ThomasProbert

Time for an update on this project - I've got the flaps made over the last week or so. Almost every picture I see of parked Halifaxes shows the flaps dropped, so I wanted to do the same on this build. I'm no Halifax expert but I imagine a drop in hydraulic pressure allowed the flaps to drop after a while? The kit flaps were removed when I built the wings, but as this picture shows they are not really useable and I had to come up with my own: They are pretty easy to make. I use an off-cut of some old sprue and plastic card - this makes an aerofoil shape for the leading edge of the flap: The sprue is then sandwiched between a top and bottom 'skin' and the ends added from more plastic card.The join between the plastic card and the sprue is then blended with filler. Here I have already cut out the actuator slots: When everything has been made good and sanded in, it's time to add each individual flap to the trailing edges: And after a few hours work - a set of fully deployed flaps... This process will also be repeated with the elevators and rudders at a later stage. Until next time, Tom

It depends whether it's an early or late E model. The early Es had the three small windows in the nose, as well as the periscope sighted ventral turret. The cowlings are also different on the earlier E model as they were fitted with narrower propeller blades than the later Es through to the G. When the wider paddle blade props were introduced the front of the cowling had to be redesigned as the wider props couldn't go to the full feather position with the original cowling - hence the late E models had the blunter type of cowling fitted. Towards the end of B-17E production the larger F style cheek windows were introduced (as seen on the early production block F models) and I believe after the first 100 or so (the exact number escapes me) the Sperry Ball Turret was introduced as the original unmanned ventral turret was very difficult to sight effectively. If HK go for a late production E model they were almost identical to the F model externally, bar the heavily framed nose piece. That would be the easiest route for them! Tom

Indeed, but turrets are much of a muchness with these kits. Even if it's supposed to be a different type of turret it may be better than what I've got! Will have a look today hopefully. Tom

Thanks for the compliments guys... I can assure you making vacforms is no harder than other mediums, it just takes a little more time to get a result and overcome problems you don't normally find with injection moulded models. Indeed Cees - it is the correct shape in side profile but not great when viewed from the rear. It is going to take some work to get it presentable, but as you well know that is part of the fun with models such as these! I am going to dig out my ID Sunderland and have a look at the rear turret in that kit and see if it's any better. Tom

Time for another update... I had been a little concerned about the fairing for the rear turret, as this area of the fuselage is poorly represented in the ID kit. The first job was to cut out the turret itself - here it is offered up against the plans and as you can see the shape is pretty close: However, when put in place the problems are clear - gaping holes and no sign of the distinctive fairing that holds it snugly in place on the real aircraft: My solution was simple: using 0.5mm plastic card I cut out a basic fairing - there is still a fair bit of shaping to be done at this point: This was then attached to the aperture and blended in with filler - I also added the smaller fairing for the pivot from sprue sanded to the correct shape. After some sanding this was the result: And with the turret fitted now you can see the improvement (I hope!): Before priming I'll reinstate the missing panel lines. This is another headache out of the way... now what to tackle next? Tom

Amazingly, the 1/72nd Lanc wheel was about 1mm in diameter too small! Just shows how big these models are in 1/32nd scale! Regarding a scheme - I'm leaning heavily towards a GR.MkII Series IA, serial HR982 and coded BY:B, based at Holmsley South. I particularly like this scheme as this Halifax was delivered in standard Bomber Command colours (dark earth/dark green over night black) and retained this throughout its service, but was operated by Coastal Command, and had medium sea grey codes. If I do this aircraft, it will be a small tribute to the Halifaxes flown by Bomber Command (hence the night camouflage) but also Coastal Command, who used the Halifax extensively too. From my research thus far, this aircraft was originally fitted with three-blade props, but then had an engine upgrade and was fitted with the four-bladers more commonly seen on Coastal Command Halifaxes, as well as the late type of exhausts. I haven't decided which stage of its career to model it in yet, but am leaning towards the later months of its service with the four-blade propellers. However, there are plenty of options still on the table, but it will definitely be in 'standard' Bomber Command colours come what may. Tom

