Airfix 1/72 Handley Page Hampden

[AlasdairGF]

Hey all. Picked up one of these the other day and am slowly battling my way through it (busy time of the year, so not much time to play!). Trouble is that I'm finding it an absolute pig... bit of an education on how models have evolved from the 60s to now, as my other builds were all newer. Things just don't fit that well, pin marks all over the place, almost no interior detail, massively out-of-scale control column, pilot won't fit in chair (well, until a double foot-ectomy was carried out), no wheel wells at all - just the inside of the upper surface of the wing - no obvious way of fixing most of the .303s... nightmare.

Has anyone else had a go at this? Would love to know of any tips etc... haven't closed up the fuselage yet, petrified of doing that as there's so much that needs to line up inside before the second half can be put on.

Have just spent the whole morning painting a bunch of small bits & bobs and masking the canopies (including the optional one I'm not going to be including... doh). What a pain! The features on the clear plastic are terribly unclear, so I'm doing quite a bit of guesswork. Was v proud of myself for figuring a way of making a circular mask for the bomb aiming pane - stuck some tape on a bit of plastic from a milk bottle and then used an office punch, easy enough to then separate the plastic from the mask.

A few pics in a bit...

 

[eddiesolo]

No experience of this model but once had a Stuka from the 1960's, terrible fit, in fact it was that bad I gave up. All you can do is battle on the best you can.

Si

 

[AlasdairGF]

Battling on indeed...!

Some build snaps... the crew were really poorly moulded - legs weren't even separate apart from pilot, had to cut up from boots to gentlemen's bits... carefully... Given the fairly warped canopies, though, I don't think you're going to be able to see much anyway, so little sleep lost.

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Various bits - including massive control column and pilot now sans feet so that he can fit in the cockpit.

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Talking of cockpits - note superb attention to detail... er, I mean, complete absence of any sort of feature on interior of plane at all!

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Ditto no attempt at anything resembling a wheel well. Can't think why I didn't sand down some of those marks... blush.

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Quite proud of my masking... it ain't perfect and it took ages, but I find it oddly calming. Twin 303's mounted on a bar there are a bit of a disaster, not 100% confident of my ability to get them in the plane!

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Bombs, painted & glossed, waiting for what looks to be a fiddly little b***** of a decal (red stripe round nose of bomb). Good thing they only carried 6 of these (500lb?) bombs or I'd be taking an age over it...

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This is what's scaring me... there's a lot to get in there, and not much of it seems to line up all that naturally! Indeed even the fuselage itself requires some fairly creative squeezing to line up the various joins when trying a dry fit. This could all go horribly wrong.

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It's been fun learning about this obscure British bomber, though, and I'm also finding out a lot about how to bodge things slightly, which I'm guessing is an essential modelling skill!

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[Plastickitbasher]

Looking good so far

 

[Dave W]

I've made a couple of these in the past.Did the first one in my early teens.It is what it is,an old mould 1960's (I think) kit.So you can't expect it to be up to today's standard.You can't see much of the interior so have to concentrate on filling and sanding all the joins and do a good paint job.Nice work masking the transparencies.That will make a big difference to the finished model.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I really enjoy seeing modellers have a go at these old kits. These are what I grew up on, when I worked in a model shop on Saturdays. We used to think they were the bees ones at the time because you didn't have to start carving up lumps of wood! My father looked down his nose at plastic models because it wasn't 'proper' modelling!!

I bought an original Airfix P1127 a couple of years ago and was really surprised at how primitive the model was. I did see an on line example though of someone who made a lovely job of one and decided that one day I will have a go at it. All the collectors wil be up in arms now as it is worth about 100 quid to someone daft enough to pay it.

Enjoy the Hampden and many thanks for sharing it with us. I suspect at the end of the day you will still get a lot of satisfaction from it and I for one will really enjoy seeing it go together.

 

[flyjoe180]

Alasdair, a good subject you have elected to build. I too enjoy these older kits. There is no snap together and paint with these oldies. But with care and some thought for ways around problems, and using the basic skills you learned at day one of your modelling resurgence, you can create a very nice piece. I look forward to seeing more progress soon and the final result, which will be fantastic.

