Hi there

I'm about to publish an article about basic vacuform construction techniques. In the course of trying to think what to use for a header image, I remembered that I built Falcon's Beaufighter Mk II Merlin-engined nightfighter about 15 years ago.

I got it out of "storage" when I got home from work today - "storage" being an old cardboard box that's been through 4 moves to different flats. Well... suffice to say, it won't make the new article :-)... it's taken a fair few knocks over the years and, even after cleaning with a soft brush, the dust is so ground in, the model almost needs a wash!



Still, I'll clean it up and repair it - straighten a bent propeller blade and re-make some aerials. I think the old bird deserves a place on the shelf again after all these years... if only for old times' sake. It's hard to believe there's STILL no injection moulded kit of this version in 1/48 scale!

All the best

Rowan

A little dust adds "character"

Hi Rowan!

This makes me think of the movie "Back to the future!" :-)

This model of yours definitely deserves to see the light of the day... even if it is a nightfighter! The various antennas seems to be in good shape too!

Do you have other gems like that in cardboxes... or even somewhere in a hole in the garden?

Thanks for digging out!

Jean-Luc

:-) :-) Hi Chuck

There's a little and then there's a little - this is actually quite a LOT!

It'll be interesting to see how it cleans up. Lurking in there somewhere is a scratchbuilt interior - I wonder if it'll still look the way I remember it from all those years back! I'll post some pics when I've done the repairs.

All the best

Rowan

Well sometimes. I keep this "old" vacuform model around for some reason ?


Lots of dust no character, and no I'll never restore it, I now have the injection model version :-)

Chuck - that's a real beauty!

I don't know about your Wing... but I just realised my Beau is actually older than some of our members!

All the best

Rowan

Rowan,
Looks very good................................... so rather than build any new kits you simply plan on recycling old ones? Tut, tut
My old ones look nowhere near half as good as this.
Mal

Rowan - That's about 20 years of dust on it (not very tidy). I can't believe I paid over $100 for it back in the 70's it's from Archer.

PS - I still have Execuform's PB2Y Coronado in the original bag, afraid to start it (at least 20 years old), when I bought it I remember the shop owner saying he'd never seen anyone build it. LOL

how many of these merlin engined beaufighters were built? when i was at the open cockpit day at newark air museum there were two guys who had merlins on trailors that they had restored to working order, and one of them was from a beaufighter, i posted some pics as a zip file walkaround that you may remember

Hi Phil

Here's the link to Newark Gallery. The Merlin is on Page 2. Wow! That's from a Beaufighter!

One of my refs says there were 450 Merlin-engined Beaufighters.

All the best

Rowan

Looks good Merlin. The weathering looks very nice, especially on such a dark paint scheme. I suppose the dust added a little weathering to the model as well. I like the way it looks, Wingman out.

Rowan,

It's a good model, dust adds just that little extra character, a friend of mine did the same brand of kit as a Mk V, yes I agree an injection mould of this may surface one day.

CMK do a resin conversion of this series Beufighter to convert the Tamiya kits.

Cheers Rob

I've never tried a CMK set - but, after seeing the beautiful quality of Mal's CMK Heinkel He 219 detail set, it's very tempting to chase down their Beaufighter conversion - I think I could face doing another Beau after a 15-year gap!

All the best

Rowan

they are my pictures! im in one of them! the guy had a photo album of the complete build, and the pics of the engine when he got it just look like a rusting pile of scrap, i was amazed at the restoration job he had done. also i thought merlin engined beaufighters were fairly rare aircraft, i was under the impression only a handful were ever made

Rowan the resin detail set for my He 219 is by Aires, but my Val on-line build is using a CMK cockpit and wing fold set. I also have a couple of other sets by CMK and they are worth having. I must get that Buccanear and EE Lightning finished one day
Mal

Cheers Mal

Thanks for putting me straight; I'll maybe read what's actually on the page one day, instead of what I expect to see! :-)

All the best

Rowan