Thanks for following along and your compliments, I must say I'm having a ball and am on a roll with this build at the moment A little more to update you on today... I've had a go at making a tail wheel, and upon raiding the spares box came up with the following: a white metal leg from god-only-knows-what; an old 1/72nd scale Airfix Lancaster main wheel, some spare 1/24th scale Airfix Me109E engine bearers, and some unused flap tracks from a Trumpeter 1/32nd F/A-18F Super Hornet. Oh and of course the ever useful Evergreen tubing: After an hour or two I had something that resembles a Halifax MkII tailwheel: A whole was then drilled into the lower fuselage, and the tail wheel popped into position. The Evergreen tubing was inserted into the fuselage before hand and was secured to the roof to ensure a nice and strong structure; the white metal leg then slid into that: I've also got the radome faired in nicely too: Until next time... Tom

I love being on school holidays as there's lots of time to make models! I've been busy again over the last day or two and have done some additional work to the three bomb cells found in each wing wing. I have added the dividers (these were made and saved from earlier in the build): I've added the ribbing in the bays to the sides and roof from various thicknesses of Evergreen, and I've also boxed the bays in with more Evergreen to ensure they are exactly the same sizes and the edges nice and square: I haven't added any bomb-racks or such like at this time as it will make painting these areas even trickier - I'll scratch build these and add them at a later time. I then turned my attentions to the retraction mechanisms and struts for the main undercarriage. Once again it was more Evergreen and plastic card to the rescue, as well as cotton buds and nails to make the hydraulic jacks. Top sides: Undersides: The hydraulic jacks are adjustable so when it comes to attaching the gear for good they can be moved into position and glued. Here's a test fit: This general view of the underside shows the gear looks as it should, as well as the H2S radome which has now been attached and filled - just a quick bit of sanding is needed here: I will now have to raid the spares box to see if I can come up with something for a tail wheel. Stay tuned! Tom

Are you saying I need to shed a few pounds Cees? The first task after yesterday's update was to sand the filler. Once this was done, I could check my handy work against the plans and to ensure everything was as it should be: Everything looked pretty good, so I could then start to add the additional details found on the legs. This was done with more plastic card and Evergreen strip, as well as a few parts from the spares box: Test fit, test fit, and test fit again is essential when scratch-building - here you can see the leg looks exactly as it should when mounted on the forward spar in the undercarriage bay: Now I was happy with the look and sit of the legs, it was time to add some primer: Here is a test fit of the main wheels: All in all, not bad, when you consider what I started with... nothing! The retraction mechanism will need to be done, but I feel the hardest part was the main casting of the Messier strut, and now that's out of the way it should be plain sailing from here... Tom

Now I've got the wheels completed I have begun working on the main undercarriage legs. The MkI, MkIIs and MkIIIs all used the massive single-cast Messier undercarriage, as seen in this extract from the Granger plans: These would be reasonably straightforward to make as they're all flat sided and could be made without too much trouble from plastic card. I began by using 1.5mm card, and following the plans carefully cut out the front and back plates, as well as the side plates: The image above was taken before any refinement was done, and each of the four sides were offered up against each other to ensure all were identical. The font of the unit is angled backwards at the lower end, so this was bent to shape and then I began by slowly building up the shapes by adding the sides etc: I used slow drying liquid poly for this as it alids alignment and sets harder than CA glue when dry. Here is the left main casting complete. I used thinner card (0.5mm) for the curved wheel arch and the curved section on top of the unit, applying a little glue as I went and holding it in place. They then got a final trimming: I then added the mounting on top of the unit - on the real aircraft this pivot point is attached to the forward spar in the undercarriage bay - mine will do the same. I have also coated the joins where the plastic card meets with filler, which will be sanded after a god 24 hours drying time: I then made the lower part of the units such as the oleo struts and wheel mountings from spare sprue and Evergreen tubing - the bottoms of the main castings were then filled with Milliput for extra strength, as well as holding the oleos in place: When the filler has been sanded back I will be adding a lot more detail to the units, and will also begin to think about the retraction mechanisms. I've also had a play with the H2S scanner radome, as the aircraft I plan to build had this in place. I had a spare from my ID Models Lancaster build, so this had been trimmed and adapted slightly to fit the Halifax. I've rolled up 'worms' of Milliput to aid with the securing of this to the fuselage - the plastic is very thin and needs all the help it can get: I'm hoping to get the main undercarriage units finished off now, so I'll update you again when they are complete. Thanks for stopping by! Tom

