Airfix 1/48 Boulton Paul Defiant nightfighter scale model kit full build
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- čas přidán 16. 11. 2023
- Building, painting, and weathering the Airfix Defiant nightfighter in 1/48 scale. The Defiant was developed just before World War 2 as a turret fighter designed to attack unarmed enemy bombers. Being largely unsuccessful in this role, it was reassigned to nightfighter duties where it scored a number of successes.
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![The Defiant's Failed Successor | Boulton-Paul P.92 [Aircraft Overview #93]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ru2MVpyr9ks/mqdefault.jpg)
Excellent build. I want to do this kit and I got some helpful tips. I saw a real one at the RAF Museum in Hendon in 1989. It was quite a lovely plane.
Thanks - I'm glad it was useful. I need to visit Hendon again soon!
You are quite correct about the fixed part of the canopy being too narrow, or more precisely, the opening in the fuselage being tooo wide. I have one of these kits that I have been working on from time to time and just did a check on it. The answer is to add a couple of 30 'thou plastic strips to narrow the opening in this area. The glazing part will then sit nicely in place and the sliding portion of the canopy then drops neatly into place. Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks - I'm glad it's not just me! Great suggestion about the plastic strips.
I built a airfix 1/72 Defiant when I got back into modeling late 80s early 90s still got it in my collection of WW11 aircraft not as well painted as yours just basic enamal paints I use to paint in the day. Great tips using masking fluid. Love building the lesser known aircraft there are only so many 109s and Spitfires you can build. Love your tips.
Thank you. I'd love to have one of "every" aircraft used by the British in WW2 but the list is incredibly long and a large number of them don't have kits available (or surviving examples of the real aircraft!).
Did a good job there, looks nice. Like many others I remember building the 1/72 version when I was a kid and thought the turret fighter was the best thing since sliced toast and better than any spit or hurricane lol😂
It's such an interesting design idea! Shame it was of limited use. I wonder how it might have been if it also had wing mounted weapons?
Magnifique DÉFIANT II.
Thanks!
*A "strange" fighter and a very nice build, the black paint is really beautiful!*
Thank you mate
This was the first kit I made after seriously started making models properly
How did you find it?
It looks like I will be adding a Defiant to my collection. I only have four night fighters in my collection. Soon I will have five. Greetings from Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Awesome! Which other night fighters do you have? I only have the Hurricane I built recently.
@@ModelNerd I have a Revell. 1/72nd Scale Heinkel Owl. It's a vintage kit. I had two of them and decided to build one. That was just a few years ago. I also have a P61 Black Widow. The other two are a kit bash for a F4U Corsair with a radar boom on the wing and another German plane I would have to look at again that is on the shelf that still needs to be built/.
That's cool - a very nice mix there
I love the shark face,I am thinking of doing it on a tank just so that it looks funny.Great finish on a not so normal plane!
Thank you! The Korean Sherman by Tamiya is a great example of a shark mouth/face on a tank.
I have a big sheet of decals from Takoms M46 and it has Like 3 of the face options so I could always do that or maybe one on the mantlet Like ColddemonsPl on his Stug Iv (great channel btw)
Got this kit in my stash. Hope mine turns out half as good as yours . 👌
Thanks. Enjoy the build!
Great job mate, you recommended VMS varnish to me a few months ago and I agree, they go down really well and I'm glad I switched to them
And so much more cost efficient than rattle cans!
Had a spare engine from a lanc if your not to fussy goes in quite easily and looks good not to much to do besides glue it in , very old anc only one to pick from just have to take a bit off the firewall 🤔 good kit to build
Thanks, that's a kind offer. I think that would work well if I built another one of these (or a Spitfire, Hurricane, etc).
Still melts my brain that anyone thought the Defiant was a sane I idea, so many blind spots and it's was not too quick but in a strange twist of fate was ideal for night fighting where a added pair of eyes from the gunner made life so much easier for the pilot, a Happy accident for the RAF but as a concept like the Blackburn Roc another "turret" fighter really really flawed.
Great build but the defiant melts my brain abit even in model form 😂
Somehow it feels likeca design that only the British could come up with :)
Lovely build! I've been experimenting with sponging shades of black on black for weathering propellers. I'll have to try it on a night fighter...
Yes, I'd like to try that sometime soon
It looks great, thank you for the words of warning for when I come to build mine. Currently reading 'Defiant' by Robert Verkaik which gives "a revisionist case for an unsung aircraft" as The Times reviewer puts it. I have memories of the (very) old Airfix kit back in the 70s, I am sure this will be more enjoyable.
Sounds like an interesting book
I enjoyed your video!.....always liked the Defiant!
Thank you!
