1/32 WNW Bristol Fighter

[LT1962]

After adding some pipes to the firewall, construction of the engine has commenced. There is excellent detail already in the kit so only a few additions are done. Firstly, spark plug leads from the magnetos to the spark plugs with 0.1mm aluminium wire braided. Holes added to the magnetos to connect later through the firewall.

[LT1962]

Some additonal engine harnesses run from the firewall affixed to the engine bearer with 0.1mm aluminium wire. Then its time to fit additional oil lines, oil tank and magneto harnesses. Finally fit the radiator and gun tube and a little oil staining using burnt sienna oil paint. Control linkage for the radiator shutter has been added to the radiator cowling and the cockpit side for later rigging.

[LT1962]

Engine underside and side. Now to look at fixing the wings.

[LT1962]

The solid wings have the ribs marked out with pencil and then sprayed with CDL on the lower surfaces and white on the upper. Wooden skeletonised wings were sprayed with Humbrol 121, then sprayed with a thin coat of raw sienna oil paint for the wood colour. Finally a coat of Tamiya clear orange and then a satin varnish. The skeletonised wings were then rigged with their internal bracing and holes drilled for the aileron cables and pulleys.

[LT1962]

Rigging for the upper wing centre section is pre added to the fuselage and then the cabane struts glued into place.The wing centre section is then glued into place with careful checks to make sure everything will be square and aligned when the wings are added. I gave this plenty of time to dry before moving onto the next steps. After the glue had cured, I secured the rigging of this section into place using 2lb mono. Once done this was quite a solid structure.

[LT1962]

The roundels were stencils cut from tape and fixed in position and then sprayed with tamiya paints. Once dried and the tape removed, the wings were given a mist of tamiya smoke to tone down the white in particular. The wings were then given a final satin coat to seal it all.

[LT1962]

With the centre section rigging complete, radiator shutter rigging in place and exhausts added it was time to add the lower wings. Port side was easier with the poly glue, starboard was done with cyano which grabs fast so no wriggle room there.

[LT1962]

With the lower wings now set in place, I made sure that the upper wings would fit in place and line up without any issues. In the photo without struts both wings are just sitting there. I found I had a very slight twist to the rear on the starboard side with the upper wings. So when I fitted the struts I fitted them firstly on the starboard side to let them set first and used the rigging to help bring the twist out. This bought the wings into perfect alignment.

[LT1962]

With the starboard upper wing in place, a quick check to see that the final model will sit on the wheels with no balance issues. Then the port upper is fixed in place with cyano, so once again make sure it is a good fit before applying the glue. Rigging is done with 2lb mono starting from the fuselage working to the outer edge of the wings.

[LT1962]

With the wings in place and rigged it was just small items to finish. Firstly the gunners compartment, bomb rack rails and propeller.

[LT1962]

Propeller painted with Humbrol 121, raw sienna and clear orange for wood effect. Twin machine guns fitted to the gunners compartment when all the photos of this aircraft only showed a single. I just wanted to do a kit with twins in the gunners compartment, all my previous kits had singles so I just took some artistic license here.

[LT1962]

Finally done!!