<-- **** DONE: 1/48 Beaufighter TF X - Twin Engined Aircraft of WWII

[dogsbody]

This is looking real nice.
In your Tuesday post, you mention the cockpit air intake scoop. I believe that this is actually used to force a stream of air up and over the front of the windscreen, to keep it clear of rain, instead of using a windscreen wiper.

A bit late for this but I'd thought I'd throw in the pic of a Hercules engine fitted with the exhaust pipes.

Chris

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks DB. I agree with you regarding the air deflector. I read that on Terry Higgins' decal sheet write-up after I posted the above but thanks for the clarification. I've been over at Britmodeller a few times using some threads there for reference and saw that you've made some useful contributions there so I appreciate your comments.

If you have any info on those UBC plates, I'd love to see it.

 

[dogsbody]

Thanks. As I suck at building kits, I like to help out if I can. Can't say as I know anything about those plates. I have the same Aviaeology information as you. Sorry.


Chris

 

[Crimea_River]

No worries!

 

[dogsbody]

But wait! Have you been here for a look? 404 Squadron, RCAF - Welcome

A pic from there:

Chris

 

[Wurger]

The enlarged pic shows the bomb rack there. It is quite similar to the underwing one I found via the net.

 

[fubar57]

Won't be home until Wednesday morning and by that time you will probably have the info. If not, I'll have a look but as mentioned, pretty shy on Beaufighter references

 

[Airframes]

reat pics Wojtek.
Andy, if you decide to mount the pylons/racks, then I have a couple of Universal Bomb Carriers left over from two Tamiya Mossie kits.
I've got six, but only need four, for another project with a Lanc.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks all but it's not the rack that I want ( I have spares as well) but the small adaptor plates that allow it to be attached to the fuselage (see the item numbered 16 in post 140).

Chris, yes I've been over that site and all of the pics many times. It's where I got the pic from showing the lugs to which these adaptors were attached.

 

[Gnomey]

Looking good so far Andy!

 

[Airframes]

Just noticed the whip aerial on top of the Beau shown in the original and the enlarged pic. This is most likely for 'Gee', in which case the indicator and R/F unit would be mounted on the starboard side, just forward of the Observer's seat, next to the heater trunking.
Bit late now though ...........

 

[Crimea_River]

Yep, it's part of the Gee and Rebecca systems. Not worried at all about leaving out those boxes as I can't see anything anyway!

Work on this project has proceeded slowly. I've decided to fill and rescribe a number of panel lines and hatches on the wings based on the excellent profiles and plans included in the Aviaeology decal set. The hi-res pdf's I received with the order are extremely clear and, knowing where they came from, can be taken as extremely accurate. A revelation to me is the fact that the cannon openings are asymmetrical, something that Tamiya got wrong and that's not easy to fix.

I have decided to leave off the UBC adaptor plates as I have no details of what these look like. However, I will add the eyelets to which these plates were mounted as these feature in many photos.

 

[Airframes]

Sounds good.
Interesting to hear about the Aviaeology information - I should receive some of their Mosquito Stencil Data decals tomorrow, so looking forward to seeing what the decal plan is like.

 

[Robert Porter]

Very nice, surprised it is hard to locate pics of the adapter plates? But then I tried as well. I heard of a project by some researchers at Duke that are building a WWII specific search engine for picture collections. Wonder if that will ever get released? It would be a great help for things like that. Great work by the way, something to aspire too!

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks Robert. It would be a valuable tool for sure.

You won't be disappointed Terry. I don't recall how I received the electronic file of the decal sheet but I think that Aviaeology e-mailed it to me after my order was placed. Did you get a copy?

I've corresponded with Terry Higgins, who heads up the company, on a number of occasions related to our Hurricane restoration and also regarding some 404 Squadron ORB info I had and have found him to be extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[Robert Porter]

I have yet to purchase a Tamiya kit, but have to ask, the pictures I have seen of yours and others, the plastic looks softer but much more detailed and "clean" if that makes sense. Is that true of all of their kits?

 

[Robert Porter]

Found this, but I don't think it is what you are looking for?

 

[dogsbody]

Yep, it's part of the Gee and Rebecca systems. Not worried at all about leaving out those boxes as I can't see anything anyway!

Work on this project has proceeded slowly. I've decided to fill and rescribe a number of panel lines and hatches on the wings based on the excellent profiles and plans included in the Aviaeology decal set. The hi-res pdf's I received with the order are extremely clear and, knowing where they came from, can be taken as extremely accurate. A revelation to me is the fact that the cannon openings are asymmetrical, something that Tamiya got wrong and that's not easy to fix.

I have decided to leave off the UBC adaptor plates as I have no details of what these look like. However, I will add the eyelets to which these plates were mounted as these feature in many photos.

For a small fee, you can purchase the PDF's from Aviaeology without buying the decals.

Chris

 

[Crimea_River]

I appreciate the continued input guys, thanks.

Robert the picture you posted shows a Universal Bomb Carrier mounted on the wing of that Beau. Unfortunately, it's not what I was looking for. In order to mount a couple of UBC's under the fuselage, as 404 Sqdn did for a short time (see photo that Chris posted in #145 above and the blow-up in Wojtek's post) there were a couple of adaptor plates mounted between the UBC's and the fuselage eyelet attachment points (see arrows below) that, according to Terry Higgins at Aviaeology, stayed on the aircraft. It was details of those plates that I was looking for but I've since decided to leave them off and just add the attachment eyelets.

The above photo is also interesting in that it shows that the cannon openings are not symmetric about the centerline of the aircraft.

The project continues.........

 

[Airframes]

Andy, I ordered the decals from Hannant's, so no direct contact.
The cannons were slightly offset, to allow clearance for the ammo drums (on the early Mk1) and the belt feeds on later Marks.
This was due to them having to be mounted outboard, to leave room for the 'gangway' between the front and rear of the aircraft, and the forward entrance well.