ThomasProbert

You're right Cees - still to be added! She's all done now chaps (apart from the additional framing needed on the bomb aimer's window) and pictures are in 'Finished Work': http://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/2820-a-halifax-grii-in-132nd-scale/ Thanks for the interest and encouragement along the way. Tom

The kit's transparent parts were used for the flightdeck windows - the distinctive shape of the Halifax cockpit with its sloping starboard quarter was captured well. I used an aftermarket seat belt set, but all other parts of the cockpit interior were scratch-built: The nose piece had the additional bracing made, and the .50cal came from Aries. The propeller on No2 engine was made fully feathered - engine problems meant the cowlings are off for inspection! All paints were Xtracolour enamels: A few general shots of the completed model: All in all a great, fun build. I've never seen another 1/32nd Halifax in the flesh, so I have a real sense of achievement building an almost unique model. Kits like these certainly aren't for the faint-hearted, but they push one's modelling skills to the limit, and to me, that's what this hobby is all about! Tom

It's taken me near on a year, but my 1/32nd scale Halifax is finally complete. I really enjoy vacforms and a modelling challenge, and as the two go hand in hand this ticked all of my modelling boxes! These kits are incredibly basic, with just the exterior shapes of the fuselage, wings, engines and tail - along with some very nice vacformed clear parts - provided, but the rest is down to the modeller to reproduce. All panel detail has to be scribed on to the model, the interior, undercarriage, propellers, bomb bays, turrets and practically everything else of the finer details needs to be scratch-built or sourced from elsewhere. You really get the opportunity to go to town on these projects, and as they are a blank canvass you can add as little or as much as you want. I find the scratch-building aspect of these builds the most fun - it certainly won't be the most accurate Halifax ever built as I don't worry too much about being accurate to the nth degree, neither do I worry if I have to make up my own details if pictorial references aren't available - with projects like this there is a danger of becoming so bogged down with this sort of thing that you'll never get it finished - I just go for it! For those interested, a full WIP is available here: http://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/1428-132nd-scale-halifax-very-nearly-there/ When researching aircraft to replicate I came across a number of MkII Halifaxes that were transferred out of Bomber Command and into Coastal Command. As the more powerful and generally better Halifax MkIIIs came into service, the older Merlin powered machines were transferred into Coastal Command. Most were repainted into the Coastal Command colour scheme, but a number weren't - the Halifax I've replicated being one. They retained their Bomber Command scheme, but the dull red codes were replaced by grey ones. Therefore, this aircraft really interested me, and it's my own small tribute to both Commands, of which the Halifax gave sterling service. On to the model... The aircraft I replicated is a Halifax GRII Series IA, serial JP328/BH-Y of 58 Squadron, based at St Davids, from the summer 1944. This aircraft was upgraded with Merlin 22s, and had the late type nacelles with Morris-Block radiators installed. The most striking feature was the fitting of 4-bladed propellers, often seen on Transport Command Halifaxes, too. This aircraft also had extra bracing fitted in the nose to mount a .50cal machine gun. After almost a year in the front line with Coastal Command, this old workhorse was SoC on 6th May 1945 and scrapped shortly after. Handley-Page Halifax Mk/GRII Series IA - JP328/BY-H, 58 Sqn, St Davids, Summer 1944. (1/32nd scale vacform) The interior was completely scratch-built on this model - all you see here has been made from Evergreen strip, plastic card and a bit of imagination. Here is the fuselage about to be joined together - the instrument panel and other details in the flightdeck were added later in the build. Thanks to Cees Broere for sending me his unwanted fuselage parts: The bomb-bays and wing cells were all opened up and the details again scratch-built: As there was no undercarriage supplied in this kit, this too had to be scratch-built - thanks to 'Lancman' for the resin wheels which helped out a great deal. The engine is a modified Tamiya Spitfire powerplant, backdated to a Series XX engine, with the firewall and radiator being scratch-built: The rudders and elevators were mis-shapen in the kit, so I made my own from plastic card. The fairing for the rear turret also was home-made: The kit prived an early mid-upper turret; mine needed the later type so I crash-moulded my own using a milliput master. The interior was scratch-built, but the guns came from Aries with Master brass barrels - one of the two areas I used aftermarket products on this build. I also opened up the dinghy hatch and scratch-built the details to add a little more visual interest to the wing: The rear turret was also completely scratch-built - again crash moulded with scratch-built interior: With the exception of the fuselage roundels, all markings were sprayed directly onto the model: With no propellers being provided in the kit, I made a master blade and then had them cast by CMK. The carburetor intakes were given the same treatment: a master created and then cast in resin. Spinners were again crash moulded, and the exhausts made from scratch: Part Two to follow...

