Heather Kavanagh

😆 I hadn't originally planned on planes from other air forces, but as my overall interest has slowly spread from strictly Battle of Britain back into the Phoney War, it seemed churlish not to include some. If nothing else, it'll make an interesting change from the British and German camouflage schemes.

I'm afraid there's nothing for the bomb bay, apart from door actuator pistons and a single flat piece that is supposed to fit over the front sloping part. /media/tinymce_upload/287db76c4b25741d6bc5ba6b25c286b6.jpg I am considering my options here. I was planning on posing the doors open and installing a full set of ordnance. For the bombs on the wings, I planned to scavenge bombs and cradles from the bits I didn't use in my recent Blenheim builds. For the bomb bay, I think I shall have to see what I can cook up. Either way, I'm not happy using the Hampden kit bombs. They show their age badly, and will need an awful lot of work to look the part. I may also have to raid a Bomber Re-Supply Set box for parts. /media/tinymce_upload/244720744292d5321d3311c7659cd382.jpg The PE stuff may look scary, but it has a reasonably comprehensive sheet of drawings that show pretty much how the bits are supposed to fit. My copy is a little faded in places, making it hard to read some of the part numbers. It's also a little vague at times about how or where parts are intended to fit, and which parts are original kit ones. There's a whole set of bits to enhance the pilot's canopy, for example, but it's far from clear whether it replaces the transparency in the box or is designed to fit over it. There are also parts that I have opted to leave out, such as the oil cooler intake grilles, the second skin to the internal door, the crew access hatch at the rear, the loop part of DF loop (I'll make a brass wire one so it's less flat and two-dimensional, but not as lumpen as the plastic one), and the towel rail antenna (there's one in the kit anyway). Just be aware you may need to cut parts about to actually fit into the kit they were supposedly designed for. Working with the PE sheets just needs patience and care. I used a new No15 scalpel blade (a small curved one), with the fret flat on my cutting mat, rolling the blade across the tab as close to the part as possible to try to avoid the need for filing anything. Many smaller components are duplicated up, as the designer obviously realised some will inevitably head for the carpet monster! A pair of flat nose pliers for assisting with folding, tweezers, fine cut flat and half-round needle files, and a decent super glue, should be all you really need. For forming the curved parts, I used a 2mm diameter drill (for the front of the pilot's seat), and some 4mm brass rod I have on the bench (for the internal skins). In fact, the etched parts for the interior sides are so thin it may well be possible to glue them along an edge, and then push them into the fuselage halves with a finger or similar, gluing the other edge once you're happy. I've been making progress with the build. Best Beloved has come down with man flu and he always lays it on thick, which sets me on edge. I didn't feel much like working on the paying client jobs, so I played with the Hampden for a bit. /media/tinymce_upload/7122dc3d8521a4f572fe930d9602a26b.jpg I've assembled the wings and tailplane, and then attached a wing to each half fuselage. The wing stubs needed cutting back to avoid the internal brass sheet. This morning I glued the fuselage halves together, and spent a bit of time with filler and sanding sticks. Watch out for those "play factor" control surfaces. They're a little small for their slots, and may need padding out with styrene strip to fill the gaps. The ailerons, particularly, need some work to fair them into the wings. I took a look at the wing tips. I couldn't find any decent references, but it strikes me the moulded ones are a bit too rounded in form, and also different on each wing! I decided to sand the profile back to something a little squarer in line with the scribed end panel. Other sub-assemblies included the wheels, props and engines. The wheels cleaned up nicely. I was thinking of doing the old trick of heating them gently to form a weighted appearance. In the end I decided simply sanding a flat on each wheel was sufficient. /media/tinymce_upload/42d9f55b7e84f54d5ee21729668e6701.jpg There are aftermarket Bristol Pegasus kits available, but I decided to just titivate what was in the box. The engine plates are basic, but of their time, and also a little under size to fit properly into the cowlings. I cemented some thin styrene strip around each of them, then sanded back to be a nice tight fit in the cowling, seating correctly on the step inside the collector rings. The engines themselves have been given a little relief by applying some stretched sprue. It's not correct, but it adds a bit of extra depth to otherwise bland mouldings. I've carefully scribed the exhaust collector rings into the front of the cowlings. Hampdens seem to have an extra inner ring, so I've added that. I used a pair of engineer's dividers to carefully scribe the lines, using the back and inner cowling edges as guides. What you can't see here is I have drilled out the end of the exhaust stubs, but you can just make out I've glued on the Airwaves cooling gills. I forgot to take pics of the internal details once they were painted. Sorry! This happens when I get carried away with something! Time for some honesty. The old Airfix Hampden builds into something that looks right. It captures the essence of the "Flying Suitcase" well. The parts, though, are showing their age - it first appeared on the model shop shelves before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on to the surface of the Moon, after all. Detailing sets, perhaps replacement vac-form transparencies, some attention with styrene strip and rod and so on, make a half decent model, even allowing for its idiosyncracies. It doesn't, though, really match up to the best of the new generation kits. I haven't run a ruler over things to check for scale fidelity, either. If that doesn't bother you, @T2B, then enjoy building your three Hampdens. I'm sure they will turn out splendidly, and I look forward to your build thread in due course to see how you tackle them and how the various ages of the moulds compare. For my part, I shall complete this model and be pretty happy with it. I will, though, consider replacing it with a more modern variant from another manufacturer in due course - unless Airfix decide to celebrate the reconstruction of the Hampden at the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre in Cosford with a new tool sometime!