I am interested in 3D printing but will wait until it becomes more reasonably priced - it would certainly make jobs like this very much easier! Hi Matt, No engineering background at all - I'm a teacher! I have made a fair few vacforms over the years, and it is just a case of gaining experience with them and not being afraid to try new things - more often than not something will go wrong but that's how you learn... trial and error is the name of the game! Lots of dry fitting and trimming is always done before I commit to glueing any parts. I manage to keep motivated by having a normal injection moulded kit or two on the go at the same time (as well as this project I'm also building the HK B-17, Airfix's new 1/72nd Lancaster and a few airliners) and that keeps things fresh. When I've had enough of scratch-building and filling and sanding, out come the other easier builds and away goes the vac for a few days. Sometimes I won't touch it for weeks, and then the urge to get it out again means I'll get a little more done. I just view them as long-term projects, as builds such as this will often take close on to a year. Tom

Peter - resin casting is something I keep thinking about having a go at but have never got around to it. It's something I'll no doubt have a crack at one fday, and is sure to save work on builds like these. Cees - I may well do a little more the hubs at some point - I just wanted to get the size of the wheel right before embarking on the landing gear... Tom

I've begun thinking about the undercarriage on this build, and as there is none provided in the 'kit' it will all have to be made from scratch. Fun, fun, fun! I wanted to get the main wheels sorted first as it is vital to have the size of these to work with before I can begin making the undercarriage legs - this way I can ensure I build the legs around the wheels and use them for test fits etc. I raided my spares box and came across a set of vacformed main wheels which I didn't use on my B-29 build - these would prove to be a good starting point: However, when offered up to the plans there is an obvious problem... Yup... they are a little small, and also too narrow. I tackled the width issue by carefully measuring the plans and simply inserting some plastic card; this brought them up to the required width: [/url] I next had to increase the undersize diameter of the wheels and work out how to enlarge them. I did this by adding Milliput to the outer sections, and this had the advantage of creating the curved profile of the tyres, too. This is the first attempt after being smoothed over with water and before sanding has commenced, hence it looks pretty rough! I actually had to do this three times for each wheel to get them perfect (or as perfect as can be!) before I was happy with the result (see below under some primer.) I also filled in the hubs as they were somewhat lacking in detail! As you can see they are a far better size now and fit the plans far better. The hubs were tackled next, and I made these from plastic card, cut to shape with a circular cutter. Two different sizes of plastic disks were cut, and the cooling holes drilled. I lined the edges with Evergreen strip to ensure they were uniform in shape. There seemed to be a variation in hubs fitted to Halifaxes, and I must confess I have gone for the simplest version: Here are the wheels as they are now - primed up with just a few minor blemishes to fix: These were a lot of work but they've come out ok in the end. They should look passable with a coat of paint and a little weathering when the time comes... Tom

Yes they were excellent Cees... couldn't have done it better myself! If you want my fusleage parts that I didn't use you're welcome to them - they are still unstarted and on the sheet. Let me know if they'll be of use to you. Tom

More progress to report on the big Halifax... I've been concentrating on the bomb-bay of late and have scratched the main structure. Here's what I started with: a blank bay roof, which formed the main cabin floor above: It was then a case of cutting the individual longerons and cross members to the correct size from plastic card, making sure each part was the exact depth and size required - a rather tedious task! These parts were then added over a number of sessions: Here's the centre section coming together with it's deeper structure: Until finally everything was in place and the main structure was completed: I can assure you it won't be spot on in terms of accuracy, but it looks good enough to me! Tom

Sorry chaps... a full car meant that the Halifax didn't make the trip to Telford. Cees I think I must have just missed you on the 32SIG stand on numerous occasions which I was sorry about - it would have been good to catch up. Next year perhaps? Anyway, a little more to report on the Halifax... With the wings sorted it was time to start thinking about the tail. The stabilisers were the first job, and once removed from the backing sheet I had to thin them a fair bit to reduce the thickness as they were rather over scale in this department. I then removed the elevators as these will be scratch-built later, and scribed on the panel detail. I boxed in and modified the hinge line, as the kit has the elevators moulded the full length of the stabiliser but in reality this isn't the case and it follows a quite complex shape, as seen below. The kit's parts fit the plans rather well: Both stabilisers ready to be installed on the fuselage: As with the wings, I used wooden dowel as a spar: And both stabilisers were on and required a little filler in the joins to blend everything in nicely: When the sanding process was complete I turned my attentions to the fins themselves - in this instance the rectangular fins of the later MkII Series IA. I removed the rudders and boxed in the hinges: The rudders are about 3mm too long from top to bottom, but this is not something that overly concerns me and I've left them as they are. I then drilled holes in the inner surfaces and attached some spare sprue to provide a good strong join to the ends of the sabilisers: And then the fins were attached to the stabilisers and filed with some Milliput to strengthen the join: And now I have a structually complete Halifax. This (rather blurred - sorry!) picture shows her as she is now - sitting on the dining room table to give a sense of scale: The next task will most likely be detailing of the bomb-bay... where's the plastic card? Tom