 

[yak face]

Great work alasdair! Its a real modelling job, and as dave says its a 1960s kit so its not going to be up to todays standards, but it can make a great looking model with a bit of care and bashing. I enjoy the challenge of getting these older kits to scrub up ,and i suspect you will too, its a real buzz when you see the finished article and think " I got a good result from that !" keep at it mate , its going to be valuable reference for when i get mine (to be done in Soviet markings, surprise!) cheers tony

 

[stona]

It looks to me like you are getting the better of that kit. I have to say I've made a few of these older kits from various boxings and they can be a bit of a challenge. I think the experience gained, just figuring out how to make the flippin' thing go together is invaluable. It will always stand you in good stead later on when you might come up against an unexpected problem on a later build.

You've probably seen me build a few limited production kits here. These are expensive kits and don't always fit perfectly. The techniques learnt on old Airfix kits from the 1960/70s (I was there first time round) prove invaluable when there's a lot more than a fiver at stake!

Keep at it, the harder it is the more satisfying the result will eventually be.

Cheers

Steve

 

[eddiesolo]

It looks to me like you are getting the better of that kit. I have to say I've made a few of these older kits from various boxings and they can be a bit of a challenge. I think the experience gained, just figuring out how to make the flippin' thing go together is invaluable. It will always stand you in good stead later on when you might come up against an unexpected problem on a later build.You've probably seen me build a few limited production kits here. These are expensive kits and don't always fit perfectly. The techniques learnt on old Airfix kits from the 1960/70s (I was there first time round) prove invaluable when there's a lot more than a fiver at stake!

Keep at it, the harder it is the more satisfying the result will eventually be.

Cheers

Steve

Good answer Steve.

Si

 

[Doug Hughes]

I bought this kit around the time it first came out, and I don't remember having any problems at all with it. Mind you, painting the interior and the canopy frames weren't something I did in those days, and I probably didn't paint the underside either, as it was black already. But I remember the crouched crew members, and the 'bar stool', also that I was really excited by the unusual shape of the plane (wipes away nostalgic tear...).

To say it looks better than my effort probably isn't saying very much, then. But seriously, it's looking really good so far and I bet you'll be proud of the end result.

 

[AlasdairGF]

Tony, have seen a Valom version of this that comes with Russian decals... hang on saved the link somewhere... here!

Also some of the Russian Hampdens were a bit different from the version in the Airfix kit - most visibly perhaps the retractable DF loop aerial replaced with a streamlined pod, and in some cases a different lower rear gun position. Found this on Google...

Like what I found there! A bunch of camo profiles for Russian Hampdens at http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/b/1271/1/0. That site is new to me, so have quickly bookmarked this... there are some great resources out there it turns out.

 

[AlasdairGF]

Thanks for comments, everyone - will soldier on with it and hopefully have something halfway decent to show at the end of it all!

 

[AlasdairGF]

AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Thanks, just needed to vent.

Progress slow as you may have guessed. Nothing fits!!!

Two questions...

1. I have an open canopy with two (easily breakable) .303's sticking out and a gunner peering along the barrels. About to put the major elements together and spray-prime the whole shebang (well after an awful lot of filling and sanding at a guess), but at a bit of a loss how to mask this open space. Any suggestions?
   
2. From dry-fits, it appears there may be a small gap between canopy and fuselage in at least one place. Not sure that I want to fill & sand here, as I'm worried I'll and up sanding off masking and ruining clear panes. Are there any alternatives I can consider?
   

Cheers in advance for tips...

 

[AlasdairGF]

Oh, one other question - any suggestions on restoring detail lost to sanding when working with raised detail as this old model has?

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I roll some tissue or loo roll into a ball and insert it into large holes. As long as you don't get too close and blow it out if the way with your air brush. Some masking tape to keep it in place might help.

 

[Dave W]

Pieces of sponge are good for masking odd shaped holes.

 

[Ian M]

The soft sponge ear protectors are good as well. Squish, put it and the breath in again and fill the hole.

Ian M

 

[AlasdairGF]

Hmmm haven't posted anything on this in a while, but have been pootling on as & when there's been time. Precious little of that... anyway, nearing the end now and thought I'd post an update...

Photos perhaps not the best, the flash on my phone is a bit unforgiving...

Oddly the two Humbrol paints suggested by Airfix have entirely different finishes! I've checked, though, and with a fair bit of Clear and finishing off with a matt spray, it should turn out all right. Looks a bit odd now though.

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[flyjoe180]

The satin and matt finishes will be irrelevant once you varnish the model prior to decal application and again later after the matt coat.