Revell/ Lodela Bristol Beaufighter TF.X LZ451 EE-M Coastal Command 404 Squadron with Model Monkey updates.

[monthebiff]

37 minutes ago, ollieholmes said:

Looks very interesting but i cant find this conversion listed on shapeways anywhere.

 

You need to go direct to model monkey.com and then click on news and specials.

Hope that helps.

 

Regards. Andy 

[ollieholmes]

10 hours ago, monthebiff said:

 

You need to go direct to model monkey.com and then click on news and specials.

Hope that helps.

 

Regards. Andy 

 

Thank you, ill be ordering some soon and waiting for the new tailplanes.

[monthebiff]

Before going any further on the build I decided to have a test fit of the new cockpit tub into the fuselage, after removing the internal location poits for the old kit parts which seemed to take forever as the plastic seems more like rock on this old kit I quickly checked the fit of the fuselage halves and lower wing on its own which was very good for this old kit.

 

 

I found I hade to reove some material on the outsides of the cockpit tub to get it to fit into the fuselage easily without flexing the original plastic.

 

 

This is where I am after the cockpit test fit into the fuselage with the lower wing attached.

 

 

 

I will also need to sand down the pilot access "tunnel" because as you can see the lower wing will not fit without doing this.

 

 

 

As nice as the new cockpit tub is, in reality it is a nice blank canvas to start from as an aweful lot of detail needs adding such as wiring, levers etc as well as detailing the fuselage halves. After spending some time on the build this weekend my thinking is that I will detail up the new cockpit tub and then everything back I will scratch build me thinks!

 

Regards. Andy

[monthebiff]

10 hours ago, ScanmanDan said:

Great to see the new additions.  And wonderful to see how a cockpit set rejuvenates this classic old kit.  It will be a cracker when you get her done.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in, the new cockpit is very nice, however I'm currently trying to work out how to close off the missing paneling in the wing root as it all looks a bit empty in that area and just looks plain wrong. If I can do that I will be very happy with things. 

 

Regards. Andy 

[jumpjack]

Hi Andy

 

On the  Revell Germany home site, a pdf of the instructions is available which illustrate how they tackle the wing root on their new tool 1/48 Beaufighter TF.X.

 

Cheers

 

Les

 

https://www.revell.de/en/products/modelmaking/planes/world-war-ii/bristol-beaufighter-tf-x.html?listtype=search&searchparam=beaufighter

[D Bellis]

Odd that your cockpit didn't fit the Lodella fuselage you're working with. Both of my cockpits (early and late) fit the Revell tan-plastic boxings without any problems. As can be seen, there is more than enough room vertically. And, while not pictured, it fits perfectly horizontally between the wing root flanges, too. So much room that it actually wobbles around in there a little bit, which allows adjusting the position without it being 'too loose'.

 

5 hours ago, monthebiff said:

however I'm currently trying to work out how to close off the missing paneling in the wing root...

If it helps, this it what I did to flesh out that area with my first one:

Scraps of sheet plastic to cover the root hole and strips to fill in the sidewalls. 

 

Great work so far! Looking forward to more updates!

 

D

[rigor]

Guessing one would have to fill that gap on that front loop or am I Wrong 

[monthebiff]

1 hour ago, D Bellis said:

Odd that your cockpit didn't fit the Lodella fuselage you're working with. Both of my cockpits (early and late) fit the Revell tan-plastic boxings without any problems. As can be seen, there is more than enough room vertically. And, while not pictured, it fits perfectly horizontally between the wing root flanges, too. So much room that it actually wobbles around in there a little bit, which allows adjusting the position without it being 'too loose'.

 

If it helps, this it what I did to flesh out that area with my first one:

Scraps of sheet plastic to cover the root hole and strips to fill in the sidewalls. 

 

Great work so far! Looking forward to more updates!

 

D

 

Excellent stuff D and thank you for your WIP pictures, my expeience with my white plastic is that the new cockpit tub splayed the plastic out at the wing roots as well as the rear lower fuselage joint which concerned me to remove resin from the new cockpit now as not to find the wing fit is no good down the line. Currently I have the new tub insert as a wobbly fit now which I am happy with so I have some adjustment. 

Thank you so much for sharing your excellent work, maybe a WIP yourself as it would be good to compare solutions on this build?

 

Regards. Andy

[monthebiff]

51 minutes ago, rigor said:

Guessing one would have to fill that gap on that front loop or am I Wrong 

 

Nop, that front loop will be coming off as it will be impossible to fill and look good. A replacement plastic stock loop glued dirrenctly to the fuselage half will work so much better.

 

Regards. Andy

[D Bellis]

7 hours ago, rigor said:

Guessing one would have to fill that gap on that front loop or am I Wrong 

 

6 hours ago, monthebiff said:

 

Nop, that front loop will be coming off as it will be impossible to fill and look good. A replacement plastic stock loop glued dirrenctly to the fuselage half will work so much better.

