slimdemu Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi to you all. Been interested in the Fairey Battle for some time, and was keen to model one in 1/32nd scale. Alas, none seemed to exist, although I spotted mention of a Vacformed one on an old Combat Models list, but no reference number or any further details, or any sign of it on the current list. Must assume that a 1/32 Battle was proposed but never got off the ground, ( no pun intended ) ! Not wishing to be defeated, I set about scaling-up some 1/48 Battle plans to see what might be possible. Have got a Tigger Boulton Paul Defiant which appeared to have a very similar nose/cowling profile to the Fairey Battle, moreso as they shared similar engines. Next the wings. Immediately thought the overall shape looked like an enlarged Hawker Hurricane profile. Out came the wings from an Airfix 1/24th Hurricane and out came the plans. Very, very close indeed, with only minor tweaking and re-detailing required. Looking even more promising. As yet, I am working on finding a suitable candidate for providing the long slim rear fuselage of a Battle, and have a Tigger models Banshee in my sights for another bit of kitbashing ! I think the biggest headache I will have is the long canopy ! Any other thoughts that members might have would be gratefully received thank you. Regards, Ian. Derek B, Out2gtcha and Zero77 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) Ian, I'm in the Netherlands at the moment and not home till Monday but I have some fairly good data on Battles that I collected when doing my CA target tug ...more than happy to share it with you if it's any use. Max Edited June 4, 2015 by mozart Out2gtcha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airscale Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 wow, what a great project (and welcome to LSP!) ..the rear fuselage looks like a fairly simple elongated cone so if you get some station sections from the plan, mount them on a keel you should be able to skin it with one or two sheets of card ..plenty of help and advice on here, if you get stuck, send me a PM, I would love to see a 1/32 Battle.. TTFN Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Ian, I'm in the Netherlands at the moment and not home till Monday but I have some fairly good data on Battles that I collected when doing my CA target tug ...more than happy to share it with you if it's any use. Max Kinda reminds me of the inline Brit version of a Nakajima Kate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome to LSP Ian. Good project - I shall follow it with interest. Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Treat all published plans with a fairly hefty pinch of salt. The best are the late Ian Huntley's, but even he admitted there were several issues he wanted to sort out. All the others have some serious issues, which are obvious when they are pointed out. That silly kink in the trailing edge of the main plane where it meets the root fairing for one... There isn't one!! Get that wrong, and all the geometry of the wing is to ****, for example!! A scratchbuilt one has been high on my project list, but I'm so far behind, I'm going to have to retire to even catch up, let alone make any progress! Best of luck with the project, it is a very important aircraft for a number of reasons. It was very advanced for its time, but reality overtook pre-war theory faster than the tacticians could keep up. And almost all of Richard Fairey's designs were very clean and sleek, the Battle being no exception. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome aboard, Ian! Best of luck with your project. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Welcome aboard Ian - great project!! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee White Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Welcome Ian!! I hope you are able to find the needed refs to make this happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 This book is pretty good, although the plans have been redrawn by another artist, I am still looking them over, but there are some excellent 'bits' photos from the manuals and production lines, as well as colour notes, ordnance and more. Mr Huntley worked for many years at Faireys, and he really knew his stuff! He helped us extensively with the Firefly kit we did in the 1990's. Very sorry he is no longer with us. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fairey-Battle-Ian-D-Huntley/dp/0953346595 Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Yes Tim, that is a good book for lots of detail shots. There are also two issues of Scale Aircraft Modelling which are invaluable references: April 2000 has a 1/48th scale detail drawing of the Battle by Ian Huntley, plus a few other photos which are also to be found in the above mentioned book, and the October 2000 issue has an in-depth article by Paul Lloyd in which he 're-engineers' (his words) the kit including his own corrected and annotated drawings. The Air-Britain Battle File is also useful, lots of colour profiles though no larger accurate plans. Max Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimdemu Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Ian, I'm in the Netherlands at the moment and not home till Monday but I have some fairly good data on Battles that I collected when doing my CA target tug ...more than happy to share it with you if it's any use. Max Hi Max, What a SUPERB model of a TT Battle. Is that to 1/32nd scale ? Thank you to your kind offer of assistance. Would be gratefully received. Kind regards, Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimdemu Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Yes Tim, that is a good book for lots of detail shots. There are also two issues of Scale Aircraft Modelling which are invaluable references: April 2000 has a 1/48th scale detail drawing of the Battle by Ian Huntley, plus a few other photos which are also to be found in the above mentioned book, and the October 2000 issue has an in-depth article by Paul Lloyd in which he 're-engineers' (his words) the kit including his own corrected and annotated drawings. The Air-Britain Battle File is also useful, lots of colour profiles though no larger accurate plans. Max Thank you to all who have already contributed to my little mission of building a Battle in 1/32nd. I am very grateful for the comments about the suspect plans. The plans that I am using are the ones in Ian Huntley's book on the Battle by Richard J. Caruana, also the same from Warpaint No.83. Thank you all once again. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Have you thought about using a Revell Bf 110 fuselage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babelfish Steve Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I can only humbly doff my optivisor to anyone contemplating such an ambitious project, and I wish you every success with it. :bow: - Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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