Steve-the-Duck
SMF Supporter
Okay, so, this, and two other Canberras, flew in these markings for a film. A no prize for anyone that can ID.
1/144 AModel Canberra 'Il-28 Beagle'
- Thread starter Steve-the-Duck
- Start date
Steve-the-Duck
SMF Supporter
So, the Amodel kit is small but 'imperfectly formed', and poorly engineered. My kingdom for locating pins!
The fuselage is in six pieces: upper and lower wings, upper and lower nose, right and left tail
But they fit with simple butt joints rather than say steps or pins, so you have to align by eye!
Cockpit just has a seat hanging from the top, so I put in a floor, rear bulkhead and control panel. Buuut, they're all black, so with the VERY reflective canopy, it's all invisible
The nose is weighted but she still sits tail down. After my Italian P.38 and this I really need to get some dwarf star alloy... The Canberra is notoriously tail heavy though. My partner worked in photo-ops in the RAF, and once had to get the camera out of the back of a PR job, and his weight made it lean. So I've added what he descibed as the tail support, from brass rod and placcy
The nav. and main hatches are from masking tape. Although the surface detail on the kit is quite nice, the hatches are invisible
The kit transfers are really rather nice, very detailed and apply well. The only problem were the walkway lines which were too fragile, so I drew them in with fibre tip. The soviet stars and numbers are Mark I. Source reference is indefinite whether there are stars on the wings of the 'real' 'plane
Colours are rattle can metalcote polished aluminium and ordinary aluminium just for contrast.
The fuselage is in six pieces: upper and lower wings, upper and lower nose, right and left tail
But they fit with simple butt joints rather than say steps or pins, so you have to align by eye!
Cockpit just has a seat hanging from the top, so I put in a floor, rear bulkhead and control panel. Buuut, they're all black, so with the VERY reflective canopy, it's all invisible
The nose is weighted but she still sits tail down. After my Italian P.38 and this I really need to get some dwarf star alloy... The Canberra is notoriously tail heavy though. My partner worked in photo-ops in the RAF, and once had to get the camera out of the back of a PR job, and his weight made it lean. So I've added what he descibed as the tail support, from brass rod and placcy
The nav. and main hatches are from masking tape. Although the surface detail on the kit is quite nice, the hatches are invisible
The kit transfers are really rather nice, very detailed and apply well. The only problem were the walkway lines which were too fragile, so I drew them in with fibre tip. The soviet stars and numbers are Mark I. Source reference is indefinite whether there are stars on the wings of the 'real' 'plane
Colours are rattle can metalcote polished aluminium and ordinary aluminium just for contrast.
Steve-the-Duck
SMF Supporter
Right, if anyone is interested, the backstory to this build.
The third Harry Palmer film, 'Billion Dollar Brain', while not completely hatstand is several coathangers short of a wardrobe. But then it was released in 1967 and is one of the first feature films directed by Ken Russell. Michael Caine recommended him.
Towards the end, the deranged General Midwinter leads a private army, hidden in petrol tankers, across the frozen Gulf of Finland to Latvia to aid the locals in an uprising against the Soviets. The revolutionary group he has financed comprised roughly six people, who are all now dead and the Soviets are ready for him. In an homage to the Teutonic Knights sequence from 'Alexander Nevsky', the Sovs bomb the ice and drown Midwinter and his entire army
For the sequence, three Canberras at RAF Bassingbourne were dressed as 'Beagles' and shown bombing up and flying past. Apparently the story goes the stick-on stars peeled off because the 'planes flew too fast.
There's rumours of a real world parallel from Ukraine. In the early assaults, the Russians dropped supplies and Spetsnaz in the middle of nowhere, so the rumour has it they were expecting to be met by large groups of local sympathisers. Uncle Vlad had set up a special unit in the FSB to organise these groups, but, like Karl Malden's Leo Newbiggin character in 'Billion Dollar Brain', the agents kept the money. There weren't even the handful of locals in Ukraine, unlike the movie
The third Harry Palmer film, 'Billion Dollar Brain', while not completely hatstand is several coathangers short of a wardrobe. But then it was released in 1967 and is one of the first feature films directed by Ken Russell. Michael Caine recommended him.
Towards the end, the deranged General Midwinter leads a private army, hidden in petrol tankers, across the frozen Gulf of Finland to Latvia to aid the locals in an uprising against the Soviets. The revolutionary group he has financed comprised roughly six people, who are all now dead and the Soviets are ready for him. In an homage to the Teutonic Knights sequence from 'Alexander Nevsky', the Sovs bomb the ice and drown Midwinter and his entire army
For the sequence, three Canberras at RAF Bassingbourne were dressed as 'Beagles' and shown bombing up and flying past. Apparently the story goes the stick-on stars peeled off because the 'planes flew too fast.
There's rumours of a real world parallel from Ukraine. In the early assaults, the Russians dropped supplies and Spetsnaz in the middle of nowhere, so the rumour has it they were expecting to be met by large groups of local sympathisers. Uncle Vlad had set up a special unit in the FSB to organise these groups, but, like Karl Malden's Leo Newbiggin character in 'Billion Dollar Brain', the agents kept the money. There weren't even the handful of locals in Ukraine, unlike the movie
scottie3158
SMF Supporter
That's a great result. I loved the old Harry Palmer films.