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Showing posts with label Defiant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Defiant. Show all posts

22 December 2016

12 Days of Christmas Painting & Modelling

It really not worth me doing a yearly review as my modelling output has been dismal this year, in fact I’ve not even sat at my modelling desk for several months now A total of one aircraft model complete and a couple of miniatures painted is all I’ve managed. OK, so the Airfix Defiant was probably the best model I’ve made to date, but that success seems a distant memory by now.



However as Christmas approaches, my workplace is closed for a couple of weeks so I can hopefully free up a bit of time to finish the year on a slightly higher note.

I’ve decided to try and devote a bit of time each day, for 12 days (not necessarily consecutively, as I have a few commitments over the holiday period), to painting some figures, finishing off a few unfinished kits and maybe starting something new so I can take some momentum into a new year and hopefully achieve a bit more in the way of modelling successes in 2017.

Day #1 to follow shortly.

22 March 2016

Completed Review - Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant (A02069)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £8.99

This is probably the briefest review I've done; a few photos that I wanted to share with you followed by a quick summary.

This is fantastic kit, one of the best I've tried. Only issue I recall is for some reason the topside of the nose didn't quite line up. I've seen a few cases of this happening but it may just be down to how I fitted the cockpit. If you've had the same problem feel free to let me know.

Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant A02069 Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant A02069
Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant A02069Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant A02069
Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant A02069
Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant A02069
The model was painted with Vallejo model air paints, I followed the steps I used in my Airifx Hurricane quick build. Panel lines and weathering were done with Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Sand washes.

The markings of this aircraft come from the dogfight double set (A50170) and are those of the highest scoring Defiant crew, Sergeants Ted Thorn (pilot) and Frederic Baker (gunner).

Eduard photo-etch was used for interior details and the gun barrels came from Master Models of Poland. That reminds me, the reason why I had to replace the guns was that the plastic ones are really difficult to remove from the sprue and in my case I snapped them. Montex masks were used during painting, I wouldn't recommend them for this kit as they don't really hold on the curved turret part (not too bad on the flat parts though).

As always you can keep up-to-date with all my builds on my Instagram page.

Overall Build Score: 4.5 out of 5, another excellent release from Airfix. The shape is finally correct and aside from slight fit issues and the poor turret guns the kit builds very well. The individual boxed version offers you the choice between the aircraft's two main roles, the early day and then the later night fighter. In addition the canopy, raised or lowered fairing, and landing gear options ensure you have all possible configurations available to build. The aircraft itself may have been considered a failure but this kit is a triumph!