There are more little details that I've added to the Halifax over the last few days to update you on. I've been working on the nose transparency and the final little details for this area of the model. The Halifax I am building was fitted with a .50cal in the nose when it transferred to Coastal Command and the powerful recoil of this gun meant the plexiglas nose was prone to cracking. To address this, some fairly sturdy bracing was added to the nose to support the gun, and thus the airframe absorbed the recoil shock and not the fragile nose. Here's my effort - an Aries .50 with scratch-built bracing: The clear section was also detailed with some additional framing and Archer rivets - the masking tape was placed on to mark out the framework and help keep my rivets straight! As well as the nose gun, I also made the ammunition box from plastic card and made a bomb-sight from left over parts of the Spitfire engine which is just about passable... The gun and bracing was then painted, weathered lightly and added to the clear nose piece, which had also had the internal framing painted on: The nose was then added directly to the fuselage front, and the framework painted: I've also scratch-built a 'Monica' tail attack warning radar antenna which Bomber Command Halifaxes were fitted with - they seem to have been retained in the switch to Coastal Command so I've added one to mine. I've also added some of LittleCars ID lights: I treated myself to a set of brass barrels for this build as they are exquisite - expensive but worth it. Here they are prepared for spraying: They have now been added to the turrets: And that brings you up to date. Just a final couple of bits to do (mainly glazing related) and she'll be done. Hopefully, the next post will announce completion of this project. Tom

Thanks Cees - and no, not yet. I may well be moving house in the near future so will hold off for the time being; I've plenty in the stash to keep me amused in the meantime Tom

Part Two - landing lights and wing bomb-cells As well as the rear turret I've also been working on other detailing. The wing bomb-cells are now complete. The first task was to scratch-build the 24 doors and their hinges. The doors are split into two sections lengthwise - the front sections had to be made slightly curved as they follow the aerofoil shape of the wing. Here are the completed doors about to go into the paint shop: Once done, they were then added individually to the wing - a tedious task in getting them all aligned correctly but definitely worth it: As you can see from this shot, I've added my previously built racks to the starboard wing, but left the bays on the port side empty, although the mounting structure has all been added: The landing light has also been scratch-built. This was retractable on the Series IA, but I thought I'd have it in the down position for a little more interest - it wasn't uncommon to see them this way on the ground: Again this was made from plastic card and some Evergreen, with the lenses made using self-adhesive foil - simple but effective. The next task is the nose - I need to make the bracing for the .50 carried in the nose, as well as a bomb-sight and ammo-boxes, before I can attach the nose glazing. Should be fun! Until next time, Tom

Despite managing to break my wrist since the last update, I've still been busy... Thankfully, despite the cast I've still been able to get plenty done... in fact it's quite an advantage as the wife has been unable to leave me her usual list of chores... little does she know I've got the rear turret finished off now - there were plenty of piccies available on the web on the Canadian Halifax so I've been able to make a reasonable representation of the real thing. It was another case of plasticard, Evergreen and a bit of anything else I could lay my hands on to construct the interior: And painted up and weathered lightly: And finally installed in the tail: I'm pleased with it considering I had nothing whatsoever to start with! Part two to follow shortly...

More progress for you today - in fact I've managed to build a complete mid-upper interior in about 8 hours - oh when the wife's away... Pictures of the turret interior where quite hard to come by, but with some low-detail cutaway drawings and some period pictures I have had a go... it's a mixture of fact and fiction, but you can't see a huge amount through the turret glass anyway, so as long as it's passable I'll be happy. Also, it seems the turret was up-graded and changed throughout it's service life, as I found no two pictures the same! First off I built the basic framework to support the guns from plastic card, and then added some Aires .303 guns, along with some items from the spares box such as parts of an unused F-14 radar that was modified to represent the gunsight, and unused F-18 radar part for the foot-rest, as well as other various bits and bobs I could modify... As with any scratch-building, test fit, test fit, test fit: Although it looked a little rough initially, under a coat of primer things start to improve: A spray of matt black, some highlighting done with dark grey, and then ammunition added, along with the canvass strap seat for the gunner: And then it's installed in the fuselage: With the turret dome added right at the last: Not bad for a day's work! Now the rear turret will get the same treatment. Until next time, Tom

