1/72 Handley Page Halifax mk V

[elger]

For me this project is very much connected to a story, and I've been thinking about where to start. I might as well start at where I am now. Right now I'm sitting behind my computer (obviously), and if I look to my right, there's a mantlepiece with some postcards and an empty wine bottle. On the wall is a clock, pictures of me and my girlfriend, and also a poster and a photograph of a toy airplane my girlfriend took once. Have a photo!

Right in the middle you see something that looks a bit like a piece of scrap metal or something that would not look out of place as a Klingon weapon on the set of Star Trek. However, when you take a closer look, you'll see this:

you will have guessed of course that this is a piece from an aircraft. it was found by me and my dad a few years ago on the shore of the IJsselmeer. The number on the piece will not tell you which aircraft it was, but it will tell you what type of aircraft it was, and sometimes where it was located; just as a model plane, each individual part of an aircraft has a number. A number starting with 57 indicates that it is from a Halifax. The B indicates that it is part of the tail section. Our guess is that this piece was a part of one of the vertical tails of the aircraft.

The story of my Halifax can also be started somewhere else. This picture I took last summer in the small town of Stavoren. Behind the houses of one of the main streets, rather hidden away, is one of the churches of the town.

When you walk up the alley, go through the gate, you walk onto a very spaceous, peaceful church yard.

There, among the graves of the locals, a small part of the grave yard stands out; these are the graves of the fallen Commonwealth servicemen.

One of the graves belongs to Warrant Officer Harold Ferguson of the Royal Canadian Airforce. He was 23 when he died on October 15th, 1944.

Ferguson's body had been found early in the morning, that Sunday the 15th. He had drowned. The police report of the incidents also stated that apart from the body, pieces of wreckage of "an English aircraft" had also been washed ashore. In the water, only a few hundred metres off the coast, parts of a plane wreck could even be seen.

Edited November 20, 2009 by elger

[elger]

Another beginning of the story. On Saturday October 14th 1944, Flying Officer Bill Taylor of 298 Squadron was assigned a Special Duty operation. The goal was to "deliver parcels" - to drop supplies for the resistance. The target was located somewhere near Borger, Drenthe, The Netherlands.

Taylor is the one with the moustache. The codename for the flight would be Rummy 6. It was Taylor and his crew's second Special Duty flight but they were an experienced crew; They had been flying together for 2 years by October 1944. 298 Squadron had also been very active towing gliders during the D-day landings and Operation Market Garden.

From left to right: Harold "Fergy" Ferguson (bomb aimer), Alfred "Alf" Springate (radio operator), John Campbell (flight engineer), James "Jimmy" Horwood (tailgunner), Bill McGechie (navigator) and Bill Taylor (pilot). Springate was Welsh; Campbell was English; Ferguson, Horwood, McGechie, and Taylor were Canadian.

(this is not LL293)

Shift to present tense to make the narrative more exciting. At around 0.15 October 1944 Taylor's Halifax LL293 (or LL294 in some sources) with the radio code 8A-P takes off from its base Tarrant Rushton in Dorset, England. They head north, west of London. When they're north of Norwich, they turn east. The coast of the occupied Netherlands is passed about 8 kilometres south of the naval base Den Helder at an altitude of 7000 feet. When they pass the coast line, the aircraft turns towards the south east - towards Hoorn, and McGechie, the navigator, requests Taylor to drop to an altitude of 2000 feet and increase airspeed to 220 miles per hour. A few minutes later, Horwood, the tailgunner, thinks he sees a German nightfighter and warns the pilot to take evasive action. A few moments later, Horwood reports that the German fighter, which he identified as a Junkers 88, has disappeard into the clouds. They continue their flight towards the east, the airplane constantly varying its speed, course, and altitude.

