1/48 Sea Beau

[Old Wombat]

Base kit is a Tamiya 1/48 Bristol Beaufighter TF.Mk.X to which I'll be adding parts sourced from the remains of an Italeri 1/48 S-2E/G Tracker.

Those parts will be the wing-fold interior details & the hook ... Possibly plus anything else which may look cool & serve a potential purpose.

At the moment it's all just a pile of sprues in the workspace & a vague plan forming in my head.

[Doug K]

Looking forward to this, I have lots of Beau bits lying around 😉

[dogsbody]

I acquired this drawing years ago, on the long-gone AirWarFare forum.





Chris

[Old Wombat]

Thanks, guys!

Dogsbody, I got the same image over on BtS, & yes, a similar idea is forming.

I'm thinking, though, of having the wing fold further out (although that screws with the 3-part wing plan) & losing the machine guns.

[Old Wombat]

1st cuts made & glue applied.

Hook & hook fuselage section of the Tracker reduced by about 6mm, which is roughly 210mm (8¹/₂") IRL, & glued back together, narrower & shorter.

Outer wings glued together, as I need to be able to gauge how to work the fold parts into the wing, which has a much deeper chord than the Tracker but only about ²/₃ the span, & I'll probably do the tail & tail-planes before I go to bed.


Note: A quick check of the Beau against the Grebe shows the Beau to be smaller in comparison than I expected, although most of that difference is forward of the wings.

[dogsbody]

" Dogsbody, I got the same image over on BtS, & yes, a similar idea is forming.

I'm thinking, though, of having the wing fold further out (although that screws with the 3-part wing plan) & losing the machine guns. "



Yeah, I noticed that. I've had this in the files since 2004. There was an awful lot of great stuff on the old AWF forum. I wish I had saved more of it.


Chris

[Old Wombat]

Wings cut 5mm out from the air intakes on the leading edge.

Excellent spot for the wing fold, if losing the .303 Brownings isn't an issue (&, apparently it wasn't as I've read that Coastal Command Beaufighters often had the wing guns removed) but it looks like I'm going to have to scratch-build at least ³/₄ of the wing structure & fold mechanism because there is no way the Tracker's fold pieces are suitable as is (far too small).

Photos will be coming but I've got to get a new debit cash card up & running to get my SmugMug subscription up & running again (it ran out while I was on holidays & so did the current Load-&-Go card).


Now, gents, a question: As I have to scratch build so much, do I make the wing fold a manual system or a hydraulic one?

[AS.12]

You could do an Aéronavale one, which would just be un eaufighter.


Ah my taxi's here...

[NARSES2]

Now, gents, a question: As I have to scratch build so much, do I make the wing fold a manual system or a hydraulic one?

For the period concerned I would have thought a manual system.

Looking forward to this 

[Old Wombat]

You could do an Aéronavale one, which would just be un eaufighter.


Ah my taxi's here...

'Eau, non! She's going to be Royal Australian Navy, murky bucket!

[Old Wombat]

Now, gents, a question: As I have to scratch build so much, do I make the wing fold a manual system or a hydraulic one?

For the period concerned I would have thought a manual system.

Looking forward to this 

According to information I have the Avenger & Hellcat both used hydraulic wing fold systems on the more complex "Sto-Wing" aft folding system due to the weight of their wings & they definitely fit the period (even the Wildcat had a hydraulic system for a while but it was heavy & Grumman found that the fold could be achieved by 2 men just as quickly, so they stopped fitting them).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bh3CKw_HLk

My fold is pretty close to half of the Beaufighter's wing, which would make it easily heavy enough to justify a hydraulic wing fold & is (over) vertical which makes it difficult to do manually. However, if someone can come up with a suitable (read "easy & safe") manual system I'm all eyes!

[dogsbody]

What about a flush-fitting rod on the bottom wing, with the hinge toward the wingtip. Deck crew could release the rod and then pust the wing up to the lock position. The rod could also be used to lower the wing after the up-locks are released.


Chris

[Old Wombat]

Nice idea but not really suitable for the over-wing fold I intend.

Similar to the image below but the wings won't be overlapping;

[Captain Canada]

What are those things sticking out under the nacelles of that Tracker ?

[kerick]

Sonobouy launchers? Nope, sonobouy tubes were at the back of the engine nacelles.

Wikapedia said something about smoke devices but I'm not sure. Photos show these devices on some aircraft but not others.