Bristol-Fairchild Bolingbroke Mk IVT by realworkingsailor - Kitbashed from Airfix Blenheim Mk IV - 1/72

[realworkingsailor]

For my next build, I've decided to take on a bit of a challenge (although, one starting with a reasonably simple kit).

 

The Bristol-Fairchild Bolingbroke was a Canadian licence built version of the Bristol Blenheim light bomber by Fairchild Aviation Canada. Originally conceived as a maritime reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, it went on to fulfill other roles, most notably in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Of the 626 built, over 450 were built as Bombing/Gunnery/Navigation trainers.

 

The Bolingbroke (or "Bolly") had numerous subtle features that set it apart from its nearly identical stablemate. As it was conceived as a maritime patrol airplane, provision was made for a 4th crew member, fulfilling the duties of the Radio Operator. To provide some light for his workstation, a window was added on the starboard side of the fuselage, just forward of the dorsal turret. As it was designed to operate in colder climates, it could be equipped with anti-icing boots on the wings, it also featured enlarged engine oil heaters. This last feature is only noticeable the starboard side engine nacelle as a beetle-backed hump. The port engine nacelle was enlarged in its entirety to accommodate a dingy, giving the Bolly a distinctly asymmetrical look when viewed from astern. On the Blenheim, the dingy had been stowed in a valise inside the fuselage, requiring the crew to wrestle it out, in the event of ditching. Most other changes were found inside the airplane, such as the instrumentation, although one Bolly was converted to a float plane.

 

Numerous Bolingbrokes survive in museums around the world. Many were sold to farmers after the war. Shorn of their wings, they found new purpose as storage sheds or chicken coops. Many would later find their way into salvage yards, where they remained for many years until local civics groups and enthusiasts "rediscovered" them.

 

Some basic history of the airplane can be found here, and some nice prototype photos can be found in this discussion thread here.

 

The Airfix 1/72 Bristol Blenheim IVF will serve as the basis for my build. 

 

 

Keeping it short and sweet, this kit comes in the usual packaging from Airfix. 

 

 

The plastic is the typical blue-grey fare from Airfix. As this is the Mk IVF variant of the Blenheim, there is an extra sprue with parts specific to that variant, in addition to the basic components for building a Mk IV bomber variant.

 

 

Pretty much bog-standard instructions and Cartograph decals are included in the kit.

 

As for extras, I've picked up a few odds and ends to help me with this build.

 

 

The Xtradecal set features lettering for Bolly 10103, in brilliant trainer yellow. I plan to build this version! I've also picked up the Eduard PE Blenheim interior set, as well as the Yahu models instrument panel. While it may seem odd that I've duplicated some things here, the Bolingbroke had duplicate instruments across the entire front of the cockpit. The extra parts should come in useful to model this feature. Finally, a necessary masking set, as this airplane features a ton of glazing, and I don't fancy masking that all by hand.

 

I've begun work on the external modifications, and I will be posting a build update soon. 

 

Andy

 

[Old Collingwood]

Airfix new molds  are very very good  - even down to the research  the company now does  before  releasing a kit.

 

OC.

[AJohnson]

Airfix are a world away from where they were in the 1960’s & 70’s, they now use lidar scanners of the real subjects for their templates, so combined with CAD and modern mould tech, you know it will be good. 
However some of the “old school” knowledge and research has lapsed with the passing of the old guard.
This kit is a case in point, Airfix used a Bolly as the scan template, so among other issues the shape of the engine fairings behind the nacelles is of the Bolly; more fulller and rounded than the Blenheim, so at least for this build that is a plus!  😁

Another example is their recent 1/72 Mosquito I did a build log on here a while back. Airfix used a post war Target Tug version for their template and faithfully recreated the target towing equipment at the end of the bomb bay and most heinous of all they also scanned and included the museum stands holding up the undercarriage so the tyres didn’t deflate. That lot all needs filling and or sanding off! 
All nit picking, “rivet counting” comments I know, but as Andy does with his builds, a little research can still pay off in these high tech times. 
 

[realworkingsailor]

Agreed! Although to give Airfix a little benefit of the doubt, it's perhaps possible that they couldn't get access/permission to scan the sole surviving Blenheim in Finland, and had to go with what they had. But the mistakes on the Mozzie.... 🙄

 

Time to crack on with the build!

 

Of course my first job has been to work on the modifications to the engine nacelles and fuselage. The latter was fairly straight forward. Although I could find no accurate drawings, I was able to locate the extra window reasonably well using photographs. I first scribed the panel line representing the window frame, before I drilled and filed the window.

 

 

A little bit of cleanup yet to do, but I'm fairly happy.

 

The engine nacelles were next. Both the port nacelle extension and the starboard hump were created using layers of 0.015" styrene sheet.

 

 

I started with the starboard side, as this seemed the simpler side to work with. The styrene has been sanded fair, but I think I need to make the hump on this side a little more prominent, so I will probably add one more layer of styrene over the whole thing, then fill and sand to shape.

 

The port nacelle extension was fabricated using three pieces of styrene sheet, cut roughly to shape.

 

 

It's still pretty rough looking, but some more filler and some careful sanding, and things should begin to look passable. To my eye, at least, the asymmetry is beginning to look somewhat correct for a wartime Bolly.

 

Thanks to everyone for looking in and your "likes"

 

Andy

[Dave_E]

I’m in! 🍿🥤

[Canute]

Interesting mods, Andy. Looking forward to this build.

[realworkingsailor]

Well, this is proving to be an..... interesting... build. 

 

Since my last post I have done a good bit of work. 

 

 

A bit more styrene and filler on the engine nacelles, followed by a coat of primer. I'm fairly happy with the way things are turning out. The primer has revealed a couple of obvious areas in need of further filling and sanding, but overall I think the modifications are looking ok.

 

Since the remaining work seems to be minimal I decided to press on with the first bits of assembly. The kit starts off with the aft fuselage, followed by the landing gear base and wing spar. 

 

 

I assembled about as much as I could, before giving everything a coat of interior green. So far so good, although the kit is definitely beginning to show its age. I think the mould halves are beginning to "bed in" as there are considerable mould seam lines on the edges of parts, in certain areas, that required a fair amount of sanding to clean up. The edges of the wing spars, for example, had a small ridge running down them that had to be removed.

 

 

I had quite a bit of fun with the green paint. Prior to assembling the aft fuselage halves, I fabricated and installed the windows glazing for the additional porthole. A little canopy glue to hold it in position was needed. 

 

The wing halves went together fairly reasonably, however a bit more tape and a few clamps were necessary than on other projects I've build. This seems to be a trend with this kit as I will discuss further on.

 

 

It took a fair degree of sanding and filing to get the fuselage and wings to sit correctly. Aside from being naturally snug, the fit was less than perfect. there is a small nub that has to sit ahead of the wing spare, in order to allow the front fuselage halves to sit properly. Getting that little nub in position required far more work than it should have. The lower wing halves needed filing to fit, and despite getting every other surface to line up as close as humanely possible, I am left with a very noticeable step in the sides of the bomb bay, as well as a very prominent join line.

 

 

Ugh... more work. Personally, I think this kit is over engineered. I understand that Airfix wanted to be able to produce both the Mk I and Mk IV Blenheims at a reasonable cost, but I think it would have been a better idea to mould two separate complete fuselages and design a better wing connection than trying this overly complicated, half-backsided approach. The fit here is, honestly, very poor. I am determined to see this build through to completion, regardless, and I hope things begin to improve from here. 

 

Thanks for all the kind comments and likes!

 

Andy