Finnish Defiantovik

Weaver · January 04, 2010, 10:04:15 AM

More a declaration of intent than the formal start of a project, some or all of my LIS builds may not get built, but they're all deliberately simple and small so the prospects are good.

This one is a 1/72nd Airfix Defiant, with Finnish markings and fixed skis from a PM Fokker D.XXI, a simple, single-gun turret from an Anson, wing guns, and a repositioned radiator to make room for centreline bombs.

nev · January 04, 2010, 10:26:14 PM

Sounds very interesting....I like this one better than the other.

Mossie · January 05, 2010, 03:37:01 PM

Funnily enough, I picked up a Defiant today to potentially donate parts to my D.XXIII. The Defiant should look good with Finnish markings.

Weaver · January 09, 2010, 10:08:37 AM

ARGGGGGH!!!!

1. <Insert favorite 10 min rant about the quality of the Airfix Defiant cribbed from anybody else who's tried to build one>

2. I thought I could live with the horrible engine cowling, but I just can't, so it's out with the Evergreen and putty. Since I'm grafting the radiator cowling onto the bottom of the engine, I might be able to use that to make it deeper in a cheat'n sort of way. My "wonderful" free-gift Hurricane will be donating it's prop & spinner, since it's desitined to be de-evolved to a 2-blader anyway.

3. I thought I'd measured all this out ages ago, but come to do it, and the Anson turret doesn't fit: it's much too wide. Various trimmings to both the turret and the airframe have ensued, and it's getting there, but easy it ain't.

4. I hadn't appreciated how close the Defiant's wheel wells are to the centreline: how close can they be and still allow a centerline bomb pylon? The Fw-190'd gear came pretty close but that could still carry one.....

The Rat · January 09, 2010, 10:28:36 AM

Quote from: Weaver on January 09, 2010, 10:08:37 AM
ARGGGGGH!!!!

1. <Insert favorite 10 min rant about the quality of the Airfix Defiant cribbed from anybody else who's tried to build one>

I feel your pain. I've got one on the bench right now that will one day, after the loss of much hair I'm sure, emerge from the bowels of my construction facility as an Australian tank-buster. Every time I try to get another bit done I find another reason to pick up something else.

Weaver · January 17, 2010, 03:54:15 PM

Some progress:

You wouldn't believe how much effort it's taken to get that bloody turret looking like it just dropped in. it was too tall, sat too deep, was too wide..... It probably won't rotate when the model's finished, and I probably don't care. The slot behind it isn't some exotic mod, just a tidy-up after removing the hump.

I've spliced the top of the engine cowling apart with a wedge made from strips of .010 Evergreen, using the Hurricane prop as a reference. Still don't know how I'm doing the underside.....

The radiator came out and cleaned up nicely, and I decided to take the hole out to the next panel line, so that the patch can be done with minimal filler and a correct-looking line, rather than an oval patch and a bald-spot in the rivets.

sequoiaranger · January 17, 2010, 04:30:56 PM

>I hadn't appreciated how close the Defiant's wheel wells are to the centreline: how close can they be and still allow a centerline bomb pylon?<

Gotta move the holes From:

to:

by cutting out the hole ("A"+"B"), moving "B" outward, and putting "A" in the center. Then do that with the other side:

At least you might use the straight radiator cut-out for part of the cut. I have a fine rotary razor saw for such work. Hope you have something like it, or it will be a lot of labor. It will certainly look better, though, if you do move the holes.

I feel your pain on the cowling--I bought an aftermarket resin nose for my ground-attack Defiant because the kit one was so bad. Since widening the nose (good idea) has "oblong-ed" the spinner area, I would make a circular disc the exact size of the large end of your spinner, glue it to the nose, and thus get a good idea what has to be puttied or filed to make a smooth transition from nose to spinner. I ended up using a Hurricane tropical/dust filter inlet under the cowling, as mine was to be used in North Africa.

Despite the hassles, I like what you did with your Anson turret.

Be brave and bold!! Whiffing ain't for wussies!

Weaver · January 17, 2010, 08:41:31 PM

Cheers Sequoia!