More to update you on today - the exposed engine has been finished and installed, as well as the four props being painted, weathered and installed on to the engine fronts. Here's numbers 1 and 2 with the exposed Merlin: And 3 and 4: Considering I had no propellers whatsoever either in the kit (or available as aftermarket items) and I had to make them myself, I'm delighted with how they've come out! Here's a few more shots to show how business-like she looks with the propellers installed - these four-bladed Halibags must have been quite a sight: It's now time to start thinking about turret interiors... it's all good fun! Tom

Indeed, Cees. The Merlin almost looks too small for the aircraft, but when you think they threw out well over 1,100HP and there were four of them it sounds more feasible. And regarding the air ministry - things don't change. If you look at the debacle over the new aircraft carriers the Royal Navy are getting: first it was to be the vertical take off F-35, then the cat and trap version, and now it's back to the vertical take off version. To "um and ah", and consult 'experts' has cost the British taxpayer £300M... the incompetence is simply astounding! And don't get me started on Nimrod..! More progress has been made on the Halifax - the engine is now finished and installed and she has four props now... pictures later all being well. Many thanks Ralph - but I promise you it's not as hard as it may look. Tom

Progress has been made on the exposed engine... Using the Tamiya Spit engine meant there were some modifications needed to the cooling system - the Spitfire's radiators are under the wing whereas the Halifax has it below the engine. Therefore, I had to scratch-build the radiator itself, and then modify the pipework which was done with some Tamiya parts as well as thin sprue. These were attached to the header tank, which in turn is attached to the engine itself. Here's the home-made radiator and coolant pipework: Lots of test-fitting was required to ensure everything fitted as it should: I then added some plumbing and some of AK's engine oil to give the whole thing a bit of wear and tear. Exposed exhaust stacks were also added - these were much-modified Mosquito stacks as I've decided to leave the flame-dampeners off to reveal more detail in the engine compartment: A test-fit of the fully-feathered propeller: And a final few shots to show the engine in-situ: All that's left to do in this area now is make the framework that supports the cowling covers... Until the next update, Tom

Cheers Cees! Not a huge amount of progress, but work has begun on the engine. I've modified the Tamiya engine mounts slightly by adding a little more bracing to the lower sections which will eventually support the mountings for the radiator. They've been attached to my scratch-built firewall and after a few of smaller details were added I sprayed the whole structure natural metal: The engine itself has also received some modification to backdate it from a Merlin 60 series engine to an earlier XX series - the Halifax I'm building was fitted with Merlin 22s. The supercharger had the second stage removed, and the intercooler above the supercharger was removed and replaced with some thick sprue, heated and bent to shape to replicate the feed from the manifolds. Finally, with more heat formed sprue, I re-created the carburetor intakes on the lower part of the engine to the type seen on the Halifax. Some fine mesh framed with Evergreen created the desired effect on the openings - on the real aircraft these slotted into the intakes on the nacelle to supply air for the engine to breathe: A test-fit reveals everything fits as it should in the mountings: And on the wing: Still a heck of a lot of work to do, but now I've got the basics done I can add the finer details before some paint and then a whole lot of plumbing... Tom

Thanks for the kind words - much appreciated. This weekend I've made the glazing for the mid-upper. From the MkII Series IA onwards, the Halifax was fitted with the Boulton Paul A Turret - a lot flatter in profile compared to the earlier C Turrets fitted to the MkIs. There was no mid upper supplied in the kit so once again it was a case of having to make my own... I found an old bottle in the recycling a while back and noticed it looked similar in diameter to the A type turret in 1/32nd scale. When offered up to the plans it was indeed identical and thus was put to good use in making a master for the turret. Having a flat bottom, the bottle's profile was amended with Milliput, and then carefully sanded to shape following the Granger plans. When correct, it was then used to crash-mould a turret through 1mm plastic card: In the picture above, you can see (from L to R) the bottle/milliput mould, the turret itself and the left over clear plasticard which will be saved for when other small pieces are needed. I then masked the clear areas, and added the gun elevation aperture outlines from thin Evergreen, as well as adding a few Archer rivets for a little additional detailing. The turret was then given a base coat of matt black, followed by RAF Dark Green... and it looks OK sitting in its lofty position on top of the fuselage: Now these parts have been made, I will attempt to scratch-build the turret interiors... stay tuned! Tom