Hey Stu, my 1/72 scale has yet to be built. I might have to tackle it now!. Thanks for the inspiration. Mikey V.
Thanks Mikey - I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, give that 1/72 a build! :)
As usual, a very fine job
Thank you very much Pete
That was a excellent build sir, you have done a outstanding job, for myself I find the complete black scheme a bit boring, looking forwarc to your next build, best regards from Australia 👌👍👌☺👌☺
Thanks. Yes, not the most interesting of schemes for sure. That's why I tend to avoid a lot of the US olibe drab schemes too.
The, "Oval Piece," is probably the ventral escape hatch. Nice in theory, but of little practical use.
Thanks. Yes, I think you're right. Yes, it doesn't look like it offers a very quick exit.
Have it , its a nice kit
It sure is!
Lovely build, well done Sir! I am pleased you didn’t go further with your weathering as it looks just fine as is. You are also fortunate to have a girlfriend that not only supports your modelling but also uses her own money to add to your hobby!! She is a keeper my friend!!
'
I am not a massive fan of weathering, I mean these planes were new at some time and often didn’t ‘live’ long enough to get heavily weathered but looking round a show it appears that all the fleet do survive 50+ sorties! That is just not realistic. I still want to do a ‘dealership’ with all brand new shiny planes. I wonder what comments one might gather?
Bob
England
Thank you Bob. I completely agree - rusting and falling apart planes or armour really don't do it for me, either. I think the dealership idea is a great one!
@@ModelNerd Really?! You think there is mileage in the dealership idea??
Sure, why not? If you like the idea, go for it!
Another wonderfully relaxing video, Nerd, thank you! Defiant looks excellent and if I may offer a couple of tips that I've had some success with... Firstly, paint the roundels. I know it is a chew but you've got total control over the colours and their fading. Secondly if you're going to stick with the transfers, run a really sharp knife blade along the panel lines beneath them and then use your transfer softener. I'm sure I got this tip from one of your videos 😂 As for the antislip, if you scan the transfer, and cut out a mask, paint the red first, then resize the scan, and cut another, dpray the grey, you'll get great control over the red 'edge'. I use vinyl tape or vinyl sheet for this kind of caper. Great video though again!
Good tips - thank you
The hatch on the bottom of aircraft is the gunner's escape hatch.
Thanks
There are a couple of period photographs on the net thst show the gunner's hatch open, perhaps for armourers or fitters to do some work. The caption suggested it was pretty rare though.
Thanks
Great work! I liked your approach to weathering an all black aircraft.
Thank you!
looks fabulous, Interestingly I have built the Airfix 1/72 Defiant as a night fighter and that too had fit issues with the turret it need brute force to get in, something I am not keen on employing on models generally! some intresting points to look out for when I build mine, maybe your cutout idea can solve the canopy fit problem 😉
Yes, hours spent building, sanding, and painting don't really mix well with forcing something between two fuselages halves, do they? I remember when the tail planes on my Airfix Lancaster spit the fuselage down the seam - I was not amused!
I love this finish on the model more than the one on your Arma Hurricane. But I’d be pleased with either of the finishes on mine. Wonder what happened with Airfix on the canopy fit - nice save by you. Something I’ll need to look out for when I build the kit. Looks like the canopy parts are a tad underscale, since the turret fit seems correct. 🤔
Thank you. I've no idea what happened with the canopy :)
Excellent model as per usual. I built this kit a while back and i dont recall a problem with the canopy myself but, i always close the canopy on my kits so i dont know what happened here. Still looks great though.
Thanks mate. I suspect it was a mistske on my part, but the gap does seem very large even for my mistakes! :)
@ModelNerd I'm not so sure it was your fault . I've been doing models for over 50 years, and canopies are the bane of my modeling experience. They either don't sit fully, or are spread too wide or too narrow, or there are gaps. F-16 canopies are the worst to fit. Getting them to sit in their recesses with no gaps and get no glue on them is difficult. German aircraft, on the other hand, seem to have easier canopy fits.
Good to know it's not just me!
Looking awesome. Thinking the defiant gets more flakk than it deserves...
Thank you mate.
Great job on the Defiant. I like the paint scheme. Too bad there's no aircrew for it. Planes look better populated.
Bill
Thanks. I agree - I always prefer some figures with a kit.
Good work as always sir 👍,shame about the little big of agg it gave you but still a better kit than the 70s one 😂😂.
Thanks! Yes, definitely better than that!
