Sovietised (and Maverick-Inspired) Defiant

McGreig · March 24, 2009, 04:44:39 PM

I was hunting through Maverick's profile gallery for something else entirely when I came across the Shturmovik Defiants he produced last year.

I'd been wanting to do a non-jet entry for this GB and, with the reissue of the Airfix Defiant, this seemed an ideal, quick and easy conversion. Hah! - I should have known better.

In the immortal word of Robert Burns, "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley". Well, I don't know how the mice are getting on, but my plans for a quick and simple conversion went ganging agley at a furious pace.

In something like forty years of modelling, I've managed somehow to never actually build an Airfix Defiant, so I don't know if the mould has deteriorated with age, but some of the parts are fairly poorly moulded and lack definition, nothing fits anything else and the undercarriage bays and radiator bath are of the see-through variety typical of kits from the Fifties and Sixties. Not to mention that the front end barely looks big enough to accommodate a rubber band, let alone a Merlin engine!

Anyway, a lot of carving, puttying and sanding later, this is where I've got to. A (large) wedge of plastic card has been inserted in the nose to widen it, a new lower nose and tropical filter from an Airfix Spitfire V has been added, a cockpit interior (mostly from a Toko Il-2) has been inserted, the propellor has been replaced by the Airfix Spitfire item and fuselage has been cut down to accept a Toko Il-2 canopy.

Next stage is to paint and fit the canopy and add the wing guns and undercarriage. Then I'll take a break from this "quick and easy" conversion and go back to painting the Cheranovsky fighter.

Mossie · March 25, 2009, 03:22:19 AM

Makes you wonder if the Russians would have got anything out of the Defiant, in the same way that they did with the P-39 & P-40. Maybe a kind of mini Sturmovik? Keep it coming, looking forward to seeing it done!

nev · March 25, 2009, 05:43:26 AM

This is gunna be cool b)

Er, Comrade.

kitbasher · March 25, 2009, 02:30:40 PM

Thanks for kicking this one off, McGreig. The Sturmovik Defiants had passed me by - I must have a look. The front end is exactly what I had in mind for a single-seat naval derivation of the Defiant (the project actually existed, I'm calling it a 'Dolphin', circa 1941, model actually built circa 2012 at my current rate!); I was contemplating not doing it and disposing of the Defiant, but I think having seen this it's back on the agenda. Thanks for the inspiration.

Weaver · March 25, 2009, 05:40:38 PM

If I remember correctly (and I may not do) the Sturmovik Defiant was something I suggested to Mav. Got a couple of Defiant ideas in the pipeline myself (not this one though), so I'll be watching this with interest.

Maverick · March 25, 2009, 08:21:06 PM

Looking good Gordon. I'll be looking forward to the end result. Once again, I'm very happy to have provided the inspiration although I can't remember exactly who mentioned it so Weaver might be correct in calling it.

Regards,

Mav

GTX · March 27, 2009, 01:29:45 PM

Quote from: nev on March 25, 2009, 05:43:26 AM
This is gunna be cool b)

Er, Comrade.

Ditto!

Regards,

Greg

Ian the Kiwi Herder · April 09, 2009, 09:47:14 AM

The proliteriat demand news and pictures !

Komrade Ianovic

McGreig · April 10, 2009, 07:34:03 AM

Quote from: Ian the Hunter-Gatherer on April 09, 2009, 09:47:14 AM
The proliteriat demand news and pictures !

Sorry Comrade, but the Proletariat don't have to deal with Airfix's badly moulded, undersized, *!#*!#)!#, Capitalist ailerons

. I think that I'm going to steal Seavixen's idea, filling and sanding the existing parts and re-scribing new aileron lines.

The canopy is finished and painted but I don't want to add it until I've got the wing/aileron problem fixed. Maybe the Proletariat could fill in their time with a couple of Show Trials while they're waiting for the next update