For my next build, I’m going to be building the Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk.IVF I 1/72 scale. Got this for Christmas from my parents so I want to get cracking with it.
Comes on several sprues. All parts look nice and sharp with good detailing for the scale. It’s certainly better than the old one I built in the late 90’s. Not a rivet in site! You do get some optional parts, such as open bomb bay with a pair of 500 pounders and both single and twin chin gun turrets. I did find a couple of party broken, something which seems to common to nearly every Airfix kit. A seat from one of gun turrets (easy to fix) and one of the three supplied Vickers K’s. I won’t be using those anyway as I’ll be swapping for a pair of Brownings. Nearly every IV I’ve seen had Browning guns.
Markings for two aircraft are given. A Coastal Command and an all black night-fighter. I’ll be doing the Coastal Command version.
I’ve got a couple of these and some Mk.1’s, so this will be will be a practice build for those. I hear that the kit does have a few tricky assembly steps, the undercarriage legs and fit of the nose which can be gappy if you’re not careful.
Everything starts with the wings, fitting the spars and mounts for the legs.
And at this point I lost daylight so had to call it a day. Snowed in for three days and barely got more than a couple of minutes at the bench. Luckily it’s all gone now.
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This will be fun to follow! I have the Mk 1 in my stash, intended for a BoB-build.
Magnus
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The I’s nice. It’s often overlooked the role they played during BoB.
I’ve got decals for one that flew during the Greek campaign which will look good. Again, a part of the War you don’t see built very often.
The Blenheim’s were real workhorse’s those first couple of years. Obsolete and at great risk, but doing the jobs that the Beaufighter and Mossie would later take on.
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Following with interest Stephen 
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Thanks mate.
Was hoping to do a little more this week, but had a lot on. An unexpected extra hour or so at work earlier in the week for training. We had a new cat before Christmas and she has had to go to the vets for chipping and neutering, so had to go and collect her the next evening. The other cat has holding her food down so that was another visit. Vet suspects hair as she does seem to be grooming a lot. Anyway, a shot of something, worming pill and anti-hair ball food supplement seems to have done the trick. Both are happy and healthy. Around £200 for both.
So, I’m hoping for a quiet weekend to get some more done. I’ve also picked up the dvd boxset of Buck Rogers so I have something to watch while I do. I just hope it’s as good as I remember and not too goofy.
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Got the undercarriage parts cleaned up and painted the wheel wells. Used Tamiya Japanese interior green which is a very good match for RAF. Tamiya isn’t my usual poison, but when thinned it does go down thinner than Humbrol. Just have to minimise the brush strokes to keep it smooth. Some of the fit problems with this kit might stem from the tight fit of interiors on some of the new Airfix, so I want to minimise those problems where possible. I tried thinning some Humbrol interior green (a brand new gen3 bottle) with Vallejo thinner, but found it pooled into little puddles and didn’t adhere well. Will have to experiment to find what works best.
Have had a play around with assembly and I think the best option is assemble the legs in the upper wing, then close up. Trying to fit it after is awkward. It will need careful masking and reinforcing with card to prevent breaking during the rest of the build. I have had success doing this in the past and with care, it can work.
Have made one cock up already, although I don’t think I’m entirely to blame. Before closing up the rear fuselage, you need to drill the holes for the external bomb racks (anti-submarine bombs I think?). Airfix have marked out the location for these with some slots on the inside, but drilling through straight is next to impossible.
The result being that holes are off and the racks wouldn’t fit. I should have seen this coming and measured and drilled from the bottom. It would’ve been a lot easier if Airfix had marked the location with dimples on the bottom. Also think I used too large a drill. So, will have to fill those with sprue goo and redrill. Or just pinch the fuselage parts from one of the other Blenheim’s. None of those will need those racks fitted.
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Nearly forgot I had the Haynes Manual. Will definitely help out I think.
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