Normally, PE holds no fears for me. It's a material I'm used to working with in the "day job", as it's a common way to create large scale model railway coaches and locos. I'm quite happy there, throwing a soldering iron about, and generally making the metal bend (ho! ho!) to my will. It's the thin stuff that needs to be glued together that worries me: infinitesimally small details, like control handles and so on, that are invisible to the naked eye, and usually get left out by me!

I found an hour or two to spare, so I decided to tackle the detailing set. /media/tinymce_upload/c0ec61d00b6208f70a51b17e4354194d.jpg It went a long way to reminding me why I don't really like photo-etched detail sets. The brass is literally paper thin, very easily deformed, and details that are supposed to be three-dimensional are very flat. Still, short of spending time with styrene strips and so on, which would need decent reference images and/or drawings, it's the best I'll manage. First up, the cockpit floor and seat. I managed to glue everything in, and didn't leave anything out, so that was good! The odd blue colour is, I think, the acid resist material that's not been cleaned off the sheet. It does come away with a scratch brush and the edge of a scalpel, but with such tiny details which are immensely delicate, I decided to leave it well alone for most of the construction. /media/tinymce_upload/3423b5a7a4c29c948f11902ccacac86e.jpg Starboard fuselage. Several things here. I had to carefully trim back moulded location blocks to clear the large detail part. Then I found the part didn't really match the fuselage shape. Obviously, it needs carefully rolling to conform to the upper shape, but the clear panel in the top needs cutting out, a strip at the front of the cockpit removing completely as it didn't match the side shape, and a thin strip along the top edge taking off to make it all fit. A good job, I suppose, the brass is so thin as I could cut it away with a sharp blade and nail scissors. Once the main sheet was attached, the smaller details could be glued in place. /media/tinymce_upload/c84fac215ab2479e1bdb95f8815b94e1.jpg Port side, and much the same story. Like many detail sets, an awful lot of this will be invisible in the end. I repurposed the navigator's seat at the front from the kit part. It's very delicately perched on an etched frame, and fell off a couple of times. Hopefully it'll stay in place while I paint the interior. While there is a place for etched detailing sets, I am very pleased modern kits include so much extra detail at the outset. I think the Airwaves - and others, of course - detail sets add bits that would be hard to scratch build. A caveat to that is Airwaves sets were designed some years ago, before computer aided design was the norm. Hand-drawn artwork is always a little hit and miss. As such, parts don't always fit without modification. I set out fitting out the Hampden interior with the best intentions, but ended up making silly compromises because things were not fitting properly. I hope it'll look the part when it's painted and the fuselage halves are mated. I rather wish, though, that Hannants (who now own the Airwaves artworks) might choose to have them etched in slightly thicker material. There's still a lot of PE parts to fit, covering the cockpit canopy and the other crew compartments. I'll try and get some primer about things and paint what I've done before I think about them.

