Ba.65 Royal Iraqi AF, 5 Sqd, Al Rashid AB, 1941 - Aircraft in Foreign Service GB

[Wurger]

Not bad at all. A good job on these details.

 

[brucejscott]

Looking good Dave.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Thanks gents!

 

[T Bolt]

Real nice work there David!

 

[buffnut453]

Jumping ahead a little, I notice that the decal sheet in the SH kit only includes the Arabic numerals for the nose. That appears to be right for the aircraft in the line-up, which seems to be a delivery pic:

Other pics show the numerals on both the nose and the rear fuselage.

So the key question is...can I photocopy the SH decal sheet onto blank decal paper to duplicate the numerals? I only need the single colour black but I don't trust my hand to paint the numerals well enough.

Any other ideas?

 

[Airframes]

You should be able to do that OK. It might be worthwhile copying, then going into a programme such as Photoshop or Corel, and cleaning-up the background though, especially if there is a blue tint to the original decal backing.
BTW, I've found a profile if it's of any use, from the 5 Sqn if memory serves?

 

[buffnut453]

Thanks Airframes. Actually, as luck would have it there are numerals for 2 different aircraft in the kit so David and I have agreed to swap our respective spares.

While tootling round t'internet for piccies of the Breda, I found this AMAZING model. Makes me want to give up, except that it might help with interior details and colours for this beastie:

Breda 65 K14 « Stefano De Rensis

 

[Vic Balshaw]

While tootling round t'internet for piccies of the Breda, I found this AMAZING model. Makes me want to give up, except that it might help with interior details and colours for this beastie:

Na Buff, don't give up, just build a better one.

 

[buffnut453]

"Build a better one" he says! HA!!! You'd be safer betting on the probability of a 9-ship formation of flying pigs (pink ones what go "oink" not Antipodean Aardvarks) doing barrel-rolls over my house! You haven't seen how well (badly?) I can mangle plastic!!

 

[Wayne Little]

"Build a better one" he says! HA!!! You'd be safer betting on the probability of a 9-ship formation of flying pigs (pink ones what go "oink" not Antipodean Aardvarks) doing barrel-rolls over my house!

You know.....Terry has been around long enough that I reckon he has seen that....


.....sorry Terry....the keyboard just started up by itself, I couldn't stop it!

 

[Airframes]

Yeah, I believe you ! Anyway, they weren't pigs when I saw 'em - they were baby Mammoths !!

 

[vikingBerserker]

 

[Wayne Little]

Cheers Terry!

 

[N4521U]

Nut, as far as the Stefano guy goes.
Have no fear. I hear he is not of this Earth!

 

[buffnut453]

Just found this post on Hyperscale from Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman:

I believe that SH has the interior and underside screwed up on the Two Place, and not correct on the single place aircraft.

In the two place, the fuel tank is too long and covers the bomb cell opening. It should be half as long and fit between the cells and the aft position. It was possible that a larger tank was used with the bomb cells closed over. Also, on the underside window, the forward portion with the little square windows should be sheet metal and part of the fuselage. The fuel tank sat in that location. The problem is the lack of specific information and some conflicting info in the Ali d'Italia monograph.

On the single place, I believe there was no lower observation window. All solid fuselage on the bottom.

Just thought I'd share in case it's of help to David in his build.

Cheers,
B-N

 

[vikingBerserker]

The SH model has the 3rd fuel tank (143 Imp gals of 172 US gallons) fitted in the bomb bay (right next to the 2nd tank)increasing the endurance from 3.25 hours to 5 hours. They appear to have been fitted for the shipment to Iraq at which time I assume they were removed. That being said the bomb cells would have been left in place. The window I really cannot tell but I understand what he is saying. If the 2nd tank is removed the window would not be blocked, not sure if it was just a carry over from the single seater days. I've contacted NASM Archives to see if they by chance have a manual on the plane.

 

[buffnut453]

That would be awesome if you could track down the manuals - they are often a rich source of details. Installing an internal ferry tank in the bomb bay for delivery of the aircraft to Iraq makes perfect sense. Many WWII bomber aircraft had similar fits. I'm still trying to figure out the bomb bay internals but, to be honest, I'm too scared to start mine - cutting my teeth on a couple of easier kits before delving into the SH stash (15 years away from the hobby makes a chap rusty, y'know).

 

[vikingBerserker]

I heard back from NASM today and they do not have any manuals, however they did send a few pages from a book called Il Breda 65 E L'Aviazione D' Assalto by Giancarlo Garello. This book had a few pages that appeared to come from a technical manual including the pic below. This pic was also in the Ali D'Italia Breda Ba 65 book but this one included the descriptions.

C: serbatoio ausiliario nel cassone bombiero (aux tank "in the bombay"(?)
A: serbatoio principale bezina (main fuel tank)
B: serbatoio secondario (secondary tank)

The green arrow points to the rack that stablizes the nose of the bombs.

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff, and good work on the part of the Museum, being able to help.

 

[buffnut453]

Agreed on all counts. Awesome stuff.