That's a beauty Eetu and I'm happy to see you back and building again!

May I ask for a side-by-side photo with your "old" Blenheim when this one is finished?



Magnus

Thanks! Actually it's already finished. I got it done during the break week, I just hadn't gotten the pictures posted here yet. Sorry for the delay, it's been rather hectic lately.

Oh yeah, sure, I can take a few side-by-side pictures with the MPM Blenheim. I'll take those when I get to unpacking my built models - I spent last 6 weeks or so in a temporary apartment due to renovations.

Anyway, here's some pics of the finished model.







The models depicts BL-136, one of the ex-RAF Blenheims purchased for the Finnish Air Force, how it appeared in the summer of 1940: original RAF camoflage scheme, no yellow eastern front markings yet, with then-standard big (conforming to the 4/5 insignia size regulation) wing insignias. The right side ailerons and inner wing bomb bay doors were replaced with parts from another aircraft, so they were painted accordingly.

Eetu,
An absolutely stunning build. Outstanding camo paint scheme, perfect decaling, and just the right amount of weathering, all add up to a fantastic looking build. Nice touch with the "replacement" parts as they add just that little extra to your build.
Joel

Thanks, nice to hear you like it!

Hi: Just like to add my admiration for your lovely Blenheim build. Really beautiful.

I was interested in your feelings about the upper nacelle bulging as it does, when I came upon this image in Facebook, of a recently restored Blenheim. I have the first incarnation of the new Airfix kit but haven't had time to study it with the nacelle in the same position as the photo. What do you think?



Best regards

Steve

I realise that I haven't commented on your build yet: I'm sorry, it really deserves it! A stunning Blenheim that I really would like to see in real life! A real inspiration.



Magnus

Fantastic build, Eetu!!!

This has definitely brought me around to the charms of the Blenheim! I'll be keeping an eye out for this kit at my LHS!

Russ

Thanks for the compliments! Glad you like it.



Oh, it's absolutely a kit worth picking up! A massive improvement over the MPM kit I build some years ago. The only areas in which I feel it's better than the new Airfix kit is the inclusion of PE and resin parts, and way the cockpit/front fuselage halves are made as clear parts as opposed to the combination of grey styrene sidewalls and clear window parts.
I definitely gotta build the new Do-17Z next, I've heard it's even better than the Blenheims!



Simple, it's not a 100% Blenheim, but a hybrid largely based on a Canadian-built Bristol Bolingbroke variant.
I feel I must presume the designers of the kit made the mistake of looking too much and too closely to Bolingbroke-based restorations and not enough to blueprints and photos of actual Blenheims.

Blenheims in flight:

Here's some mk.Is, a BIG photo, hence a text link: http://miliblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/bristol-blenheim-mk1-bombers.jpg

Probably due to Blenheim being a much more iconic and recognizable moniker than Bolingbroke (and the majority of people likely not to even care about to such details), it seems to be mainly touted as a Blenheim. Even the Aircraft Restoration Company page about it only mentions it being recovered in Canada. Other sites like Warbirdnews.com go further into the details.

The larger upper nacelles on the Bolingbroke are the result of the requirement to improve the plane's operational range. As the fuel capacity was increased, the oil tanks located in the upper nacelles needed to be enlarged respectively, hence the bigger nacelles. A dinghy housing was built into the right side upper nacelles, adding a quite visible bump there.

To my knowledge, the closest thing to a restored "true" Bristol Blenheim so far is the Blenheim mk.IV (BL-200), originally license-built in Finland during WW2, in the Aviation Museum of Central Finland. (here's a Wikimedia gallery of it: -link-)

Congratulations Eatu on a superb job. I like Your Blenheim a lot.

I'll think the Dornier will be purchased at the same time as the Blenheim Eetu
As long as I can smuggle it past 'her indoors'

Maybe even the dog fight double with the defiant

Can we hope to see a build log of the Dornier from you???

Russ.