I've been a little busy with end of term school reports of late so have not had nearly enough time as I'd like at the modelling bench. However, I have been able to make the transparency for the rear turret. This was done by crash-moulding using the Milliput master I'd made earlier: It took quite a few attempts with various thicknesses of plastic before I was satisfied: Once I was happy with a casting, I put the turret 'in situ' and started adding a few details such as the gun elevation mounts, a few archer rivets and then masked the clear areas. The mounts do protrude a little too far to be honest, but various attempts at getting them mounted in apertures cut in the glazing ended in complete disaster so I took the easy option: The whole thing was then sprayed and unmasked: Not 100% accurate, but it's the best I can do. Again, considering it's all been made from scratch it'll have to pass! I've also primed the props in preparation for final painting: I'm currently working on a master for the mid-upper turret. This will then get the same treatment as the tail turret before I scratch build the turret interiors. Only another 80 or so reports to write and then I can back to this project in earnest... Tom

Not a huge amount of progress over the last week, but I have attached the bomb-doors for the main bays. The Halifax had a quite complex set of doors - the upper sections folded outwards to allow the lower sections to rotate up and into the bays. This meant the doors protruded far less into the airflow (when compared to the Lancaster for example) and thus reduced drag when the doors opened. All I had to do was cut the kit's doors to the correct size, and scratch-build the retraction and rotation mechanisms. When they were painted and weathered slightly, it was just a case of adding them to the bomb bay. I also added a final few details to the bay itself, and now can say this area is complete: Onwards and upwards! Tom

Exactly my philosophy Cees. It's far too easy to get bogged down trying to reproduce a scale aircraft in finite detail, and getting hung up on having every single detail exact and correct - nothing would ever get finished. My models will never win prizes for accuracy, but I get so much enjoyment tackling and overcoming the obstacles that they send my way I really couldn't care less Anyway, I've put the turret making on hold for the time being as I've no clear plastic for the vac-forming machine at the moment, so I've done a bit more to the main bomb-bay. I was contemplating scratch-building and adding long-range fuel tanks to the main bay as Coastal Command Halifaxes used these for their long over water patrols, whilst carrying ordnance in the wing cells (picture used for illustrative purposes only): However, having spent a long time building the bomb-bay structure I felt it would be a shame to hide it all (as I did with my B-29 build!) so thought I'd add some more detail and have the main bomb-bay empty. I started off by adding some pipework and the like from lead wire and guitar strings, and built them up slowly over a couple of evenings. It's not particularly tricky to add this type of detailing, but it's very time consuming: Most of the detail is centred around the main spar area of the bay roof, where the majority of the hydraulic and fuel systems ran on the real aircraft. I then scratch-built the racks for the bombs/depth charges. I had to make 9 in total from plastic card, as I've decided to have 6 in the main bay and a further three in the starboard wing cell: These were then test-fitted to ensure they sat correctly and looked ok: The the additional components were then painted matt black and given a dry-brush of dark grey to bring out the details, and some final wiring was added to the racks to 'plumb them in': I think the overall effect looks reasonably good - the whole area is 'busy' enough and looks like a fairly accurate representation of the real thing. I've still got a couple of smaller details to add which I've since found in my references, but it's very nearly there: The wing cells will now get the same treatment, before the doors are added which will limit further access. Until next time... Tom

I've been having a play with the rear turret this week. The Halifax has a very distinctive rear defensive point, and although the parts supplied in the kit would probably be acceptable, there's a rather troublesome joint line that would would detract from the overall look of the turret. As you can see here from this earlier picture, it runs right through the centre of the turret and would be tricky to eliminate effectively: What I want to do is make a turret that is moulded in one piece thus eliminating the join. The real thing is quite bulbous in shape as these pictures show (used for illustrative purposes only) So it was out with the Milliput to see what I could come up with: The slightly bulged side blisters still need to be added, and when these are done I think it will be passable. There are gaps around the exterior at this point and this master isn't a snug fit as I have to make allowances for the thickness of the plastic when it's moulded. Now... where's the vacuum forming gubbins..? I'll update you again when I've a done a couple of test shots... Tom

