Bristol Bulldog

[Gwyn]

I was wondering which model to do after finishing the Stephenson's Rocket when I found an old Profile magazine covering the Bristol Bulldog. 





I must have had this for a few years as it cost me 35pence.


Then I searched in my stash and found this.





Looking on the internet, this seems to have been produced about 1993.








well I thought I had given up on 1/72 as a scale, to small and fiddly for my fingers nowerdays, but after finding the Profile and the kit I thought well have a go and see how you get on. 


has anyone else made this? any tips?All help gratefully received.

 

[Doug Hughes]

A great choice - good luck with it. I've made one (using the Profile as reference), but it was in the 1980s, so I'm afraid I don't remember much about it. It's one of Airfix's better offerings for its period (early 70s I believe). One obvious challenge will be disguising the strut 'tie bar' in the top wing. I made a lot of 1/72 biplanes at the time, and always ended up putting the top wing on right at the end - complete with paint, decals, etc. - with just the rigging left to do afterwards. I will have glued the interplane struts to the top wing, then filled the bar in and sanded it down before painting.

 

[colin m]

Nice one Gwyn, one true scale as some like to call it. It will be nice to see this old kit come together.

 

[Gwyn]

A great choice - good luck with it. I've made one (using the Profile as reference), but it was in the 1980s, so I'm afraid I don't remember much about it. It's one of Airfix's better offerings for its period (early 70s I believe). One obvious challenge will be disguising the strut 'tie bar' in the top wing. I made a lot of 1/72 biplanes at the time, and always ended up putting the top wing on right at the end - complete with paint, decals, etc. - with just the rigging left to do afterwards. I will have glued the interplane struts to the top wing, then filled the bar in and sanded it down before painting.

Thanks Douglas I will keep that in mind when making it . 

 

[flyjoe180]

Hi Gwyn, the Bulldog is a nice looking biplane. I've got one waiting in the wings too. It's a kit that's been made a few times and displayed on this forum, if you try a search you might find some helpful tips from the older posts.

 

[Gwyn]

Hi Gwyn, the Bulldog is a nice looking biplane. I've got one waiting in the wings too. It's a kit that's been made a few times and displayed on this forum, if you try a search you might find some helpful tips from the older posts.

Good suggestion Joe I will do that.

 

[Gwyn]

Well I have made some progress.

a bit of paint on the inside of the body (sorry about the finger)

A bit of PE instrument panel.


Here is the progress on the rotary engine

And here is my pilot.
I thought hard about trying a 1:72 plane because I thought my not very steady hands would not be able to manage. I have been pleased so far with the results even though after taking and looking at the macro photographs that I need to touch up a few things.

 

[papa 695]

Nice start Gwyn, the pilot looks good

 

[colin m]

The engine and prop look nice. Are they standard kit items ?

 

[Gwyn]

Nice start Gwyn, the pilot looks good

Thanks Ian, I appreciate your comments.

 

[Gwyn]

The engine and prop look nice. Are they standard kit items ?

Yes Colin standard parts that to me look a bit garish but hopefully will weather down. Thanks for your comments.

 

[Doug Hughes]

The detail painting looks great, Gwyn - especially when we remember the photos are about three times life size! The pilot is beautifully painted (and surprisingly well moulded considering its age).

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice work Gwyn, I'm watching your build progress.

 

[Gwyn]

Nice work Gwyn, I'm watching your build progress.

Thanks Joe.

 

[Gwyn]

Well after putting the pilot in and joining the two sides of the fuselage, I masked over the pilot just with some kitchen towel.

As can be seen there are quite bad join marks that would need sanding out. Well to make it easy to handle i decided to mount a piece of small dowel to the nose area, that is when disaster struck. As I was in too much of a hurry I accidently picked up the runny super glue and instead of putting a nice drop ready to attach the dowel I squirted runny super glue all over the plane. I have spent ages sanding off the glue before setting to work on the joint lines.


So all smoothed and primed ready for the next step. Sorry about the shadow it's not my finger but the lens extended to macro mode. I will have get some independent lighting for closeup work.

 

[papa 695]

Nice work Gwyn Super glue don't you just love it, great recovery though.

 

[Doug Hughes]

Looks OK now, Gwyn, despite the superglue mishap. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does daft things sometimes!

 

[flyjoe180]

Coming along nicely Gwyn.

 

[Gwyn]

Coming along nicely Gwyn.

Thanks Joe