During a maneuver in which Taylor drops the airplane to an altitude of 600 feet (or 180 meters) there is a sudden bright flash of light. The crew deliberats what it might have been - a fire burst from the night fighter they saw a few minutes ago, ground fire, or lightning. They decide however that most likely it was a flash of a flame coming out of the exhausts as a result of throttling back during the maneuver. However, shortly after that, Taylor begins to notice that the aircraft is responding in a strange manner, and that they were losing altitude. Horwood suggests something - perhaps their onboard toilet - might have shifted and is interfering with the control cables running along the fuselage towards the tail. Campbell, the engineer, and Springate, the radio operator, run to the back the plane and check to see if something is wrong, but they don't see anything out of the ordinary.

The aircraft continues to lose altitude, and is beginning to lean heavily to port. Taylor tells Ferguson and McGechie to abandon their stations in the nose of the aircraft. McGechie checkes his watch at this moment: it is 1.45 AM. Taylor struggles to maintain control of his aircraft. He pulls back the throttle of the starboard engines, and gaves full throttle on the left. Campbell is standing next to Taylor in the cockpit while the rest of the crew makes their way to the resting area in the middle of the aicraft, according to the emergency procedure. This part of the aircraft is the strongest and they will have the biggest chance of survival if they crash. Taylor orders the crew to open the emergency hatches in the roof of the plane - if they make an emergency landing the structure may buckle and opening the hatches will become impossible. Meanwhile, Taylor finds he is regaining some control. They fly low over the IJsselmeer, and pass the other coast north of Stavoren. An emergency landing has become inevitable, and with all his strengh Taylor manages to turn the aircraft around, heading into the wind. They make a 180 turn and they pass the coast again just south of Stavoren. Then they hit the water. The perspex nose breakes off on impact and the cold water gushes in. McGechie, who was standing up next to Taylor claimed it was the giant wave coming in that prevented him from being flung forward because of the impact. The rest of the crew in the middle of the plane are soaked, but everyone has survived the crash landing on the stormy lake in complete darkness. "It was one of Bill's better landings," one of the crew later stated.

The crew quickly abandones the aircraft knowing that it will sink within 10 minutes. It is dark and cold; it is raining and there are high seas. Outside, standing on the port wing, they notice that the port vertical tail has completely disappeared. The crew inflates their lifejackets, but Ferguson is having trouble with his. Springate helps him inflate it. Using their torches, the crew sees that the wing hatch containing their dinghy hasn't opened. They are going to have to swim to shore. Taylor points east and says that it is about 300 metres (less than 1000 ft) away - he had seen it just before the plane crashed. He suggests that they attempt to swim, hand in hand. Pretty soon however they notice that swimming is practically impossible with inflated lifejackets. Furgeson, who cannot swim, panicks and gives up the attempt. The crew decides to go back to the aircraft and try to recover their dinghy. Taylor and Springate take care of Ferguson. They manage to bring him to the tail of the aircraft, where he holds on to one of the barrels of the rear turret machineguns. Springate stays with Furgeson, while Taylor makes his way to the others who are back at the wing, which by this point has almost disappeared beneath the waves. They manage to climb on top of the wing again, but struggle to stay there because waves keep washing over it. McGechie makes his way back into the aircraft to retrieve an axe so that they can open the hatch in the wing. Once inside he notices that the lever connected to the cables that operate the hatch had not been completely pulled out. He gives it a jerk with no effect. He tries again and hears someone outside yelling, "it worked, it's coming out!" The dinghy is inflated automatically, launches itself out of the compartment in the wing, and glides into the water. Taylor jumps from the wing and swims after it, forgetting that the raft was attached to the aircraft with a rope. He manages to push the dinghy back towards the airplane and tells the crew to climb in. When the crew attempts to pull in Taylor, something is holding him back. His ankle has gotten caught in one of the antenna wires. McGechie tries to cut it with his knife, but that doesn't work. Taylor then manages to take off his boot, which did the trick, and he climbes into the dinghy.