Последняя модель в 72 масштабе от ,айрфикс, тоже хороша!😊
Thanks. I need to check some more 1/72 kits
An enjoyable video and a stellar job, MN. I have to agree with you re weathering....a little goes a long way and the subtle 'dusting' you gave to the Defiant looks really good and in scale IMO. Did your girlfriend appreciate the job you did on her gift? :)
Thanks! I hope so :)
Very tidy build mate - one of airfix’s better kits!
Cheers!
As another commentator said: It's not Airfix's finest kit, I'm surprised it hasn't seen any revisions or improvements, especially for something as recent as a 2016 release. Seems like Airfix's QA needs a swift a BuA.
But you have made it look beautiful, I probably couldn't to be honest. Not without trying to fix the kit, and probably make it worse in the process...
Thanks!
There's a growing trend here in the Southern hemisphere for all the _coolest girlfriends_ to pre-order the 1/16 scale *British* M10 Achilles IIc Tank Destroyer by Andy's Hobby Headquarters in conjunction with Takom, kit number AHHQ-007 & get it just in time for Xmas for their Boyfriends ... maybe it'll catch on in your neck of the woods?!! 🤣
:D
Not the sharpest kit, but you really made it looks really good.
😎
Thanks. Yes, one of the weaker one of Airfix's recent releases, definitely.
I made the 1/72 of the airplane from airfix great kit although mine definitely didnt comenout as nice as yours
Thanks!
😍😍😍😍
Thanks
built this when i was a kid, probaly an airfix cant remember but the actual plane was rubbish,the defensive armament with 303s in a rear turret how does that work,but you are a great modeller and it looks great.
Thanks!
The oval is a feature of the real machine underneath but is not that much outstanding. Oddly enough it is the gunners escape hatch though not that effective for the poor gunner. If you study the photo you have of the real and only original aircraft that is at Cosford you find a figure dressed as a gunner wearing the speciaally designed body parachute which was specifically for this aircraft though Skua's may also have used it. The idea was to point the guns forward in a bail out and drop down and kick this panel out to escape. And yes in a bail out situation death rates of gunners were higher than pilots.
Great info - thank you, much appreciated. Yes, I saw the strange and specially designed parachute suit gunners wore - scary indeed.
Beautiful model although the music made me feel utterly depressed!
Oh no, sorry!
There's a couple of erronous points in your summary of the Defiant's career there. I highly recommend author Alec Brew's two books, "The Turret Fighters" and "Defiant", both of which comprise deep dives into the design philosophies driving the turret fighter concept. In "Defiant" Brew mentions that the Defiant made an appearance at the 1939 Imperial Air Show (I think it was at Farnborough) in which, after performing, it was parked and representatives of foreign governments - to whom the Air Ministry hoped to sell the type - were allowed access to it, up to and including reading the manuals and publicity info and examining the airframe up close. These foreign representatives included members of the Luftwaffe, who were in uniform and fully accredited as members of the German government. They were allowed to closely inspect the Defiant with the blessing of the British government and thus, when war broke out, the Luftwaffe was already completely familiar with the Defiant's capabilities. This, in large part - coupled with the type's use in roles it was not designed for - led to the high losses. Certainly any stories of Luftwaffe pilots mistaking Defiants for Hurricanes are not true. There were two Defiant squadrons on daylight duty. One of them - 264 Squadron - trained extensively on the Defiant prior to the war, liked it, developed tactics for both offence and defence, and acquitted themselves overall pretty well in the Battle of Britain. The other squadron, 141, had not trained as extensively and didn't like the Defiant at all. It was the heavy losses incurred by 141 Squadron that persuaded the Air Ministry to switch the Defiant to night-fighting and it was a source of real indignation in 264, who blamed 141's conduct for their being taken off daylight operations. This bad blood reached a head when the two squadrons, now converted to night-fighting, found themselves based on the same aerodrome. Fights between members of 264 and 141 became so frequent that eventually 264 was posted elsewhere.
Thanks - that's really interesting
Why bother buying Airfix kits when they are making kits with issues such as the canopy and the turret?
Well their kits are generally very good, and I didn't know about this issue until right at the end of the build
Good video, focusing a bit wonky though. At times, I felt like I was watching after 6 pints. Fascinating subject, though. I recently looked closely at the one displayed at Cosford. PS does not the pilot canopy slid back, fit over the plywood streamlining in front of the turret ? At the end, it does look marvellous though.
Thanks. Sorry about the focus - I'm having issues getting a decent lighting setup which I think doesn't help (high ISO). You're right about the canopy - Airfix do it in a strange way where if you want the canopy closed you use a single piece that covers the pilot and has a triangular piece going down towards the turret. A separate fairing piece then goes on top of that. But if you want the canopy back, the rear canopy glass and the fairing are molded as one clear part (which you largely paint black). It took me a while to figure out what they wanted me to do.