Orlik 1/33 Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.1 cockpit build

[SJPONeill]

Thanks, Don...my taste in WW2 aircraft is much the same...I like more those less successful types like the Defiant, Whirlwind, Stirling, Blenheim, etc over those types like the Spitfire, Mustang, P-47, etc...

[Don Boose]

Yeah. Beaufort, Fulmar, Roc/Skua and on the U.S. side, Vultee P-66 Vanguard, Vought SB2U Vindicator, Brewster F2A Buffalo, Douglas TBD Devastator, P-43 . . .

I guess we all have our own list.

Anyway, I really like this project and look forward to seeing your next steps.

Don
(Exeunt, singing "You'll never get to heaven in a Deffy Two.")

[ccoyle]

Definitely interested to see how this turns out. I have the Defiant in my stash, and since there doesn't seem to be an after-market canopy available for it, that turret has me wondering whether I will ever dare to build it.

Cheers!

[milenio3]

I have this one too, and when I bought it (like 5 years ago I think), I did it beacuse I liked the cover. But when I saw the turret I went like... ok, this will wait.

But now your thread is a very good guide for this airplane.

Keep it up!!

[SJPONeill]

At the moment I am more worried about the bits inside the turret itself. The shape of the clear area looks pretty simple and the framing should cover the joins...certainly (to me) it looks like less work to get right that the bubble canopy on the Orlik P-61E which was my first choice for this build...
We shall see...famous last words perhaps...

[SJPONeill]

Getting into some of the fiddlier stuff last night...

L-R are the pilot's footrests: the one on the left is OK but I think that the one on the right shifted after I left it for the night and is skewed - I don't think that much of these will be seen so am not planning on doing it again...the greater part of these us concealed under the cockpit floor anyway; the two little box thingies are parts K13 and K14 for fitting tonight to the lower cockpit wall; and on the right is the single piece cockpit floor and lower walls which has been creased for folding and which will start to slip into shape as I add K13 and K14 on the starboard side.
I am still trying to decipher the relationship between this part and the upper cockpit walls, specifically how they fit together and then fit into the cockpit framework...
The parts are slightly different colours because they come from different test print batches...it is not as distinct a difference in the flesh but I will pay more attention to colour matching for more visible parts...

[SJPONeill]

Parts K13 and K14 in place...they look a little wobbly and this is largely a result of it being too long since my last paper modelling build. I should have cut off the tabs that are meant to provide a larger glueing surface for each part as they really just get in the way and skew the shape of the part. I am not too worried, though as I don't think that the wobbliness will be that visible inside the cockpit.

Due to the flimsiness of the cockpit floor, I have decided to add reinforcing strips along the interior edges of the folds...

...and am using these low-res copies to make templates to go inside these parts to provide a firm edge along which to bend the sides...

I unashamedly stole this idea from these parts, which are laminated onto thing card to strengthen parts K15 and K19 on the upper cockpit walls...

[SJPONeill]

More fiddly cockpit bits last night...

The camera is a bit harsh on the print resolution and paper grain...these parts are all quite small and actually look OK in the flesh...

[Don Boose]

They look good in the close up images, too.

Don

[daverocket]

Love this aircraft as I live in Wolverhampton no too far from the factory where they were made in pendeford