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Friday, 13 February 2015

Fairey Battle Progress: Primer Time and RAF Crew

I applied my new favourite Airfix paint (Primer Gray) all over the Fairey Battle kit. I took time to paint up the crew and interior Cockpit Green. I did a little shade and base colour mixing even though the crew are going to be underneath a canopy (see below):


This is the point where I discovered I cannot find the decals! Yikes, frantic searching continues. Interestingly, the Fairey Battle has a crew of three, but one (the bomb -aimer/navigator) was hidden away in the belly of the beast.

Modelling Tip: The position of the rear gunner's seat is set as if the canopy is closed. If the more attractive 'action pose' is needed (as per my model above) then the eat and gunner has to be moved about a cm (?, if my memory serves me correctly, again see picture above) towards the tail. Otherwise the canopy won't fit correctly and it sits inconveniently on the gunner's lap. In the end I had to move mine twice

Note: I picked this up from an Internet forum/blog (think it could have been the Airfix Tribute Forum [see below])
http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/Airfix_1_72_Fairey_Battle_02029_03032__about37780.html
http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3103&start=60#p666561
http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3103

Next Stage: Putting it all together
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5 comments:

  1. Al13 February 2015 at 10:08

    Nice...

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  2. Paul Foster13 February 2015 at 11:22

    Looking the part there Geordie!

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  3. Geordie an Exiled FoG14 February 2015 at 11:34

    Thanks lads your encouragement is really appreciated ..

    I added a modelling tip regarding the "rear gunner" that I picked up on another forum (think it was the Airfix Tribute one [tbc])

    If you want the machine gun out in the firing position you will have to move the rear gunner towards the tail of the plane otherwise the canopy does not fit correctly (as in the gunner has it on his lap)


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  4. Mad Padre15 February 2015 at 15:54

    Nice to see this coming along. I remember reading how the Battle crews sacrificed themselves in large numbers trying to stop the German breakthrough at the Sedan, I think it was. They were massacred. Lovely plane, but quite obsolete and helpless against eh flak and fighters the Germans put up.

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  5. Geordie an Exiled FoG18 February 2015 at 20:59

    I agree Michael

    The fact that it was almost immediately withdrawn from combat service post France 1940 tells its own tale

    Massacred is spot on, to be fair Blenheim's fared just as bad with the AASF

    Bizarrely the Fleet Air Arm picked up on the discarded design and created the Fulmar fighter

    The other plane IMHO that served "in such desperate circumstances" was the hopelessly out-classed Devastator torpedo bomber in the Pacific theater in the USN

    Respect to those who served in them!

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