Today, the Postie delivered: /media/tinymce_upload/c2eec0afbda6bd230525fae7610d54fe.jpg Detailing parts and transfers for my Hampden. /media/tinymce_upload/d0197977bfb53d5c0bfc9edc8fc6be4d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/7f3dbe53349cddc0cdb33641b5cdf0a0.jpg What may become the start of a slippery slope, with some French Air Force planes that flew during the Phoney War and Battle of France. This is becoming something of a (pleasant) obsession with me. 😇

I did see your Battle build, and it was very impressive when you consider the age of the kit. I also built one back in the day, and I liked it. I currently have my eye on a future issue from Special Hobby, who are also promising a Lysander. I already have a couple of SH kits on the pending shelf, so should the Battle and Lizzie arrive one day they will be worth the wait. Many builds on the go at once? It's a failing of mine. As you know, I build model railway kits as commissions, and I generally have two or three on the go at once. I spend about a month per build, thereabouts, to get things moving and my interest going. After that, I try and rotate the builds round my schedule to completion. It sometimes works out well. I'm happy to build a series of plane models at the moment because it's something completely different from the "day job", and I will be happy to get painting done on several models at once in due course. This evening I sanded down and scribed the tail plane parts, and gave all the other components a good look over on their sprues. I spent a while gently tidying some of them up to remove flash and poor moulding part lines to save me some time later on. Nothing photogenic, so you'll have to wait for any photos!

I've seen the pounce wheel method used on a YouTube video. It looked quite effective, and was something I was pondering for this build - only I don't have the tool yet! The Valom kit would be an alternative if I don't make a good job of this kit. I'm happy to see what happens as I've already got this one (did it really first appear in 1968?!). I think I read there were some issues with the transparencies, though that seems to have been resolved. One for the "might do it one day" file.

I hadn’t intended on building any more kits right now, but when the urge comes it’s hard to resist. I’m stacking up a little pile of planes that need painting, but with the current low temperatures, it’s unlikely to happen for a while. Consequently, a “Flying Suitcase” arrived on the bench, in keeping with my 1940 Air War/Battle of Britain interests. Incidentally, I’ve spread my metaphorical wings with my ambitions there. I have decided to include the Phoney War and Battle of France in my collection, so a few Belgian, French and Dutch planes are on the horizon! /media/tinymce_upload/8e91553b618840a01de3a92ab4fade12.jpg I recall building the Airfix Hampden in the late 1970s, when it was already ten years old. I loved the original box art, too. So much so, that as a budding teenaged artist I copied it in watercolours - now, sadly, long lost to time. Ages ago, I acquired a Humbrol era re-issue of the kit. I kept the box in my stash, with the idea that one day I would build it with after-market detailing, perhaps going so far as to remove the raised details and scribe some panel lines. The faint hope a new tooling might emerge kept the box on the shelf, but with the prices of other kit makers’ versions being quite steep, there seemed little point in jumping ship. I am waiting for a better Fairey Battle to arrive, though. The old Airfix one commands high prices, for an allegedly compromised shape, so I’m content to wait for a new tooling to turn up. So, I dug the Hampden box out to survey the contents. After all, if it didn’t seem worth the effort, I could always eventually stump up for an alternative version. Well, considering when I bought this kit the original moulds must have been all of 40 years old or more, it acquits itself well. There are obvious signs of age with the amount of flash around some parts, but overall it doesn’t look too bad. A hard light grey plastic was used for this moulding. Some sink holes will need filling, and some care with fitting parts will be required. I can see areas that might benefit from some careful upgrading and tweaking, too. /media/tinymce_upload/f46f09af745c3d7a1e7f7ea2c1675166.jpg I had a scoot round on the internet to see how others have tackled the kit, and it seems evenly split between leaving the rivets well alone and sanding everything off completely. While prominent, the rivets are not exactly overpowering, but I felt the build might look better without them. Having a few reference books about, I dug into them and found a three-position line drawing with indications of the main panelling. I correlated that with the rivets, and carefully scribed lines into the plastic on the wings and fuselage. I then sanded all the rivet detail away. I still need to tackle the tailplane, but I was pleased with my efforts. /media/tinymce_upload/609651b77247672be53f1214669384f0.jpg I believe I need to modify the shape of the wing tips, so I’m looking into that, but I’ve ordered a photo-etch detail kit (Airwaves) and a sheet of better transfers. The ones in the box are okay, but the printing leaves a fair bit to be desired. /media/tinymce_upload/6e6ae377bb92cb82d7c106c6acd690fd.jpg So, this is where I am with my Hampden. I haven’t settled on a particular aircraft yet. That’ll wait for the transfer set to dictate to me, my only rider being it has to fit into my 1940 interest bubble. Like all my models, it’ll be planted on the deck, and I think I will model it with the bomb bay doors open and the full bomb load fitted. More to come, as they say!

