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

[SJPONeill]

Added the greeble boxes to the cockpit sides...

Fixed the pilot's footrest to the cockpit floor but...uh-oh...as they appear to go on the instructions, they are too long by a long way to fit between the cockpit bulkheads...I've cut these off and will shorten so that they fit into the gap. Probably there should be spaces in the bulkhead for the pilots legs to extend into...

Assembled the instrument panel...if I had the time I would have sandwiched this under an instrument fascia with the holes for the instruments punched out and filled with Kleer but next time...as near as I can figure the base of the instrument panel sits on the cockpit floor and the cockpit wall parts wrap around it...

[k5083]

I'm enjoying this build and the entertaining write-up. In plastic modeling I always considered cockpits something to be got through with the minimal time and effort to make them look decent, so the real modeling could begin. In paper it is fun to slow down and try to do a good job of them. You picked a good kit for this. Many kits of this age or a little older have such crudely drawn cockpits that they can't be made to look good without repainting. And then there are the kits of Halinski etc. that would have 3 parts for each gauge on the panel. This one is just right.

August

[Don Boose]

I agree. I love to see the magnificent builds of Halinski and similar quality/complexity models, but this is the level of detail that I prefer - and can actually imagine building, although not with Simon's skill.

Don

[SJPONeill]

In preparation for bodging the cockpit parts together, I have added some strip to support the seam between the lower cockpit sidewalls and the upper sidewalls. I will probably add at least one more layer so that there is a broad surface for the mating surface...

I have trimmed off the supports for the pilot's footrests...although the instructions seem to show them as fitting to the underside of the cockpit floor, test-fitting the cockpit parts today shows that this will make the instrument panel too high. I think that these supports are meant to go (despite the instruction drawings) on the cockpit floor where the double dotted lines are and that these then lift the seat above the level of the floor. I am making new supports for the pilot's footrests and will shorten these slightly so that they fit into the available space...

The seat was a bit fiddly but not that difficult even though it is a 90 degree edge joint that is difficult to reinforce because there is an external facing to go over the top...I got it all together by semi rolling the areas of the seat bases where it curves with the sidewalls and then inching along the join using superglue and accelerator for the join. It is difficult to see from this angle but there is a 2mm lip of excess material at the front of the seat that I will need to trim off.

Another shot of the seat and the exterior facing that fits (Hopefully!) around the outside...

I have now started to prepare the turret parts for the next phase...I can still not find my circle cutter and forgot top get another while in town on Friday so have had to cut the curves freehand...this is not that hard but (for me anyway) means that the cuts are not as smooth as they could be...

[milenio3]

Looking good!

[SJPONeill]

As can be seen in my last post, the outer face of the pilot's seat is a single piece...why, I am not too sure because it is clearly too long. I snipped it at the halfway point which does leave a minor seam at the top of the seat but at least means that the part fits properly...it probably doesn't matter in the big picture as most of the sides of the seat will be concealed by the cockpit sides...the Defiant doesn't have a cockpit side door like the Spitfire to show off internal detail...

I remade the mounts for the footrests, making each into three pieces instead of the designed folded single piece...here I have the base at the bottom as a spacer with each of the supports butted against it on either side...I assumed that the beginning of the upward angle would line up with the edge of the floor but (AGAIN!!) this made them too long for the available space. Even if I had aligned the rare of the mounts with the rear of the cockpit floor I think they still would have been too long.

Rather than do the footrest supports yet again, I just snipped a couple of mm off each support. When I do this model again - am I am very keen to do so - I will take this surplus off the back end of the support. I recycled the footrests from my first crack at this area as they will be largely concealed by the tight nature of the cockpit. Practically, I think that the forward bulkhead needs cut-outs like those under the instrument panel so that any 'legged' pilot can fit into the cockpit...

Sorry about the blurriness...I fitted the cockpit floor into place and then after determining the need for some spacers to hold it out from the forward bulkhead, fitted the instrument panel...

Hmmm...now starting to look a bit like something off an airplane...

[SJPONeill]

PS. I found that swapping out my scalpel blade for a new one last night, made a massive difference to the cleanliness of my cutting...another lesson relearned...

[Don Boose]

Excellent bodging of the greeble boxes (and, presumably, the nurnies).

Don

[SJPONeill]

Originally Posted by k5083

I'm enjoying this build and the entertaining write-up. In plastic modeling I always considered cockpits something to be got through with the minimal time and effort to make them look decent, so the real modeling could begin. In paper it is fun to slow down and try to do a good job of them. You picked a good kit for this. Many kits of this age or a little older have such crudely drawn cockpits that they can't be made to look good without repainting. And then there are the kits of Halinski etc. that would have 3 parts for each gauge on the panel. This one is just right.

August

In plastic modelling, cockpits are usually where my builds will stall as I want to justice to the detail - or add it if it isn't there...I think this is in some part due to the influence of modelling media where more and more we are lead to believe that there is only perfection. I actually prefer many of the models from the 60s, not just because of their often unique subject matter but also because they do not take themselves nearly as seriously as modern kits...for me, models like this Orlik Defiant are in the same vein: yes, it could be tarted up to the nines but then it would no longer be the model that it was and its retro feel and appeal would be lost...I think that we have to be careful to avoid Grandad's axe syndrome in modelling, where the original parts are replaced to the point where they are unrecognisable or non-existent...

So far in this build there have been no parts that I have thought require replacement especially those that will only be barely seen once the canopy is added. Looking at the turret, I think that the guns might be better represented and that some 3D ammunition belts might look better than the 2D belts provided (and,no, I will not be rolling scale .303 bullets!) but we will see when I get to that stage...

[SJPONeill]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

Excellent bodging of the greeble boxes (and, presumably, the nurnies).

Don

Thanks, Don, although I am admittedly more of a greebler than a nurnist... ;p

Simon