Bristol Belvedere

Completed, the Airfix 1/72 Bristol 192 Belvedere model kit. It's basically a 1959 kit, and I have the 1970s edition of the kit. The kit itself doesn't match the actual helicopter it's modelled on, since the kit was based on a prototype. It was definitely too much work to convert it to the final production helicopter. The kit itself is terrible; poor detail, terrible fit, and a canopy that is straight out of model hell. The decals were yellowed, but I trimmed around them, and with nice white and silver paint, the strange, slender helicopter model actually looks OK. For the canopy, I found pictures of a canopy mask online, printed it, and used it as a template to cut masks that I placed; there are no markings on the canopy itself.






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Fairey Barracuda Mk.II

Completed, the Frog 1/72 Fairey Barracuda Mk.II torpedo bomber model kit, depicted as flown by the Royal Navy in the Pacific war in 1945 off HMS Vengeance. Not a bad kit considering its age, though a little lacking in detail. I added an extra seat and the machine guns inside, and did some aerial wires. The landing gear is quite fiddly, and the glasswork - canopy and side windows - were quite tedious to mask. Mistakes were made, but I quite like how the paint came out.

 

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Grumman Avenger Mk.II

Completed, the Frog 1/72 Grumman Avenger Mk.II torpedo bomber model kit, depicted as flown in the British Pacific Fleet, HMS Indomitable, 1945. Decent enough for its age, with a surprisingly sturdy undercarriage. Lots of masking of the canopy and turret to do! It technically uses the same colour scheme as the Fairey Barracuda - Sky underneath, with Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey (that's the green) camouflage on top, but the Avenger was a lend-lease aircraft, and the American factory, Eastern Motors, painted the Dark Slate Grey in a slightly different, more olivey, green. You can see the difference in the pic of the two of them together.

 

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