You've prompted me to drag the box off the shelf to check! The sprues are all light grey. The He111 is listed as a P-2. The copyright dates on the box for the model design and tooling are Spitfire 2010, Bf109 2012, Hurricane 2013 and the Heinkel as 2015. 😆

I know what you mean, T2B. I have many UFPs in my personal railway modelling world. It's only the inducement of being paid to complete commissioned models that keeps me going sometimes! While it would be nice to do a blow-by-blow review of each build, I don't think that's practical or sensible. What I try to do is highlight things that might help another modeller with a kit, plus a few hints or tips if I feel they're worth sharing or novel enough. Speaking of stashes, here's my "pending tray" at the moment... /media/tinymce_upload/3372201b8e6085569a78677beaa472b2.jpg 🤐 As you can see, the Stuka has moved on a little, so let's catch up. /media/tinymce_upload/70536ab73c6fb18de84f45db05397160.jpg Here's how the kit designers solved the problem of having weighted wheels or in-flight wheels. One wheel, with a flattened surface and a stub that engages in a slot in the spat moulding depending on which variant you prefer. My preference is to sit my models on the deck, but you can see that flipping the wheel over would present the unflattened side to the world. Neat. /media/tinymce_upload/df9657f2866f2b6a063a751d42537284.jpg The kit is obviously designed to provide an interesting build, so the snout is made of nine separate parts. A little care is needed to ensure they all meet neatly and squarely. There isn't much leeway for filling errors at this stage, with much fine moulded detail at risk. /media/tinymce_upload/dc96061e2a305ed5034e24f2bad36f67.jpg The characteristic control surfaces are moulded in one piece. The actuating levers and balance horns are delicate, and care is needed while cleaning up feed marks and so on. I am not fitting the dive brakes at this stage. Underwing national markings need to sit under them, so I'll fit them after painting and transfers are done. /media/tinymce_upload/d8681b22beb7121afcf4722bee7f658a.jpg Here is more attention to detail. Note the open exhaust stubs? Very nice, and thank you whoever got that past the review stage! Instructions tell me I ought to have fitted blank stubs in the place of the wind-driven sirens on the undercarriage fairings. As the sirens are also included on the sprue, it seemed a shame not to fit them. They are, after all, a feature of the real thing of this period, and show up frequently in photos of the planes in service. No, they don't spin, though with care you could make them work if that's the sort of thing you enjoy! And that is where things will stay for a while. Three Luftwaffe types, pending an appointment with the airbrush. It's rather cold in the loft space right now, so it may be a day or several before I'm tempted to risk it. I'm much happier down here in the warm - and it's been tempting to consider brush painting these models. The thing is I'm trying to get used to using the airbrush for my aero modelling, and the more I do it the happier I'll feel about it. By my reckoning I have one more Luftwaffe bomber to build, being the He111. I have that as part of the Battle of Britain 75th anniversary boxed set, along with the Bf109, Hurricane and Spitfire. I have to admit, though, I'm being sorely tempted by a couple of Valom kits for the Bristol Bombay and HP Sparrow. Choices, choices! 😇

