Brian da Basher's Junkyard

[Brian da Basher]

Here are the assorted parts I'm going to use for my entry. The fuselage is a box-scale P-51 as is the canopy. The spats are from Aeroclub. The rest are nameless. I'll probably use a little bit of sheet styrene too. I'm grateful to HOG for being so generous in sending me practically all of his 1/72 scale (and smaller) spares.

Pardon the pic quality while I get used to Irfanview. It doesn't have an "Instant Fix" like my beloved Photoshop.

Brian da Basher

[kitbasher]

Intrigued.  What's the Mustang kit?

[John Howling Mouse]

Spats?  You're going to try to build something with spats this time?

Do you know which way they normally go on?   

[Brian da Basher]

The Mustang fuselage is from a 1/96 Eagle kit, according to the generous donor, Mr HOG.

I've had to make a couple of minor substitutions. I used some thinner bits of wing for the tips on the upper wing and I replaced the rudder with one from an Me-109. I also added the nose guns from a P-40. The model is all built, except for attaching the upper wing and I got the first coat of paint on this evening.

Updates as they happen,
Brian da Basher

P.S. I think I got the spats on right, but Mr Howling Mouse will let me know if I flubbed it.

[Brian da Basher]

¡Los Combatientes Republicanos esforzados de la Noche salvan Madrid! ¡No Pasarán!(Valiant Republican Night Fighters save Madrid! They Shall not Pass!) screamed the headlines of the El Diario la Prensa on March 3, 1938. The hero of the Spanish Republic was the CASA Halcón de Noche or Night Hawk, the new night fighter rushed into the breech to save the capitol of the nation. Since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalists had launched bombing raids on Madrid, hoping to demoralize the Republic and sieze the city. In the late summer of 1937, the Republican Air Force was finally able to re-establish air superiority over Madrid with their Soviet-supplied I-16 Moscas. The Nationalists suffered terrible losses and eventually switched to night raids using incendiary bombs. The raids continued night after night with the Republicans only able to offer a token resistance until the new specialized CASA Night Hawk came into service. The Night Hawks were able to completely obliterate the Fascist raiders, downing 27 of 30 bombers sent against the capitol on that March evening. The Nationalists refused to admit defeat and eventually sacrificed almost their entire bomber fleet, but to no avail. When the Republicans launched their summer offenive in June, 1938, the Fascists had no bombers to stop the onslaught. Generalissimo Franco was captured by Comandante Enrique Lister of the famous Quinte Brigada and the remnants of the Nationalist army were forced to surrender. The CASA Halcón de Noche can been seen today at the Museo Republicano de Victoria in Madrid

Brian da Basher

[Joe C-P]

Great job! It looks real enough to fool most, and I wouldn't have guessed it was pieced together from random bits.

JoeP

[Brian da Basher]

This little project went together fairly smoothly with a few minor glitches and substitutions. First off, I had to find new parts to use for the upper wingtips as the original bits were far too thick. I also ended out adding a rudder from an Me-109 as the original one on the fuselage seemed too small. Once I read the note from HOG explaining the fuselage was 1/96 scale it made sense. I also found a little bit of spare strut material for the tailplanes as they looked like they needed something. Lastly, I added the nose guns from a P-40 kit to arm this bird. The entire model was painted by hand with acrylics, including the red bands and rudder stripes. I tried to tone down the markings so they'd appear moe suitable for a night fighter, and substituted tan for the yellow in the middle rudder stripe. I opted for painting the canopy in coipper as it was yellowed and I had to sand it down to get rid of the Malcolm hood bulge. The fuselage codes were from my decal stash ('N' for noche, or night) and the model was rigged with model railroad wire, Gator glue and a lot of patience.

Brian da Basher

[Rafael]

Another piece of fun modeling!!!

And it has spats!!!!

Really, your Halcón Nocturno is a piece of art. I never thought a P-51 fuselage had any more potential than for modified Mustangs, and this build proved me completely wrong!. Also, the biplane construction and the rigging (I can't even rig my shoelaces! ) is a wonderful touch.

Love it!

Rafa

[HOG]

Hoyhoy Brian
Simply stunning streamlined spatted sesquiplane, simply sillilly stated.

Nice to see those bits used that would otherwise be in a landfill.
tregards
Gary

[Ed S]

When I first looked at the photo, I wondered "what does this have to do with the pile of junk he started with?"  Then I looked closer and realized you actually made something with that pile of junk.

Very creative and well done. 

Ed

[John Howling Mouse]

Looks very fast, too (talented bugger!).  Good job on the spats...glad to see you overcame your aversion to them!!   

[ysi_maniac]

I absolutely LOVE your alt history and, above all, your model.
That Halcón de Noche looks utterly fast and gorgeous.



I would like to make something like that ... one day

[kitbasher]

Brian - excellent, but....
1.  How do you manage to be so prolific?
2.  Where do you get your ideas from?
3.  were you inspired by the Avia B.534?
4.  I bet this isn't the last from you in this GB.

[Brian da Basher]

I'm really glad you guys like my Spanish night fighter. I had a blast putting it together.

I'm not sure what the proper translations from English to Spanish are and I relied on a free translation website. I think I like the name Halcón Nocturno better.

Kitbasher, to answer your questions:

1. Outside of work and weekend visits with the girlfriend, modeling is what occupies most of my time. I average a completed model every 10 days. At last count, I had 150 models on display in my tiny cottage (most in the ceiling fleet).

2. My ideas usually come to me while fiddling around with the parts. A lot of ideas collapse under the weight of reality.

3. I love the B.534 and have a kit of it but I'm probably going to mangle it hoirribly. None of my models ever end out looking like the picture on the box. If the B.534 inspired me here, it was completely subconcious.

4. Correct. I've got a few other ideas I'm thinking about. Since I'm a very frugal modeler, I'm used to working with parts from different kits to build something new.

I'm really impressed with the quality of the projects I've seen so far in this group build. You gents are hard to keep with!

Brian da Basher

[jeff3385]

Brian,

Great looking night fighter there. You ought to give some thought to creating a model of one of those Nationalist bombers to display alongside. Dig into your parts pile and create big ol' slow moving bomber, maybe with six engines and spatted landing gear.