All in all a pretty easy operation... my previously made spar structure came into its own here and things went exactly according to plan. Earlier in the build I had installed some Evergreen tubing into the leading and trailing edges of the wing, and this allowed some wooden dowel of the correct diameter to slide into: Holes had been made in the fuselage sides for the dowel to slide through, and the dowel also slotted into the roof of the bomb bay for extra strength. Therefore, it was just a case of sliding the wooden spars onto one of the wings... Push them through the fuselage and out the other side, where the other wing was slid over the spars... Plenty of glue was added to either wing root, and then they were butted up the fuselage and taped in place whilst everything set. The join is very good, and will only require a quick lick of filler: In fact, if I'd wanted to, with a little sanding and trimming, I could most probably have made the join good enough to have the wings detachable. So here we are as of this evening... a model that is slowly but surely taking on the form of Handley-Page's finest: Once the wing to fuselage joins have been filled it'll be time to start playing with the tail feathers That's you completely up to date, so until next time, happy modelling one and all! Tom

I inserted a series of interlocking tabs along the fuselage halves to aid alignment and strengthen the joints, and then the halves were glued together and clamped securely to allow the glue to set for 24 hours. When the glue had cured, the mid-upper turret opening was cut out and lined with plastic card, and the two escape hatches on the upper fuselage were also squared off and lined with card: All in all the fit wasn't too bad, but there was a slight dip where the two halves met and this needed to be addressed. I did this by sticking a piece of Evergreen strip along the length of the depression, which raised it up to the height of the surrounding fuselage: Copious amounts of car body filler were then applied (I tend to add plenty as it helps blend everything in more easily): And then it was a good session with the sandpaper: Here you can see that I have sanded down to the depth of the strip I added, and the filler has taken care of the remainder of the sunken area and it is now perfectly level: With the fuselage completed, it was time to think about attaching the wings...

I also wanted to tackle the transparencies before getting too much further into the build. It is very important to do this with vacforms as you have to ensure the fuselage is cut to the correct width for the canopies - you can easily trim the fuselage down if needed but it is very difficult to widen the canopy! As you can see from this test fit, the canopy is not deep enough to cater for the pilot's side windows: When compared to the real aircraft, the blue line is where the kit's canopy finishes, and the red outlined panel is not present on the MkII so I didn't need to worry about this. Something would need to be done about those windows though! My solution was to build the side windows from plastic strip, and remove the appropriate section from the kit's piece to allow the new windows to fit in. The same was done for the starboard side as the kit canopy wasn't quite right here either: A test fit reveals things are much better now: The clear area above the flight engineer's station will need raising a little to bring it in line with the top of the new windows which isn't 100% accurate, but it should be passable once it's all installed properly. It was now time to think about joining the fuselage halves...

As the wings were completed it was time to turn my attention to the fuselage. Cees (Wingco57) very kindly gave me an old fuselage he had been working on which has saved me a fair bit of work: I was able to carry on where Cees left it, and continued to detail the interior by scratch-building the components from plastic card and Evergreen strip, plus raiding the spares box for a few parts. I'll let the images do the talking: There'll be more details to add later in the build, but this can be done through the apertures for the transparencies. It won't be the most accurate Halifax interior you'll ever see, but considering it's all been built from scratch I don't think it has come out too bad!

It's been a while and therefore time for an update - there's been plenty of progress on the Halifax since last time. The wings have been finished off, and the engine nacelles have been mated to them - this was reasonably straightforward with the exception of the fairings which run over the upper surfaces of the wing. These were very oversized in the kit and required lots of trimming to get them to remotely resemble the real thing. I'm still not convinced the shape is right, but it'll have to do: I've also started detailing the wheel bays with Evergreen strip, and more will be done here as the build progresses onto to the undercarriage stage: I've also added quite a few raised details to the wing surfaces from thin plastic card - here's the fuel filler caps etc as well as some raised ribbing on the starboard wing. The fasteners on the cowlings were also replicated by drilling 0.5mm holes: Both wings completed - the 12"/30cm ruler gives a sense of scale to this beast!

