to remove and replace them. They came off rather easily with some Tamiya tape. They were then replaced and now look much better.

Another job needed was to replace the pitot tube which somehow got lost during the build.
No doubt it will turn up now I no longer need it 🤬
I used a piece of plastic card cut to shape/size with a small piece of plastic rod cemented into place. This was then painted and fixed into place along with the ariel antenna.

After this was done it had some very light weathering.
As it is was one of the first Beaufighters received by No.25 squadron in the Summer of 1940 I didn’t think it would show much wear and tear.

It is finished now, I’ll post up some more photos in the finished aircraft thread.

Thanks to all who have followed along 👍


Cheers,

Geoff.

[flyjoe180]

Glad the spare decal worked Geoff. Looks great, I will watch for the completed thread

[Geoffers]

Glad the spare decal worked Geoff. Looks great, I will watch for the completed thread

Cheers Joe 👍

Geoff.