Just for Cees, I have opened a second photobucket account so I can post some more progress... I've been working on the dinghy this week and now have it finished and installed it in the wing. Earlier on in the build when I was working on the wings, I built the dinghy stowage area which is in the left wing: Try as I might, I couldn't find any pictures of the Halifax's dinghy arrangement (should have thought of that before I opened up the wing!) but I could find a fair few of the Lancaster. I imagine the set up would be fairly similar, so I started by making the stowed dinghy itself from Milliput. I added the indentations from the stowage casing by pressing Evergreen strip in the correct places whilst the Milliput was still drying, and then added the lattice work from thin masking tape covered in PVA glue. The hole for the compressed air hose was also added at this point whilst the Milliput was still pliable. When it was dry, it got a light sanding to rectify any blemishes: I then made the hatch cover from plastic card and Evergreen: The dinghy was then painted insignia yellow, a couple of stencils added, and then it was weathered lightly. I made the compressed air cylinder from some off cuts of old sprue, and then added the air hose from thin electrical wire. Finally, the hatch was covered in self adhesive foil, and then it was all installed in the wing: As I said, this is based on the Lancaster's arrangement so may not be completely accurate for a Halifax, but it adds a little more interest to the wing which I'm pleased about. Tom

Problem solved... The issue is that I've uploaded fairly large sized pictures, and with the number of views I've had recently it's meant I'm over my monthly limit. On the 14th of the month it'll be reset so they should all reappear again. Tom

Does anyone know how to sort the photo issue out with photobucket? Tom

Cheers Rick - much appreciated! Tom

Thanks Cees. Yes the inner doors will be added later - I've left them off for the time being to make access to the bay easier as there is still some final detailing to be done. Being a Coastal Command machine I may well scratch-build the long range auxiliary fuel tanks that they carried in the bomb-bay, and leave the wings cells empty so you can see the racks and shackles etc (which I'm yet to make!) I presume they would have carried depth charges in the wing cells but I'd quite like to show some of my detail work off. Tom

Hi Cees, with the above in mind, here's another update for you... Undercarriage doors: The final part of the undercarriage was to add the doors. These had been saved from earlier in the build when they removed from the inboard nacelles. All I had to do was cut out the aperture in each door for the wheel to protrude when retracted (I used the Granger plans as a guide) paint them, and attach them to their positions on the nacelle. They've reduced the slightly stalky appearance of the landing gear now and I'm really pleased with how the model now looks - I feel I've got the 'sit' just right. Engine firewall: I've also begun some preliminary work on the firewall for the exposed engine number two. I'm going to build this as a separate item, which will then slot on to the nacelle when completed. So far I've completed the basic framework and made the large air intake for the cabin heating system. This was only present on the inboard engines and thus explains the presence of the intake on top of engines two and three. This was made fairly easily from plastic card and Evergreen, with the mesh on the intake coming from Cammett: I can't really add much more until the engine arrives, as the mounts and plumbing can't be made until I've got the engine itself to work with. There's still plenty to be getting on with elsewhere in the build though! Until next time, Tom

Hi Ralph, Many thanks, and no, it's quite simple really. As these wheels are resin I used a broad file and just flattened the bottoms until I was happy with the look. With plastic wheels you can do the same, or another technique it so push them on to a hot iron - but don't keep them there for too long or you'll be spreading molten plastic over your best shirt for months! Tom

The undercarriage is now more or less complete. The main struts were painted along with the main airframe, so the first task was to spray the retraction mechanisms matt black. Earlier in the build, these were scratch-built from plastic card and Evergreen strip, along with some wall tacs and cotton bud shafts: Here they are painted, with a light weathering of dark grey to bring out some detail, and the actuation struts covered in self adhesive foil: After painting and weathering the main wheels with some pigments, everything was installed on the model. The final touch was to add some brake lines: Considering the whole of the undercarriage has been scratch-built, I don't think it's come out too badly. Now to busy myself making some undercarriage doors... Until the next update, Tom