In the meantime, Springate who was still at the tail with Ferguson has been calling for help repeatedly. Because of the cold he and Ferguson had been forced to let go the gun barrel. The crew in the dinghy tries to make their way to the tail, but this time the lifeline of the dingy has been caught in the antenna wire. The crew cuts the life line and goes over to the tail. There they find Springate and with what remains of their strength they pull him on board. There is no sign of Ferguson. The crew calls out for him and tries to search with their torches. The crew keeps calling for Ferguson and after a few minutes they hear a faint response. They try to row over to where they heard it but when they're there the cries seem to come from a different direction. Soon therearefter, they don't hear anything anymore except the wind and the waves. Desperate, the crew fire a signal flare, but there was no response anymore. It was then that the crew decides to row towards the coast, somewhat aided by the wind.

Edited November 2, 2008 by elger

[elger]

This is what the coast looks like south of Stavoren where the event took place. Of course, it would have been almost completely dark and as was mentioned before, it was a stormy night with rain, and even reported sleet. The crew must have been exhausted when they finally reached the shore at 3.30AM. The crew could not have been very familiar with an actual Dutch dike - the famous levy system which protects the low lands agains the water.

McGechie climbed the dike together with Taylor and attempted to do a quick reconaissance. On the other side of the dike they saw a path, a narrow canal, and beyond that, fields. The others cut the dinghy up to somewhat hide their trace. When they reconvened, it was decided to go to the other side of the canal because they would have had a better chance to hide.

The coast these days is a popular destination for people to go swimming. This family is climbing the dike in the opposite direction as Taylor and his crew did in 1944. The road would have been a path.

The crew tries to find a bridge to cross the canal. They first try to go east, but don't find one. They turn around again and walk into the other direction. There finally they find a bridge and cross. They hide their lifejackets underneath a small dam. They walk towards Stavoren, and in the distance, they can hear horses, a cart, and rattling metal milk containers. The crew runs towards the noise.

The noise the crew heard were two young farmers going out early that morning to milk their cows. They were Johannes Visser (1918-2003) and his sister Pietje Visser (1921-2001). Their father had recently deceased and they were trying to keep the family business going. In an interview in 2000, Johannes Visser said: "It was dark and there was a strong wind. At the edge of town there was a fence, it was called the 'white fence'. We were a bit beyond that fence when our horse was startled by something and stood still. My sister said 'what's wrong with the horse?'" That moment, they saw a group of soldiers in uniform, yelling at them, "please stop!"

The young farmers jumped from their cart. Johannes Visser was so startled he instinctively put his hands up. In the interview he said: "Suddenly there were people around is. They were young men in uniforms. First we thought they were German, but at the same moment we saw that their uniforms were different and we heard that they were speaking English. We couldn't understand them, but we gathered they wanted to tell us something. They were mentioning "an aeroplane". We then understood that they must have had some accident with their aircraft and were in need of help."

Johannes and Pietje did not speak English, but they asked (in Dutch or Frisian) whether they knew they had been spotted by the Germans. The airmen understood what they meant however and shook their heads. Pietje wanted to know if they were speaking the truth, so she checked whether the airmen's uniforms were really wet. The two quickly made up their mind to help the airmen.

It was a commonly known secret that another farmer, Harmen de Boer sometimes hid people at his farm nearby. The two young farmers thought it best to take the airmen there. Along the way they passed the location where the lifejackets had been hidden, and as they passed it, two of the crew jumped off the cart and retrieved them. Pietje noticed the airmen were shivering. She covered two of them with her brother's coat, and gave her own coat and sweater to the three others.

At some point Johannes and Pietje separated; Johannes would go on to milk the cows, going about his business, and Pietje would lead the airmen to Harmen de Boer's farm. To get there they left he cart behind, and walked possibly several miles through the fields, crossing ditches and climbing fences. Pietje talked to the airmen eventhough they didn't understand her, but it gave them some comfort. She was carrying all 5 life jackets, refusing to let the airmen help. She delivered the crew safely to De Boer's farm. The family there was surprised, but the crew received a warm welcome. Pietje waved the crew goodbye, and they waved back.

Pietje made her way back to her brother, and together they finished milking. It was about 7 AM when they were finished, and it was getting lighter. They climbed onto the dike and they could clearly see the aircraft a few hundred meters out. When they got home, they told their mother what had happened. She urged them not to mention the incident to anyone.

