Tamiya 1:48 Bristol Beaufighter

Been working on the cockpit a little more. Paid some attention to the instrument panels.

Need to a try a bit of wash and weathering. I have some weathering powder - not sure how to use it. Just lightly brush it on over the dried washed cockpit? 

Started assembling the wings. They go together very will. I did a dry fit to the fuselage to see what I'm up against later. If I'm careful, there really shouldn't be much in the way of filling and sanding when the wings go on.

Gave the cockpit a bit of a wash. It definitely helps, but a bit subtle maybe? I may do it again.

I need to do something about the bulkhead at least, that looks pretty bad.

Started having a look at a set of Eduard seatbelts too. This will be the only aftermarket add on to this model. I think adding some decent straps helps a lot. These are not fixed in place yet, since I'm not done painting. Need to try dry brushing some highlights and details.

A bit more work on the cockpit. I think I'll call it good enough at this point. Those seat belts are very fiddly.

I just noticed one of my instrument dial decals fell off. Dammit.

Got the fuselage together, and did a dry fit with the wings. Looks decent I think.

Not too much to show yet, but wings are on, and some other assemblies together.

The undercarriage assemblies are really well moulded I reckon.

managed to get the joints smoothed out, and did a little detail work on engines. All I did there was paint the engines black and dry brush them with aluminum enamel. I will likely add some pin washes as well.

Canopy went on yesterday

And then I drilled holes in the front of the engine mount areas, and glued some sprue in place as an aid to holding the model for handling during painting.

Works nicely. I am going to add the engiines and cowls after the main painting is done. I have done a dry fit of the various parts, and they really fit well, I can see that no filler will be needed, so this will make it a little easier for painting.

Had a go at some pre shading and put on the first layer of the azure blue. I'm using AK Interactive paints - I like them a lot. This is my second try at using the pre shading technique. First time I tried it was on a Spitfire I made at the end of last year, and I sprayed the panel lines black, but pretty much hid them all because I sprayed over the whole model. This time, after reading Aaron Skinner's book on airbrushing models (the FineScale Modeller book) I'm going panel by panel. I'm fairly pleased with the result. Not perfect, but it definitely breaks up the monotony of a large, uniform paint layer. I need one more pass in a few places, but I must say that I'm somewhat chuffed with this.

I'm pretty happy with it. I toned the panel lines just a bit more, and also sprayed some of the panels with a very slightly lighter shade, although I don't think that did very much for it.

Keeping at it - this morning the model was in this state on top:

So after the usual patchwork of masking on the underside:

I went at the top with the middle stone part of the upper camoflage. First pass:

And after a few more passes and some blending:

Let this cure for a couple of hours, maybe even overnight, and then on to the second part of the camoflage.

That brings us up to date. Tomorrow - the second camo colour, and then get all the masking off. Always a bit of a scary moment.

First, welcome to the forums.  Second, awesome work on the Beaufighter.  I look forward to seeing more of your work.

John

Welcome to posting your first thread.  Excellent work throughout.  Love the shading.

Toshi

Some really nice work there, thats loking very good.

Very methodical approach to the build, looking great so far, bet it will turn out just fine with all the care you are giving it. Thanks for all of the post and photos info.

Patrick

Very nice. I'll be starting on a night fighter of this next week. Your's looks very nice.

BK

Thanks guys - I really appreciate your kind words.

I do wonder if the shading is a bit subtle. It doesn't show up as well in the pictures as it does in real life, but I do wonder if once the clear coats and weathering are on, whether the effect will be as good. But this is what we have, and time will tell.

Just had a lovely morning of masking and airbrushing.

More patchwork.

Since I used up all the preshading already, I laid down some more before putting the "dark earth" on.

After applying the dark earth panel by panel again, I also added a little white to the paint and gently misted some on in some panel centers. Doesn't show very well in the pics again, but it seems to help with tone and variation somewhat.

Anyway - moment of truth.

Not too bad - a couple of small areas need touch up, but overall OK. Once it is finished and weathered I think it will look reasonable.

Preshading isn't really my thing, but you are doing a very nice job of it. Nice work on your Beaufighter.

A big welcome to you.  

Very, very nice work Mate. You surly seem to know what you're doing. TY for posting this excellent W.I.P.

Thanks fellas!

I'm pretty happy with this one, it being only my third model since getting back into the hobby last year after an 18 year hiatus. This is only the second one I've attempted shading on - it's an improvement over last time, but could still use some work. I think I might try an overall black primer next time and just try careful shading of each panel as I go. Also I'll prime the cockpit black on the next build - might get better shading that way.

It's fun to get a nice build progressing, and fun to see what to try next too. Good stuff all round, and very relaxing.

It was funny yesterday - I have an ipod playing while modelling - it just plays random tracks - and as I started to remove the masking tape yesterday, the track from "dawn in the map room" from Raiders of the Lost Ark started playing - that very dramatic music when the location of the Ark gets revealed. Totally dramatic and appropriate! 

Finally finished this. Somewhat happy with it - not everything went the way I wanted, but this does represent a significant improvement over previous models I have made. I need to work on metal chipping for sure, and I also learned what can be gained by lightly sanding paint layers to smooth them out. Also, I'd like to get to some more subtle weathering, especially with things like oil stains and such, but one step at a time. On the whole - not too bad I think.

Remarkable job.  One of my favorite Brit warbirds.  I'm gonna have to build this one again some day (did so previously about 12 years ago, but that build was lost to a shelving disaster).

Very nice, very nice indeed.

Well done, you did very good job. This is certaintley going to be a build I wont to take on sometime in the future.

Nice finish, this is really well done.

Great finish, well done. You did a splendid job on this one. I had no real issues with mine other than the black plasitic. Yours turned out beautiful.

BK