discussion Dave Ward's 1/48 Revell Beaufighter TF.X 2018 Tooling.

[Dave Ward]

Whilst assembling the suspension on my Light Tank Mk VIB, my thought turned to something that promises to be a little simpler to build, new tooling 2018................

I have some rocket projectiles ( unused from a Mosquito ) that I will use ( the kit has the mounting plates, but no rockets or rails ), and I've got a decal sheet from ROP

The model will be big enough to spray the invasion stripes by masking - something I haven't attempted for many years ( miserable effort then! ).
I'll be putting up some sprue & detail shots over the next few days, but I won't actually start butchering the bits until I finish the tank..............
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Whilst I am waiting for paint to dry on my VIB light tank, I've taken a few shots of parts on sprue
The wing has the ports for the 6 machine guns, that I will have to fill for the TF.X with rockets
The underwing panels to mount the rockets ( not to be used in the Revell assembly, and the radar thimble nose that I won't be using............
Alternative tailplanes.

Multi - row Hercules engines

Good clear transparencies
A set of AP solid head rockets ( ex-Tamiya Mosquito ) for under the wings

It all looks pretty good - although some of the sprue gates look a little bit heavy.
I've done a bit of research on the TF.X, and it seems that it could have a large dorsal fin, and a thimble radar nose, and still have the same Mark name/number.
There seems to be a bit of vagueness about the 6 wing guns, and when they were omitted. I've gone for no wing guns - extra fuel was carried in it's place & there was provision for carrying rockets or bombs under the outer wing. It's all a bit ambiguous!
Dave

 

[BBdave]

Looks good do you get the torpedo?

Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Dave,
Yes, Torpedo, and aerotail ( wooden fins to stabilise it as it fell )
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Whilst waiting for the decals etc to dry on my VIB tank, I decided to finally do some work on this. Going totally out of sequence - I've made the engines - the sleeve-valved Hercules - the forerunner of the Centaurus - one of the most powerful piston engines ever produced
Don't think you will see much of the rear row of cylinders - but you can see the exhaust collector ring ( at the front ). I'm going to prime & paint these, then set them aside until needed.
Dave

 

[BattleshipBob]

Hi Dave, looking good

I have just got this, parts look good and crisp?

Look forward to more progress

Bob

 

[Dave Ward]

I made the Tamiya Night Fighter version of this many years ago - Typical Tamiya - superb fit - well engineered, but simplified, particularly around the undercarriage, and the engines. This model is much more modern, but like a lot of Revell models has good, and mediocre detail, and I suspect the fit will not be as good as the Tamiya. The 3 piece engine cowls look like they may be a but troublesome, but no doubt I will find out soon enough. There are some bits of flash & clean up is needed. Engines and undercarriage detail is good - the cockpit looks a bit spartan, but I'm sure careful painting will help.
Dave

 

[Guest]

Dave will follow.

 

[Dave Ward]

After an hour, or so, I've reached the stage of priming & basecoating the internals............
The objects at bottom right are the ammunition boxes for the 20mm cannon - they have a decal to go on each - but at the moment, I am not sure if they can be seen when the fuselage is closed up...................
I'll prime black, then RAF interior green as basecoat.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

This is what I love about acrylics - primed, basecoated & ready for detail painting in about 3
hours!



And the engines - base aluminium, soon to be overpainted and washed..............

When the propeller & spinner and cowlings are added, only the front of the front row of cylinders will be seen.
Dave

 

[Mickc1440]

Following Dave, I've got a night fighter version in the cupboard.

 

[Dave Ward]

Progress, the internals have been finished, painted, washed, decalled

Fuselage closed up - not bad fit, masking tape used to hold it together - I'll let it dry overnight, then see how the seams look


Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

One thing I have noticed is the instructions can be misleading. Before closing the fuselage, you are supposed to open two holes in the top......................

The front hole, OK, but the rear one? you have to go forward to step 58. This is a hole to locate the extended tail fin - which I'm not going to use. Some of the choices are rather ambiguous. There are two types of stabilisers & elevators - I can't work out which to use, and photographs of Beaufighters aren't much help - I'm going to have to take a guess on that one. Added to the vague instructions is my main dislike of Revell kits - the paints callout. I can understand Revell specifying their own paints - but when it calls for 90-10% mixes, to make a colour widely available under it's proper name ( Dark Sea Grey ), then that's annoying!
Dave

 

[Guest]

It would help a lot if they mentioned the official name or (if there’s no such thing) a good, short descriptor followed by their own paint colour that works well for it. This goes for probably the majority of major manufacturers, whether they sell their own paints or not.

 

[yak face]

Excellent progress dave , despite the trying instructions ! It looks a lovely kit , the full interior and properly detailed engines and no doubt accurately deep wheel wells are something thats usually missing or just plain made up on most beau kits , the old revell 1/32 being a perfect example. Shame because the 1/32 is a big impressive looking model , it just takes a hell of a lot of scratch building to get it looking right . Who knows maybe Revell will use these toolings and upscale them to 1/32 , that would be nice! Cheers tony

 

[Dave Ward]

Judging by some of the surplus parts on the sprues, other variants have been catered for - a nightfighter seems possible ( aerials ), the bits for rocket mounts ( though no rockets ), and the extended dorsal fin of later models ( Australian production? ). Considering the price <£25, you get a lot of plastic!
Dave

 

[papa 695]

Just seen this one Dave, a great start, I built the new tool Airfix 1/72 not too long ago.

 

[Dave Ward]

The wheel wells are built into the bottom wing - quite complicated things, that literally click together.


I've puttied up the wing cartridge ejector slots, and put plastic rod into the machine gun ports.
The wings went together nicely, and I decided to add the fuselage and stabilisers/elevators - all pretty good fits, just a smear of filler in the small gaps.
I'll clean up all the joints next, before adding any more details. I'm working out when I can paint the invasion stripes, for ease of handling.................
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Made good all the seams, added a few inlets, and primed overall with the lightest grey primer I had in my collection

Over this, I will spray the white base for the D-Day bands.
The primer I used was Vallejo Grey - I DON'T like using this - it covers well, BUT it always clogs the a/b up - I always have to strip it down & deep clean it. ( I've tried all sorts of dilutions, pressures, but still no good ) I just keep it in reserve for such a job as this! Maybe I should bite the bullet & buy some white primer..................
Dave

 

[Guest]

Dave,
That is looking very good, I agree with the airbrush problems, no matter what I try it is a full strip down and clean after (comments on a pin head please).
Mike.