At 8.30 Johannes went back to the dike. He saw debris floating in the water. A little bit further there were more people on the dike, and Johannes decided to head over to see what was up. A dead body had washed ashore. It was a young man in uniform with a lifejacket on. Somebody said he was a German, but someone else corrected him, saying Germans didn't have those kinds of boots. Johannes noticed that on the airmen's sleeve it said "Canada". He did not have any obvious injuries.

On his way back to the farm a German soldier walking in the other direction approached Johannes and asks him if it was true that there was an airplane in the water and a dead body had been found. Johannes was startled that the Germans knew already, said "yes", and kept on walking. The family remained scared for quite some time after the incident; after all, they had helped Allied airmen to evade capture.

Back at the farm of Harmen de Boer, the crew were given dry clothes and food, and they were sent to bed to recover a bit from their ordeal. Harmen and his wife decide to contact the head of a local restance group. They couldn't stay near Stavoren because an active regiment of the Grüne Polizei was stationed there. As luck would have it, one of their two sons was dating a girl who was close to the members of the resitance group who were active in Gaastmeer, a town several miles to the north east, and she just happened to be at their farm that day. She went back to her home town and asked the leaders, and it was decided to take the airmen to that town. Gaastmeer was isolated, even these days it's quite difficult to get to. The town was home to what the Germans called "the darkest form of terrorism". The following night, at 4.00 AM, the crew was transported with a rowing boat from Warns (my home town) to Gaastmeer. Two members of the resistance were rowing. One of them spoke English and the crew were very happy to finally be able to tell somebody what they had been through. However, this distracted the one rower so much that the other one ended up doing most of the work. Aided by a little compas of the airmen, they made it to Gaastmeer in a few hours.

The most difficult part of the trip was passing the bridge at de Galemadammen; it's a narrow passage that would have been guarded by German soldiers.

The crew remained in Gaastmeer for six months, until the end of the war. They hid at different locations all over the little community. When it was dark the crew sometimes even went for short walks, and in December 1944, the crew were even taught to iceskate on one of the fields that had flooded earlier. Bill Taylor was taught a bit of Frisian; he was able to say "Ik bin in skipper fan neat - ik kaem yn 'e Sudersé", meaning "I'm a lousy skipper - I came to land in the Sudersé; (IJsselmeer)". It took him some time before he figured out what it actually meant.

These are some of the farms where they stayed:

James Horwood helped the resistance by servicing weapons, and by giving weapon training to the resistance. Alfred Springate aided the resistance operating an illegal radio; he maintained much of the radio traffic between Britain and the south west part of Friesland. When the war ended, the crew quickly went back to their home countries, but not after a ceremony in which they thanked the people of Gaastmeer for their generocity.

I had the distinct honour of meeting Alfred Springate in Stavoren in 2004, when a monument commemorating the incident was unveiled. My dad and I gave him one of the pieces of aluminium we have found in the last few years that belonged to his aircraft. All but a couple of other parts we have donated to the Frisian Resistance Museum in 2005. I have also met some of the members of the resistance in 2003 when a book about the events was published.

This is the monument. The plane wreck itself was salvaged in 1953, including its cargo that was still in the aircraft's bomb bay: dozens of containers with weapons which never reached their destination.

What caused the Halifax to crash remains unknown. Jan J Van der Veer claims it was most likely a shell from ground fire from a battery near Hoorn that tore off one of the vertical tails and heavily damaged the wing and engines on the port side. Vic Klep argues that it is possible the radio antenna snapped and tore off the port vertical tail. I don't know.

So, in the following months (I'm quite a slow builder), I will be posting updates about the construction of a model of Halifax LL293. This is what I'm starting with:

Edited November 2, 2008 by elger

[AnthonyWan]

:blink:

That might have been the most detailed pre-build introduction I have ever seen. Very well done!! :)

Can't wait to see your build :(

=Awan

[icekj]

Thank you very much for the detailed background of this build. I think that it does enhance the entire build experience.

Looking forward to seeing the whole process on this build.

Ken

[cessnadriver84]

Quite the history lesson, facinating story this should be a good build to watch.

