Spilz

I would go for the Spitfire I kit, It's about the same proportions as the Defiant, but not as complex, without the turret to worry about. it's also in the same basic camouflage as the Defiant, so should give you a good feel for what's needed. Ok brilliant cheers!

Thanks, will take a look!

Thanks! Yeah it really is something else. I was a young lad when he was building it so I never really appreciated it fully until my adult years, and even more so recently. It took over 50000 hours to build, and I'm told scrutineers (if that's the word) went over the build with a fine toothed comb, and it was found to be within an inch of an exact representation! The Kent BOB Museum were lifesavers really as the Defiant did face potentially being scrapped if it didn't find a home following the BPA having to move from their Pendeford site. I never realised the gunner then shot down the 109! Always learning about it more! Thanks for the kind words, I think you're right in getting another model, is the Spitfire the one to get?

No constructive comments unfortunately as I'm a complete newbie, but this is stunning. Really great work, I'd love to get up to that level eventually!

Hi all. I'm new to the forum, and completely new to Airfix! I thought I would join as I need all the help I can get really, I've recently purchased the "Dogfight Doubles" Dornier + Mk1 Boulton Paul Defiant 1:72 kit. The reason being is that my Grandad actually worked on Defiants during the war, albeit the later night fighter. He also built a 1:1 scale replica Defiant by way of reverse engineering the build, using part of a turret and a wheel from an actual Defiant (see photo). The Defiant he based his replica on is the exact plane featured in this kit, as flown by 264 Squadron, so you can imagine how I felt when I found out it existed! Grandad recently passed away and I wanted to build this to have in my home office. So I want to do it justice. As I said, I have never built an airfix, although I am quite good with hands on stuff. I've built R/C cars and bodies in the past. It's mainly the painting I'm worried about as I have no idea where to start. The set I bought doesn't actually have the paints or brushes or glue unfortunately as it was bought used, although I've got a feeling that there might be more effective ways of finishing the models anyway. I also believe there are options to further the detailed parts of the kit, so any help with that would be greatly appreciated. I'm wondering whether or not I should buy a cheap model first to practice on? I'd like to document the build somewhere, even though I very much doubt it will be anything amazing, but I'm sure it will help me take my time with it. Anyway, good to be part of the forum, really appreciate any help in terms of where to start! If anyone is interested in the Defiant I'm happy to share what I know! Sam /media/tinymce_upload/1f123eaaaf3483136af93865ff3a0513.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/27e1bbbc33d9ef8446c94786129d827e.jpg