/media/tinymce_upload/0c9d64fdd3656bf5747f0021e686100c.jpg A long time ago, I built the 1970s Airfix Ju87B-2 Stuka (02049, Humbrol boxing), and threw a lot of photo-etched bling at it. /media/tinymce_upload/bd4e867231ff14a158c35c5e740b6cd7.jpg It wasn’t actually a bad model, even the rivets were fairly restrained, but with the extra details in the cockpit and around the exterior, plus a vac-formed canopy, I was quite pleased with it. /media/tinymce_upload/40b7a037c2d1f0e86c25d5df94eb498c.jpg Roll forward to 2017, and a new tool version turns up from Airfix. Of course, I had to have one. The box art shows the Ju87 doing what it was designed to do, loosing off bombs, being harried by a Hurricane, and a Bf109 skittering in the distance. While a competent piece of art, it doesn’t really do anything for me, if I’m honest. It feels a bit lacking compared to the box art of the Roy Cross days. Then again, I guess it's probably the red box itself that sells the things nowadays. The real action, of course, happens inside the box. First impressions are “wow!”. The designers went to town on this model, and I can only assume the 1/48 scale Ju87 was designed in tandem with the 1/72 one. There’s a lot to keep the detail freak happy, and I would be tempted to say some after-market suppliers will have struggled to come up with anything they could add! /media/tinymce_upload/f26f52075bbba3fd66dd5982c7abf49d.jpg The transfers cover a Luftwaffe plane in France in August 1940, and a Spanish Civil War Legion Condor plane. The first option is good enough for my BoB fetish, so my third party transfers can stay in the stash. /media/tinymce_upload/e5a0f6d0d71f5f5255729572cb69e8fa.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/ced067111fb197657307473a60c7a81d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/e7524851fd3a2fb51557ee75abf028a4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/f9136f1daf9448a31892ddcb0a76acc8.jpg The sprues are in the now familiar light grey plastic. Four main sets of finely moulded components, plus some tidy transparencies. There is very little flash to deal with, and there is much fine detail, and alternate parts, in evidence in the design of this kit. /media/tinymce_upload/ec422aed9a237d2297ec05e016713906.jpg An example of the attention to detail is the optional pilot seat, depending on whether you install the provided crew figures or not. No need here for an after-market etch of seat harness, or strips of painted masking tape. /media/tinymce_upload/63f58fc6b4973de18d217ec620ebe30e.jpg Construction begins traditionally with the cockpit. As we have now come to expect, there’s lots going on, much of which will ultimately be hidden from view. /media/tinymce_upload/b8a713cfdb267d48f42979f86c703a5d.jpg The cockpit sides are detailed with moulded parts, which benefit from some detail painting and weathering. /media/tinymce_upload/bda501333c6ff301d898a40347d77d9b.jpg The cockpit assembly, with its lower wing centre section, is a nice tight fit in the fuselage. In fact, I needed to do some gentle filing to get the parts to sit really neatly, which I overdid a little and then required a smear of filler! Likewise, the fuselage halves are a good neat fit, which benefited from just a little filler and gentle sanding. The fit of parts overall is excellent, as we have come to expect. Even a thin coat of paint would be sufficient to cause a fitting problem! Apparently, the pilot had some form of bomb aiming device or viewing window in front of and below him. I have various references to a clear glazed panel in the underside of the plane, though nothing shows in either of the cutaway drawings I have. The kit provides for this with two transparent parts, the sides of which get painted the interior colour. The instructions then say the larger outer panel should be painted Hu65, the underside blue colour. Now, this strikes me as odd, and may well be an error. What would be the point in creating a clear part that is then painted over? I suspect the intention is to paint the frames of the panel. In any case, my personal view is the whole thing is over-engineered for what it is. A simple glazed panel in the underside of the model would have sufficed, rather than a slightly complex assembly that will never been seen again. But, what do I know? =o) /media/tinymce_upload/d6da855cfa310938d385d462da3c3f33.jpg Construction then moves on to the outer wing upper halves. A fiddly detail, that might otherwise be moulded in place, are the wing machine guns. Perhaps there’s an eye to alternative fittings here in future revisions of the kit. The lower wing halves are a nice neat fit, but just needed a little help in the form of various pegs while the solvent did its work. I decided this model would be fully tooled up with ordnance, so took note to drill out the flashed-over holes in the lower wings for bombs, as well as the dive brakes. /media/tinymce_upload/65b4160ff1138989ae4ec74cb4c1cd6c.jpg With the wings fitted, it seemed churlish not to fit the tailplane. The starboard trim tab was ever so slightly malformed. Being a very thin component, little thicker than a sheet of copier paper, the molten styrene had failed to fill the mould completely. It would have been impossible to correct the missing area using just filler, so I cut the tab out - very easy as it’s so thin - and replaced it with some thin sheet styrene. In spite of the support struts, it’s still easy for a horizontal surface to droop slightly, so a little care is needed here. The final touch is the rudder, which can be posed off centre if the fancy takes you. /media/tinymce_upload/5fc3c4bca5d0a28d5a84c240bb4744c1.jpg That’s it for now. The next stages in the build cover the engine and undercarriage. My aim is to build this model up to the point where it needs painting. Then it can join the Bf110 and Ju88 for a session or three in my paint shop.