Thanks for the interest gentlemen. Vacs are no more challenging than resin parts for example, in fact I find adding resin aftermarket far more challenging! The only tricky part is the removal of the parts from the backing sheet. Speaking of which... here's how I tackled the engines. Step 1: With a sharp blade I score carefully around the part: Step 2: The part is then broken away from the backing sheet: Step 3: I then place the parts together to see how much sanding needs to be done - here you can see the rough edges which need sanding away. It's also essential to check plans etc. to avoid sanding too much off! Step 4: Sanding complete - the parts are now ready for detailing: I removed the rather basic exhausts and carb. intakes as these will be scratch built later on. I also removed the radiator shutters on the lower nacelles and made the basic shape for the air outlets in plastic card. The radiators (Morris Black) were made from plastic card and fine mesh. Regular dry fitting is essential to check the scratch built compents fit correctly. Once you've done one, it's then just a case of making the others the same dimensions: These were then sprayed Matt Black and weathered lightly: The nacelles were then joined and for the inboard (no3) engine the air intake front on top of the nacelle was added from drilled sprue and then squashed to shape. The no2 engine has been removed at the firewall as this engine will be exposed and fully detailed: I won't be doing any further detailing at this point as the fit to the wing isn't all that great so the chances of damage to the detailed parts is high. When the airframe is essentially complete the smaller, finer details will be added. I hope the above pictures may convince one or two of you to give kits like this a go - it really isn't that difficult. Just be prepared to make some mistakes along the way and learn from them - trial and error is the name of the game Tom

It shouldn't be too difficult - I am pretty experienced when it comes to large scale vacs, having built a B-17, B-24, B-29 and Lancaster all in 1/32nd scale... all from kits like the Halifax shown above! All were labours of love I can assure you Erik, Cees is already in on this build as it is also on another forum - in fact he has sent me many useful parts to help me with this build. Speaking of which, here's some more progress... I have decided to tackle the innermost wing sections first as I need to build a strong spar structure to support the weight of the model. I have decided to open up the bomb cells in the inner wing section, so these, along with the landing gear bays were carefully measured and cut out: The flaps were also removed (these will be posed down) and the wheel bays and bomb cells boxed in with 1mm plastic card: Next, I added some Evergreen tubing which is the correct diameter to allow some wooden dowel to be inserted; these will form the main spars of the model and will be securely attached to the roof of the bomb-bay for structural strength: To add a little more interest to the wings I have opened up the dinghy stowage area as well as the three bomb winching holes above the left wing cells. All panel detail has been scribed on at this point, too: Here is a test fit of the wing cell structure: It's all a little rough at the moment but there'll be plenty more detail added in due course. The outer wing sections have also been scribed using Granger plans: Removed from the backing sheet and sanded to the correct thickness: And here is a 1/72nd Halifax along side one of the outer wing panels to give a sense of size: Thanks for looking in... and until next time, Tom

This is my latest large scale vacform project - a 1/32nd scale Handley-Page Halifax from ID (tigger) Models. The plan is to build this as a Rolls-Royce Merlin powered MkII Series IA - squadron and exact aircraft yet to be decided. Here's a few 'what you get in the box' shots... Fuselage: Wings: Engines and tail: Transparencies: There are no propellers, undercarriage or interior details so this will all have to be built from scratch. The plan is to have a fully detailed open bomb-bay, as well as the wing bomb-cells, plus one of Merlins exposed and the cowlings off. I've made a bit of headway already so will be posting some more in-progress shots in the near future. Tom

Here follows some general detail shots as well as some pictures of the completed model in its entirety: The guns came from Aeries: The nose-art was my own doing: The elevators and rudder were scratch-built: All paints were automotive acrylics straight from a spray can. This picture also shows my scribing efforts to good effect - there was no surface detail whatsoever on the model: And to give a sense of scale to this model... this is a 6-seater dining room table! Although it threw some challenges my way, this was by far the most enjoyable and fulfilling build I've completed to date. Many thanks to those who helped me out with the engines and main wheels - you know who you are! As always, your feedback is welcome - good or bad Tom Probert, 29th May 2013.