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insufficient to avoid a tail sitter,

so further on in construction I had

to add more weights inside each

engine nacelle, and even the nose

gear well, before my Brittania would

sit level on her undercarriage.

Unfortunately my cockpit

windscreen came broken into two

parts (presumably in shipment to

me here in the United States), but

a quick e-mail and I was quickly

provided with a replacement –

something much larger companies

could learn from! I chose to use

the individual clear passenger

window inserts, but only as

blanks before adding super glue

and sanding to produce a totally

smooth fuselage surface.

As supplied, the fuselage

windows are rather foggy and I had

already established that the window

pattern would not match up with

the decals I was planning to use

(more on that later). The instruction

sheet also points out that on the

BOAC Britannia they provide

markings for, two of the windows

need to be deleted, something

I also confirmed with my main

reference (Charles Woodley’s

book, Bristol Britannia). You also

have to fill and sand the recessed

lines for a forward port cargo

door, unless you are planning on

building the RAF or cargo versions.

The recessed panel lines and

deeper recessed engravings,

like the rudder, wing, and rear

stabilizer details are quite well

represented, though in a few areas

they need a little cleanup. Mach

2 do not provide any locaters on

its fuselage halves, which are a

simple butt join; this could be an

issue on such a long fuselage join.

I decided to add some sheet

styrene locator tabs to the

fuselage halves to add some

extra strength when gluing them

together. Unfortunately, the halves

didn’t match up without some

problems; I had a gap along the

upper seam and an offset on the

lower fuselage seam, where one

half was slightly larger than the

other. I took some time here, with

repeated applications of superglue

and sanding until I was 100%

sure both seams had vanished.

Like the fuselage section, the

engine nacelles come with fairly

decent, separate internal bulkhead

parts to help build up the wheel

wells. There are also separate

internal exhausts for the turboprop

engines. After removing some

rough flash from the wing sections

I glued them together, and I must

say the fit is pretty good, with just

a light sanding needed on the inner

surfaces of the trailing edges.

All 16 of the prop blades come as

separate parts, which you add to the

separate spinners and back plates.

I actually prefer building them

this way because I find it easier

to paint them before assembly,

but I do recommend borrowing

or purchasing a propeller jig tool.

I found the landing gear parts to

be a little complicated, but not too

difficult to figure out if you access

the internet to get some pictures.

I decided to leave off the landing

gear, engine cowlings, and props

until after painting was completed.

A quick spray of primer revealed

that I still needed to use filler to

take care of some small gaps I had

missed. I prefer Deluxe Materials’

Perfect Plastic Putty for these

small tasks, because it is water-

based and cleans up easily with

a damp Q-tip, so no sanding was

needed, thus avoiding the chance

of damaging the soft plastic.

With that task complete it was on

to the painting of this large model.

PAINTING AND DECALS

Mach 2 provides only minimal

decals for a single BOAC scheme,

and I do mean “minimal”: some

basic lettering, a couple of Union

Jack flags, and an airmail emblem.

The builder is expected to paint

the not-so-simple blue fuselage

cheatline and rudder portions.

This would require a lot of

complicated masking, especially

since the blue cheat line is

edged in thin white and gold

lines. Fortunately I already had

an aftermarket set for a rather

attractive Aeronaves de Mexico

aircraft finished in a natural

metal and white scheme with

orange trim. This was upsized

from 1/144 to 1/72 scale by the

helpful fellows at F-RSIN, who

offered this scheme as an option

for their 1/144 resin Britannia.

For airliners with white fuselage

tops, I like to use a rattle can of

Tamiya’s White Fine Surface

Primer spray. I mist on several

thin coats over a couple of days,

which quickly dries to a flat

finish. This coat serves as both

primer and final top coat when

later covered with a clear gloss.

I masked off the tips of the

wings, rudder, and stabilizers for an

airbrushed application of Testors

Model Master International Orange

enamel. After at least another day

to let the orange enamel sections

dry, I re-masked and airbrushed

the rest of the aircraft with Alclad

II Gloss Black Primer. Once dry,

this was gently sanded to remove

any imperfections before various

shades of Alclad II’s superb

metal lacquers were applied.

The black base coat really

makes the metal shades pop out,

but I find that you need to apply

several thin metal coats at low air

pressure to get a really good final

shine. Alclad’s metal lacquers

dry fairly quickly, but I still give

them at least a day to cure before

76 • SEPTEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

074-77-CIVIL-Bristol-0918.indd 76 16/08/2018 17:19