Thanks John. Forewarned, as they say! Interestingly, I'm having to research things I never thought about before. Researching camouflage and markings for the Regia Aeronautica when playing "me too" with the Luftwaffe in France and Belgium is now added to the list that also includes Fleet Airm Arm camo and markings for the 1940 period. It's all part of the fun.

I'm told I shall receive tomorrow: Valom 1/72 Handley Page Sparrow MkISpecial Hobby 1/72 Avro Anson MkIItaleri 1/72 FIat BR.20 CicognaMore grist to my Battle of Britain obsession!

I don't think there'll be a write-up here. It would definitely go against the forum guidelines! I may document it anyway, and perhaps post on my blog so it can be followed for those interested. 😇

A Special Hobby Blackburn Roc appeared in my stash. Now I suppose I'll have to research Fleet Air Arm markings and colours.

Wow! That is a beast. Superb work! Also, five locos in two months? I struggle to get one sort of built in a month!

Somehow, I've acquired: Squadron code letter and serial number decal sheets (so I can complete a 25 Squadron Bristol Beaufighter MkI)1/72 Italeri S.79 Sparviero (the start of my Battle of Britain Regia Aeronautica collection)1/72 Valom Bristol Bombay (say what!? Well, the type was in RAF service in 1940, so it fits my collection criteria)

Aha! Many thanks for that. I've tracked down a Pegasus kit. Sadly, the Pavla one is very thin on the ground. And now, back to the main topic!

Thanks everyone. I hold no illusions about the quality of the Master kit. It was so cheap it was worth the punt! I suspect it will never be built, and if it is it won't be one of my best models. Ideally I'd prefer a Master MkI, but no-one seems to make that one - yet. The MkIII is sufficiently different that it's not simply a case of grafting an old Hurricane or Spitfire nose on to the fuselage. Now, the RS Models Magister offering is a different beast altogether. The mouldings are tidy, well detailed, and there's PE detailing for the cockpits. It's a simple enough kit it should go together nicely and quickly.

My latest acquisitions are all 1/72nd and feeding my Battle of Britain obsession: Airfix Junkers Ju87B-1Airfix Messerschmitt Bf110CTrumpeter Vickers Wellington Mk1CRS Models Miles MagisterEastern Express Miles Master MkIII (which looks like a very worn Frog mould) I've got a ton more in my wishlist, so I had better get on and finish a few railway commissions so I can afford them!

This is bringing back a few memories. I distinctly recall building one of these in my early teens. I think it was the first model aeroplane I built that I painted using the right colours - and they would have been Airfix paints back then. The smell of Airfix enamels was always different to Humbrol. Looking forward to to seeing this progress.