1/72 Handley Page Halifax B.III 'Friday the 13th' No.158 Sqn RAF, Lissett, UK

[109ROAMING]

Just got an email saying my set has been sent and will be here in 8-9 days from the US

Bit late sorry boys - should have got onto it sooner

Il still get it finished though

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Oh Dan what a bummer. How bad is the glazing because they can be repaired with patience and the use of emery paper to remove the damage and working your way through the finer grades to 2000 grade for the final rub and then cut with a liquid car polish and buff. Despite this daunting setback, I still hope you can salvage the situation and finish the model in time. So good luck mate.

 

[Airframes]

Vic's right Daniel. You could do a temporary fix whilst waiting for the vac-form set, but whatever, at least you can do the rest of it.

 

[109ROAMING]

Thanks for the motivational advice guys

Will give the recovery a shot soon

 

[109ROAMING]

I've just cleaned up the main canopy as best I can , will wait to see how it pans out otherwise when the vacform arrives I'l rip it off and start fresh

Also just added the bomb bay doors . Waiting for the glue to dry then will be touching up the black areas followed by decals later on today

Then the bombs . Couple days ago I received a nice package from Evan ( A4K) some bombs for 'Friday'

Question: What colour do I paint these bombs? as I may have mentioned I lost the instructions

 

[109ROAMING]

Duely noted too I have alot of 'overspray' to touch up

 

[Airframes]

Nice one Daniel. By that stage of the War, the British bombs were Dark Green overall, although the tail inits, fitted separately (the fins and 'ring') were sometimes black, depending where/when they came from. Remember these had been rolled around, often in outside storage, so where often scratched and dirty.Depending on filling/type, there would be red rings around the nose or mid body, but i wouldn't bother in this scale, as they were only around one inch wide in real life!
( Up to around mid 1942, the bombs had been pale yellow mainly.)
The bomb carriers (those 'bracket' things!) were normally bare metal - dull silver.

 

[109ROAMING]

The bomb racks were bare metal?

I just added them . I've got 3 1000lbs bombs , and a number of 500lbs ones ,

I'd like to use the 1000lbs , what combination would you recommend? 3 500lbers across the first row , 3 1000lber's across the 2nd row. Then 3 500lbers each for the 3rd and 4th row?

Also , I'm a little confused with the wing cells . Theres is as you say a bulkhead between the front and rear but theres no way a 500lb bomb will fit in the front or back ?? what do I do??

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Way to go Dan, stick with it mate

 

[Wayne Little]

Doin' great Daniel...keep pushing it along mate

 

[B-17engineer]

Nice!

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking good Daniel

 

[kgambit]

Also , I'm a little confused with the wing cells . Theres is as you say a bulkhead between the front and rear but theres no way a 500lb bomb will fit in the front or back ?? what do I do??

You could try some 250 lb bombs if the 500 lb bombs are too big - if only for appearance's sake. How tight is the fit on the 500 bombs? If they are just a hair too big, you might try some careful sanding on the nose sections to trim them down just a bit. Keeping the shape of the nose will be tricky though.

It's looking really good, Daniel. It would be a shame to not have some ordinance in those wing slots.

 

[Airframes]

Yes, the bomb carriers wwere normally bare metal, but were sometimes painted black, which very soon wore off, giving a tatty appearance of spots of black.
The positioning of the bombs sounds about right - the 1,000 pounders near the centre.
Looking at the wing bomb cells in you pic, they actually seem a bit short in length, probbaly the fault of the kit's engraving.
Dwight's suggestion is what I was going to suggest. If you haven't got 250 pounders, then shorten the extreme tail of the bomb body, and the length of the fins. I'm not sure of the details without searching, but there were shorter tail units available for British bombs, which might have been for this or similar reasons, and, of course, the shorter-finned US bombs, with 'square' fins and no tail 'ring' were also used later in the War, from about early 1944.

 

[kgambit]

Yes, the bomb carriers wwere normally bare metal, but were sometimes painted black, which very soon wore off, giving a tatty appearance of spots of black.
The positioning of the bombs sounds about right - the 1,000 pounders near the centre.
Looking at the wing bomb cells in you pic, they actually seem a bit short in length, probbaly the fault of the kit's engraving.
Dwight's suggestion is what I was going to suggest. If you haven't got 250 pounders, then shorten the extreme tail of the bomb body, and the length of the fins. I'm not sure of the details without searching, but there were shorter tail units available for British bombs, which might have been for this or similar reasons, and, of course, the shorter-finned US bombs, with 'square' fins and no tail 'ring' were also used later in the War, from about early 1944.

Terry, I'm pretty sure that the RAF Ordinance link I posted in another thread has the details for the 250 pounders.

Here's two pages out of it.

Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide - BRITISH BOMBS AND FUZES
Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide - BRITISH BOMBS AND FUZES

 

[A4K]

Then the bombs . Couple days ago I received a nice package from Evan ( A4K) some bombs for 'Friday'

...Got into trouble for that too - had the Police round accusing me of sending letter bombs...

(Thankyou, thankyou, you've been a wonderful audience! None better! Goodnight! )


Great work so far Daniel! - Do the angled 500-lbers fit the wing cells? They are slightly shorter than the others I think. If not, I think Dwight's on the money with his idea of the 250-lbers. Don't think I'll be any use there, but will have a look for ya.

 

[Airframes]

Don't seem to see many 250 pounders in 1/72nd scale.
Dwight, I meant shortening the 500 pounders, just to fit the bays, rather than trying to make them look like 250 pounders!
Your info on the British ordnance should be useful though mate.
Evan, you do realise that jokes like that have a UK Government Health Warning attached to them?!!!!

 

[A4K]

..not to mention an automatic ban on entering US soil no doubt, Terry!

 

[Airframes]

More than likely mate!