Boulton-Paul Defiant NF.I Night fighter

 

The squadron codes (PS-P) and the non-slip area in the port wing were airbrushed. Decals for these were not used. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The landing lights have a (nearly invisible) lamp where I added the structure with home-made decals. 

The exhausts were dark metallizer with rust added. 

The wear of the paint follows the internal structure of the wings a bit.Unclear what showed up but I assumed it was bare metal. How visible it is depends on light and viewing angle. 

 

Starboard wing. Decals for 100 octane fuel marking were the only stencils used. 

The IFF wires. 

 

Detailed view of turret and cockpit. I was tired of featureless compasses so I added my home-made decal. 

 

 

The light on the spine was enhanced with 5SecondFix (clear UV-cured resin). 

 

 

 

 

The kit lacks the amber downward identification light. A hole was drilled, clear sprue was inserted and sanded smooth. 

 

 

 

The instrument panel. Before I put on the decal I filled the instruments several times with Future to make them less deep. The decals were also cut to pieces so there is less surrounding material around the individual instruments. 

The turret doesn't fit in the sideways position as the ammunition containers interfere with the fuselage. The rim of the turret then keep popping up on the port side. I sanded the ammunition containers down to make the turret fit. On the left the Mk.I turret (which will point forwards). 

The turret controls had two oxygen meters underneath the armor plate. I used instrument decals for these. 

The decking behind the cockpit is not empty. It contains the R/T transmitter, TR.1133 for NF.I, as well as the piston for raising/lowering the fairing in front of the turret. I scratch-built those. 

 

A plug was made for the decking behind the cockpit. After the picture was made liquid mask was used to fix that in position. 

All the masking. A paper cylinder was inserted in the position of the turret with foam inside that. 

The structure of the fabric surfaces was detailed by masking and then spraying black. This is the masking of the rudder. 

After this black was sprayed I removed the masking and sprayed black again. I thought I had done just enough but could have done less. The effect is difficult to see. Once the control surfaces were done they were masked off during the rest of the painting.