Vintage Classic Bristol Bulldog

[null_null981707818191]

Just for a change from WW2 (and 1940 BoB in particular) I fancied having a go at something a little earlier – although there is of course a connection to my more usual period in that it was in a Bristol Bulldog that Douglas Bader had his crash. So I decided that the Vintage Classic Bristol Bulldog should be next to come out of the pile waiting to be built.

It was certainly an absorbing build. For a kit of its age (or VINTage) it had lots of extraordinary detail, not least in terms of the engine which I presume (by comparing it to pictures) is a fairly good representation of the Bristol Mercury III radial engine. It certainly was a mini-kit in itself, and I had lots of fun with a variety of metallic paints! And I tried my best to get a reasonable varnished wood effect on the propeller by starting off with a base coat of yellow then a thin coat of dark brown and then a very thin coat of dragged on light brown and finished with gloss varnish. The tip of the spinner would have had some kind of lifting bolt or shackle (again according to pictures that I found) so I added a semblance of that by drilling a little hole and inserting a bit of stretched sprue.

The only bit of the build that was not scratched or OOB was the instrument panel which came from Yahu. As it was an open cockpit, I wanted something to fill the hole in front of the pilot!

After a bit of experimentation, most of the airframe was painted using Vallejo Silver, whilst the front of the fuselage was painted with Vallejo Aluminium (which is just different enough to give an idea of different materials being used). I stuck to the paint scheme by using Vallejo Dark Green on the top of the fuselage. All the paint was applied using a variety of brushes. Once the decals had been applied (and because of its construction, the upper wing decals and the little stencils on both the upper wing and lower wing have to be applied prior to joining) all the silver painted areas were given a coat of Vallejo satin varnish, making the engine cover seem even more metallic (in my eyes, anyway!).

Putting the upper wing on to the cabane and wing struts was an absolute nightmare – I needed at least six very much smaller fingers, but I managed it in the end with not too much touching-up to be done to cover up the scratches. And then it was on to the next part of the challenge, which was to add the rigging. It’s the first time I’ve tried to add rigging to an aircraft (other than wireless antenna), and arguably perhaps a larger model might have been a better introduction to this part of the modeller’s “trade” – but overall, although I simplified the rigging shown on the box-art, I was pleased with outcome. For the rigging I used AK Super-thin.

So it was a not entirely straightforward construction project, but I learned a few new skills, and I’m actually very pleased with the outcome. I hope you think I did a reasonable job, and thanks for taking a look.

[Pretty Mediocre Modeller]

Great build there Null!

For brush painted silver you'd think it was airbrushed from your photos. I have this kit sitting in my stash waiting to be built (as well as a Hawker Demon, 2 Matchbox Furies and a Gladiator), but it is the rigging that is putting me off.

[SD45elect2000]

Outstanding job A+++++

[dogsbody]

Looks great!

Some historical info: The engine is a Bristol Jupiter.

The thingy on the spinner tip is where the shaft from the Hucks

starter truck engages.

[null_null981707818191]

Hi DB - thanks for the info ref the Jupiter, and also for the pic of very Heath-Robinson looking starter device.

[Dominic Thomas]

Nice result. Well done. I particularly like the propeller blades and the wheel covers.

Rigging is a bit of a challenge, isn’t it. I recently completed my first fully rigged aircraft using AK Thin. I found this a much better end result compared to stretched sprue. I was so pleased that the plane has been on the kitchen window sill in full view for a few weeks now.