[tempestwulf]

Homage to you sir for your research and motivation, hope the Halifax comes out a beauty.

[elger]

Airfix vs Matchbox

Comparatively, the Halifax is the most neglected aircraft by scale model manufacterers. Later Halifax marks were arguably better aircraft than Lancasters, and it was used for a great variety of purposes, unlike the Lancaster. There are only two kits in 1/72 scale if you want to build a Halifax, the Matchbox b.I/II and the Airfix B.III. Both are far from perfect.

If you're building a Merlin engined variant the Matchbox offering is the most logical choice. However, for a long time I was considering using the Airfix fuselage with the Matchbox wings to build a mk V. My main reason for this was that I was assuming that the Airfix fuselage would be dimensionally more accurate. Although usually Airfix is pretty much spot on when it comes to dimensions, for example with their 1/48 Mosquito I believe, in this case they're off. This was first mentioned to me by Graham Boak after a few discussions on the Hyperscale forum.

I actually built the Airfix B.III years ago. It's no longer in one piece but I do have many of the parts left, which allowed me to compare it to the Matchbox kit.

(skillz, I did not have them)

here we are comparing the two fuselages. As you can see, the Matchbox fuselage is longer. Via a friend I got hold of the Granger drawings which allowed an accurate comparison.

The Matchbox fuselage is too long, and although Airfix has the length just about right, there is a more serious issue.

the shape of the nose is off; it's too big.

Matchbox comes much closer.

Actually, what needs to happen, and this is exactly according to the instructions of the Falcon replacement clear parts that I purchased, I will need to cut off about 2,5mm from the rear of the front part of the fuselage.

here you can see the two parts overlapping, making the lenght more correct.

The Airfix tail fins are wrong too. This is what they look like if you put them directly onto the Granger drawings.

They're too small. And whereas the Matchbox parts have these somewhat unattractive trenches of panel lines, the dimensions are far more accurate:

[elger]

shopping list

The defining feature of the Halifax mk V was that it used a different type of landing gear. From Halifax in Action (Squadron/Signal publications): "Because of a shortage of the British Messier undercarriage it was decided to fit the Dowty levered suspension type of undercarriage to the Halifax. This type of landing gear had proven very reliable on both the Manchester and the Lancaster. Since the designation B Mk III had been reserved fro the Hercules radial powered Halifax already well into development an dthe designation B Mk IV was reserved for the Rolls-Royce 65 powered HP 60A project (eventually abandoned), the Dowty suspension equipped Halifax was designated B Mk V. Produced in parallel with the B Mk II with which, excpet for the landing gear, it was identical.

After tests to find compatible lubricants and seals, Dowty commenced production for the Halifax, whereupon an inherent weakness was revealed in the castings used. Since little could be done to remedy the situation, if Halifax output was not to be seriously disrupted, Mk V production continued with landing weight being restricted to 40,000 lbs. For this reason the majority of Mk Vs were allocated to meteorological reconnaissance and maritime patrol duties, glider tug and transport work (...)."

LL293 most likely had the following features too:

- 4 bladed propellors

- no upper turret

- no H2S

- a parachute hatch, known as a "joe hole"

Aeroclub has a Dowty type landing gear in their range, as well as 4-bladed propellors for the Halifax.

new intakes from Aeroclub will look much nicer and are more accurate than the kit parts.

And while I was at it, I also bought some replacement guns.

I bought the White Ensign Models detail sets too. They look amazing - I just hope they'll fit. Although they state the sets are for both the Airfix and Matchbox kits, they seem to refer to Airfix more in their instructions.

The exterior set, with landing gear bays...

and the piece de resistance, the bomb bay. Although I'm not quite sure how weapon containers would be transported - does anyone know if they could be fitted to the bomb racks?

For the first time I'm going to use vaccuum formed canopies... wish me luck! :-)

[elger]

planning plastic surgery

Although more accurate in shape than the Airfix fuselage, the Matchbox fuselage leaves much to be desired. Two things are causing the issues. The first is that because they offer so many options, several windows need to be deleted - they're fine for a b.I or an early b.II, but they shouldn't be on a mk V.