I removed both frames from the cockpit tub and glued them to one fuselage half with the intention of clamping them to the other fuselage half after the two halves are joined. It's very important to get them centered side/side and located fore/aft to avoid knocking the tub out of position. Mocking the halves up after gluing them in, the main cockpit tub fits fine doing it that way, and the frames act as additional locators.

 

My reasoning for doing it that way is that the aft station will have to be installed before the halves go together, but the pilot's cockpit will be installed after the halves are glued together, and I didn't want to fill the gap along that forward loop after installing the tub. 

 

No matter what, there will be an unavoidable small gap at the top where the halves come together at the top of the frame. 

 

6 hours ago, monthebiff said:

...maybe a WIP yourself as it would be good to compare solutions on this build?

Thanks! But, no. Work progresses on it (them?) too sporadically for me to keep up a WIP thread. In fact, I rarely take pics of what I'm doing. With 3 Beaufighters to do, I have taken some pics along the way just so I have an idea what to do on the next ones without having to figure it out all over again.  

 

Sorry for the long-winded, semi-hijack of your thread, Andy.  

 

D

[Chek]

It'll depend on how accurate you want to be, but I feel this is worth pointing out to every Beau builder, and leave the decision in their hands.

 

Contrary to Revell's simplified moulded depiction, the undernose cannon are not symmetrical, due to the breeches not being handed and to allow internal clearance.

The photo below shows the actual appearance from head on.

 

I'm not aware of any drawings showing this feature, but the most recent Airfix 1/72nd Beau incorporates it.

 

[Model_Monkey]

Hi everybody.  Steve Larsen of Model Monkey here.  Although this thread is a couple of years old, I received a message from a customer today that has given me some more food for thought about 3D-printed cockpit fit.

 

Although I can't be certain as to what happened in your very different experiences, I have some ideas.  

 

First, a bit of background.  The cockpit was designed to fit my Revell 1970s California-made black plastic kit perfectly and does so (see photo below).  But I am beginning to think that the 3D-printed cockpit may fit Beaufighter kits made later by Revell in California in tan plastic, and then later still by Revell-Lodela in Mexico in white plastic, differently.

Generally, customers report that they are able to fit the cockpit into the fuselage halves best after the fuselage parts have been joined together, using the upper loops, which represent two double-width fuselage ribs of the real aircraft above the wing spars, as an aid to positioning the cockpit.  (On the real aircraft, the fuselage was attached to the wings by bolting these heavy ribs to the spars.  Those bolts are captured in the 3D cockpit's design.)

 

Although most customers report that they had no trouble with assembly or installing the cockpit into their Beaufighter's fuselage, I have been aware of the discussion here of two other customers who did experience fit issues 2 years ago.  In the two cases described above, I understand the issues they experienced were the exact opposite.  This tends to indicate that somehow, for reasons I cannot explain, the Revell kits' fuselage parts made in two different factories in different locations, were made (or became) slightly differently sized, or warped over time, adversely affecting cockpit fit.

 

I can rule out resin shrinkage or variations in the 3D-printed model as a likely cause. The resin I use has a shrinkage rate so small as to be effectively nonexistent, even over time. The 3D-printers I use produce identically-sized models with no variation.  So let's look at the three customer reports and compare them:

1. DBellis reported that he has two tan plastic Beaufighter kits, probably made by Revell in California.  He said his two tan plastic fuselage halves were a bit too wide for his 3D-printed cockpit.  The 3D-printed cockpit is a bit loose in his California-made tan plastic Beau fuselage halves.  
2. Andy (monthebiff), who has a Beau kit made in white plastic by Revell-Lodela in Mexico, described just the opposite fit issue, that his fuselage halves were too narrow for his new 3D printed cockpit.
3. The report I received today, matches Andy's experience.  Today's report is of a kit also made by Lodela in Mexico, just like monthebiff's Beau.

 

Keep in mind that the Beaufighter kit I used to design the cockpit was made by Revell in California in the 1970s in black plastic and the 3D-cockpit fits that model perfectly.  This suggests that somehow, there are variations in the shape and size of Revell (California) black and tan kits and Revell-Lodella (Mexico) white kits.

So what seems to be the case:

• black plastic Beau by Revell - good 3D-printed cockpit fit
• tan plastic Beau by Revell - loose 3D-printed cockpit
• white plastic Beau by Lodela - slightly too wide 3D-printed cockpit

If variations in plastic kit size or shape are true, I am not able to solve that problem.  But posts by modelers on this thread describe how two of those modelers worked to find a solution for the different fit issues each experienced with their kits made in different factories.
 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Revell 1/32 Beaufighter, made in black polystyrene plastic in the late 1970s by Revell in California, with Model Monkey cockpit.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Model_Monkey
typo

[Steve Eagle]

I have a Lodela and was very satisfied with how the interior fit. Looking forward to the observer set. 

[mc65]

just WOW!!

[TinyJoe]

I will be looking forward to more of this build.