Yeah I know how to move it, the question was do I need to? These are supposed to be standard off-the-line Defiants modified in a hurry by the Finns. I could see them replacing one turret with another (with a bit of luck) in order to save weight, I could see them moving the radiator and I could even see them fitting guns in the wings, but I couldn't see them re-engineering the whole wing with the gear wider apart just in order to drop a few bombs. I think if that was needed, they'd have either let it go and just used wing racks, or gone to fixed gear and reinforced the wing roots inside the gear wells for dive-bombing. The latter isn't so crazy as it sounds: they fitted a Fokker D.XXI with retractable gear, and it made a whole 9mph difference to it's top speed....

TsrJoe · January 18, 2010, 03:11:52 AM

love your build so far, methinks this is going to look sweet and quite subtle when completed, i like the returreted idea too, just the sortv thing i could imagine Valmet rebuilding for Ilmavoimat service, what scheme are you planning, John Lacey (maverick) has produced q a few really neat snow schemes camouflaged Finnish profiles that might privide inspiration?

cheers, Joe

Weaver · January 18, 2010, 04:28:22 AM

Quote from: TsrJoe on January 18, 2010, 03:11:52 AM
love your build so far, methinks this is going to look sweet and quite subtle when completed, i like the returreted idea too, just the sortv thing i could imagine Valmet rebuilding for Ilmavoimat service, what scheme are you planning, John Lacey (maverick) has produced q a few really neat snow schemes camouflaged Finnish profiles that might privide inspiration?

cheers, Joe

Cheers Joe. Not thought to hard about the scheme yet, but I half-recall a scheme that was basically the standard green & black with temporary white criss-crosses over it to give an improvised "white with dark patches" pattern. Does that make any sense? Liked the idea of scale-brush-painting it with a really small brush.....

Brian da Basher · January 18, 2010, 05:44:33 AM

I really like the look of the new turret, Weaver and I think you're got the right idea on how far these would've been modified to get them into combat. I like the idea of fixed gear, a belly bomb and wing racks.

Already looking forward to the next update!

Brian da Basher

Weaver · January 18, 2010, 06:25:37 AM

Cheers Brian. On the same quick 'n' dirty principle, I'm considering 2 x 20mm cannons in underwing blisters with a vertical drum in the wing with a small blister on top. It'd be a much easier job to install than cutting holes in the wing spars...

Might make the undercarriage detachable, just so I can swap it for spats for you......

sequoiaranger · January 18, 2010, 09:34:11 AM

Weaver, I think you are in an either-OR situation for guns and bombs. Obviously the Defiant was not meant to carry bombs. (I can just see Chamberlain/Churchill being presented with an "exciting new fighter" and him asking, "Yes, but can it carry bombs?"---shades of the Me-262 **JEEZE**, did I just use "Defiant" and "Me-262" in the same sentence??

)

I think the only bombs it could carry in its present state would be some small 50-lb anti-personnel bombs or something on a thin, long, center rack between the wheel wells. *OR*, take out the turret (WHAT??? After all that work??) and use the space as a mini-bomb-bay with vertical bomb racks a la He-111.

However, I think your fixed landing gear idea is perhaps the best to free up the space between the wheels for a centerline bomb of reasonable size. I wouldn't go over 250 lb or so---maybe a double, triple, or quadruple (two twins?) rack for 100 lb bombs. We are talking anti-tank or anti-softskin here, not trying to sink the Marat on its first try.

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to updates on this worthy project.

Weaver · January 18, 2010, 10:03:46 AM

Cheers SR: it's becoming more Defuka than Defiantovik isn't it?

Speaking of names, I really can't call it Defiantovik can I? Google translates "Defiant" as "Uhmakkaaksi" . I'm always dubious of automatic translation though. Any thoughts anyone?

sequoiaranger · January 18, 2010, 10:24:25 AM

Finnish is an "odd" language, related to Hungarian and Estonian, so I can't help in the translation or pronunciation. Maybe just shorten it to "Uhma" as a nickname (and think of Ms. Thurman so you smile when you say it!).

PS--of course the "100-lb bombs" is an English-equivalent ballpark estimate. The "proper" metric measure would probably be 40 or 50kg bombs. I'm just "shooting from the hip" here, but I think the Japanese had some anti-personnel bombs of "odd" weights, like 44 kg, or 46 kg that they used from their Ki-51 "Sonia"s.