The second problem is that the layout of the windows is inaccurate. The small round window above the wing is missing, and the windows towards the rear are placed inaccurately, and the panel line towards the rear is inaccurate too. All the details in that section, including the crew access hatch need to be moved backwards about 4mm.

I'm also planning to scribe and rescribe the entire fuselage.

This is my map of the plan of attack:

comments and suggestions in case I missed something or if I'm wrong about something are most welcome.

[smutz]

Fantastic research, this will be a stunning & interesting WIP.

Andy.

[Flankerman]

Great posts elger - especially the historical bits, very interesting and poignant.

You seem to have all the bases covered - but just to let you know, there is a good build article in this months Model Aircraft Monthly covering the 'conversion'/building of a Halifax Mk V.

The author used the Revell/matchbox kit - with a Pavla nose section for a GR Mk. II

Might be worth checking out....

http://www.sampublications.com/pages_dpsin...halifax_dps.htm

Keep us posted....

Ken

Edited November 9, 2008 by Flankerman

[elger]

thanks for the encouragement everyone!

I'm happy about the compliments about my research. you haven't seen pictures of my model in progress yet though ;-)

Flankerman, thanks for the heads up, but I don't think that magazine is available here...

[JMan]

Wow, I tell ya reading your story I completely forgot this was a WIP, thought I was reading a book.......hehe! Awesome factfinding, and cant wait to see you give those airmen credit for what they did and struggled through!

[elger]

I've made a bit of progress.

As you can see, I've completed many of the things listed in my earlier plan of attack. So far this experience has been a lot like sculpting: somewhere hidden in the blob of plastic is the shape of a Halifax.

- I've gotten rid of the windows I didn't need, I relocated the windows I did need but were in the incorrect position, and I added some windows.

- I've successfully removed the lower wingroot so that I can fit the WEM bomb bay; it doesn't fit well at the back however so I needed to add two little slots on either side to make sure it fits.

- I've made a parachute hole just behind the bomb bay.

- I've filled the recessed entry hatch which is also incorrectly placed, but I have not yet scribed a new one 4 mm back.

- I've removed most of the surface detail; I think I will rescribe it when I have glued the fuselage halves together.

- I've glued the front parts of the fuselage in place too.

In accordance with Falcon's instructions that came with the vac canopy, I removed 2.5 mm from the rear of the front fuselage pieces. Apart from the vac canopy I also used the Granger drawings as a guide for this, and I ended up installing the front part at a more upward angle. This way it is actually closer to the actual overall shape.

I will need to shave off a little from the front part itself to make sure that's vertical, and you can tell that the windows of the navigator's compartment are now looking somewhat slanted, but like I said, over all, I think having the fuselage pointing up a bit is more accurate. It's still not completely accurate - it's plain to see that it doesn't quite match the drawing and it's still a bit too long, but compare it to how it would look without the modification:

I had bought another kit (this time the Revell reissue) for a potential future project, but for now it offers interesting comparison material.

Straight from above it's clear to see the difference in length.

in the frontal view, side by side, you can see how much the angle is different:

I was a bit worried at first, but I do think I'm on the right track. If you look at this picture, I think that if you were to not modify the original Matchbox shape, the nose of the aircraft looks as if it's pointed down far too much.

not bad over all, I say :-)

TTFN

[Blackcollar]

That looks pretty cool, and you're doing great! Where did you get hold of the Halifax drawings?

-Al

[ron]

Very, very, very cool! I am greatly impressed. When I was at the RAF museum in Hendon I spent hours (literally) looking over the crashed Halifax. Us Canadians flew allot of those Halibags in the war, the plane doesn't get the fame that it should.

[elger]

That looks pretty cool, and you're doing great! Where did you get hold of the Halifax drawings?

-Al

The drawings are by Alfred Granger and they appeared in Aerodata International # 7 "Handley Page Halifax: Merlin Engined Variants" by Philip J. R. Moyes, Vintage Aviation Publications Ltd, Oxford, 1979.

