**** DONE: GB-58 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.1 - Night Fighters all Eras

[Ralph Haus]

Ralph, I just went down and looked at mine. This is what you will see with close-up and flash; mind the dust

View attachment 725661

View attachment 725662​

Thanks
I will be preping both open and closed cockpit bits. Last items on anyway and will decide then. Still favoring the open though. It's not like I left the IP out!

 

[Wayne Little]

Either way you will come up with a good result.

 

[Donivanp]

Nice Ralph, either way it will be very nice!

 

[Ralph Haus]

Getting close to having a finish I can work with. Black primer on. Used Vallejo MECHA ( 70-642) this time, thinned with a bit of their thinner and a couple of drops of their flow improver. Went on better that I expected; expected some dry tip and clogging. None of that. Loving the Vallejo line. I hope to put on the final black coat tomorrow (Vallejo again, but the Model-Air 71-057). Mentally tossing which gloss to use? Vallejo or my normal Tamiya?

You can see the paint mule in the back as well. It too received a coat of primer and will get a final of the black. Planning on experimenting with 'softening up' the pristine black look. Gray misting? Tried the gauze, two different styles, but they left patterns I did not like. I might just have to try again but hold the gauze away from the surface and try and spray through it with a really thinned down gray? That's what mules are for.

 

[destrozas]

If you want you can try with medium grey, or with RLM 75 very diluted and giving it to the inside of the panels, and then a very diluted layer of black without finishing covering the gray?

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking good Ralph. Nothing to offer on the options you put forward.

 

[fubar57]

That's a nice black

 

[Donivanp]

Black is black, I want my baby back oh no.
I see a red door and I want to paint it black.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Black as night on a moonless cloudy night. Looks great Ralph.

 

[Ralph Haus]

That's a nice black

Really tempted to just go with it. But it really needs a proper paint applied. The Vallejo black paint is close, if not exactly, the same depth.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Finish coat applied. Such a deep, velvet, bottomless black. Kind of hate to apply the gloss for the decal applications. Probably could get away with applying decals on this but then I have these shiny decals that would have to be toned down, with a coat of something. I'm going to experiment on the mule, which received the same black overcoat; both with trying out a complementary color misting and also the final coat, flat Vallejo or Tamiya. Had to show her off in her most threatening colors!

 

[fubar57]

That....is a really spiffy black

 

[Airframes]

Certainly a nice deep black !
I notice that both ailerons are drooped - one should be "up" if the other is "down".

 

[Wurger]

I agree with Terry on the ailerons.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Certainly a nice deep black !
I notice that both ailerons are drooped - one should be "up" if the other is "down".

Well, crap!! Initially I thought to just leave them straight, but then again the model looks more dynamic when looking 'actuated'. I'll assume it doesn't make any difference which is up and which is down as long as they are opposite? I usually do not bond these tightly so I may have a chance on breaking out one of them without doing to much damage to the finish. Oh well!

Is this typical on all aircraft, up/down ailerons/opposite? Looking at my older builds I have them all wrong. I have been assuming that these would be treated like flaps, which can both be down.

Edit: OK, just read up on how they work. One is up while the other is down to control the roll of the craft. SO either way would be correct. But should they have been shown in a actuated position in the first place since the craft is on the ground?

 

[Ralph Haus]

Just wish the IP were this easy to correct!

 

[Wurger]

The pics of the Defiants with the ailerons differential deflected are quite rare. As memo serves the ailerons were mass balanced and the control system was fitted to keep the correct setting. I'm not sure but there might have been a mechanical blockade of the pilot's stick allowing the control surfaces to be set neutral. Anyway here two shots showing the ailerons in the "actuated" position.

the pic source: the net.

 

[Ralph Haus]

The pics of the Defiants with the ailerons differential deflected are quite rare. As memo serves the ailerons were mass balanced and the control system was fitted to keep the correct setting. I'm not sure but there might have been a mechanical blockade of the pilot's stick allowing the control surfaces to be set neutral. Anyway here two shots showing the ailerons in the "actuated" position.

View attachment 725917

View attachment 725916

View attachment 725918
the pic source: the net.

Thanks for this. So, it was 'usual' for the ailerons to not be in neutral position when not flying? However they 'could be', like my build is showing. I sure do hope so.

 

[Wurger]

Actually it is quite difficult to state. In most pics it can be noticed thatthe ailerons were set neutral when on the ground. But usually there is somebody in the cockpit. Of course there are images without any in the cockpit sitting and the ailerons are not in the "actuated" position too. So we may assume the neutral position of the ailerons was the "usual" setting while the deflected ones happened quite rarely.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Continuing on. I did do a small experiment with the paint mule. I thinned down both some RLM 66 and RLM 75, about 1/1, spraying at a distance around 12" or so (300mm). When applied the RLM 66 appeared to be a decent 'damping' color, but when dry it blended in with the black so well it is not even noticeable.The RLM 75 may just be to 'contrasty'? Also I did a shot with both on the sides of the fuselage using a fairly tight gauze material. Not sure I like the 'pattern' it produces. The shot of the top is both the 66 and 75. The bottom shot is the 75 only, trying to create a misted affect? The fuselage image is the gauze attempt with the 75.