There is a pdf file of it in circulation (legally questionable I'm sure) but that's actually how I got them. I found it with Google. (I would have prefered purchasing an actual copy; but I couldn't find it anywhere).

[elger]

or to put it somewhat more subtle; whereas the WEM bulkheads fit perfectly in the Airfix fuselage, they don't in the fuselage of Matchbox (Revell).

(inside Airfix; a perfect fit)

(it's a bit difficult to see, but it really doesn't fit at all in the Matchbox fuselage)

The problem is caused by the fact that the Airfix fuselage shape is wrong. More specifically, it's too narrow at the top. Compare the shape of the WEM bulkhead (shaped exactly to fit into the Airfix fuselage) to the outline of the bulkheads as seen on the Granger drawings:

As many of you know; from the box the Matchbox cockpit layout is almost completely fictional - especially that solid floor is rather silly. Airfix, though more limited in detail and inaccurately shaped, has an almost perfect layout.

The only real problem of WEM and Airfix is that the floor of the Engineer's station is too high and a bit simplified, but I'm going to comprimise there because the floor will be difficult to see once the model is closed up.

I set out to make new bulkheads and floors out of styrene. This was the first time I tried this. I simply used the WEM floor parts as templates for the styrene floors, but I adopted the shape of the upper parts of the Matchbox bulkheads for the styrene parts.

The result was a more accurate layout based on WEM/Airfix, shaped so that it will fit into the Matchbox fuselage.

tada! :-)

here, from top to bottom first the Revell/Matchbox fuselage with the inaccurate Matchbox layout; second the Airfix fuselage with the Airfix cocpit with the correct layout but which won't fit in the Matchbox fuselage because of the inaccurate shape of the top part of the bulkheads; third the Matchbox fuselage with the scratchbuilt cockpit bulkheads and floors.

I think it's an improvement :-)

TTFN

[martin_sam_2000]

That is looking good. we definately need an accurate Halifax ion both 72 and 48, especially 48th!!!!!

$200 for the *wonderful* FM Halifax is like putting a lighter to money then flushing it down the toilet.

I will be whatching this one with interest

Sean

[HOLMES]

Elger,

Thank you ofr a very fascinating bit of history and the photos of places where they stayed.....

I am interested in History and seeing that you are making a Halifax and reading the background to

this build just makes it more interesting and SO very appealing....

I will be thrilled to follow this build with great enthusiam...

And so far it is looking very IMRPESSIVE !!!

HOLMES.

[JMan]

WOW, thats some fancy scratchbuilding, superb job!

[tanis73]

Very impressive!!

I've got a similar project, your build is very appreciate !

I will be whatching this one with interest

[elger]

Last friday I taught my last lesson of the year, and last week I finished the first draft of the second chapter of my thesis, so this weekend I could endulge :-)

the WEM detail set provides sidewall detail for the station of the engineer, pilot, and radio operator, but not for the rest of the nose section. Inspired by the fabulous work by Dino Carancini (check it out here http://www.webalice.it/d.carancini/halifax-WIP.html) I decided to try building the ribs out of styrene myself.

It was kindof difficult to match the styrene with the proportions of the Matchbox fuselage and the WEM detail set. The WEM set is definitely only designed for Airfix. If I were to try this again, I would probably just create all the sidewall detail out of styrene and not bother with the WEM parts. They are fabulous though, and it should work brilliantly on the Airfix. Apart from the shape of the nose and the twin tails that are too small, I'm beginning to think it's really not that bad.

it looks slightly awkward in places, but I think it's a definite improvement over "straight from the box". it should look great when it's painted.

both sides.

quite a lot will be visible from the nose when it's closed up. enough to justify 2 working whole afternoons ;-) by the way, notice the window I added at the bottom. neither Matchbox nor Airfix have this window in their kit but it should be there. Though probably smaller than I made it...

view from the top.

that's it for now!

[Patrick_Nevin]

Last friday I taught my last lesson of the year, and last week I finished the first draft of the second chapter of my thesis, so this weekend I could endulge :-)

That is some very nice and intricate work, sir - definitely adds

Patrick