In late 1939 production of Hurricanes hit a snag when simultaneously, the snack machine at the Hawker works ran out of Twiglets and the cafeteria experienced a shortage of pork pies. With the war on and Lord Beaverbrook well aware that the "Phony War" was just a temporary lull, a stop-gap measure had to be found and fast.
Fortunately, the Boulton-Paul Co. was ready with a solution. Their turret-armed Defiant was already in production, and with the Boulton-Paul employees having a ready supply of bacon butties (with both red and black sauce), no production difficulties were looming. Chief designer Paul Macca was ordered to re-design the Defiant as a single seat fighter and he worked eight days a week (even though he wasn't sure that was enough to show he cared) to accomplish the task. Design P.94 was quickly transformed into a prototype which exceeded all expectations. Various materials were contemplated and production manager John Lemmon suggested Norwegian Wood (isn't it good?) but more readily available local materials were decided upon and the new fighter, dubbed the Boulton-Paul Defender was quickly ordered into production.
By the summer of 1940, four full squadrons of Defenders were available to help cover the beaches of Dunkirk during the evacuation. Even though Hurricane production soon returned to healthy levels once the bottle-neck in Twiglet and pork pie supplies was resolved, the Defender had proved itself in combat and was still ordered in significant numbers until superceded by more advanced types.
The example shown here is the personal mount of Flight Leader Zac Gripweed of the all-volunteer Can-Am squadron. It is wearing experimental markings used during the Battle of Britain where Flight Leader Gripweed shot down eight German bombers. The Defender proved its resiliancy and agility time and time again, and was eventually used as a night fighter, fighter-bomber and an advanced trainer before being phased out of service in 1944. Flight Leader Gripweed's Defender is now on permanent display at the Liverpool War Museum on Penny Lane (near the roundabout).
1st of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
A while ago, that young Kiwi whiff-genius Zac sent me a box of goodies. Included in it was an old Boulton-Paul Defiant he'd built. Unfortunately, it was missing some parts, but when have missing parts ever stopped me? Well I knew just what to do as the ever generous Geoff sent me some cool design drawings of the Boulton-Paul P.94, a single-seat fighter that was derived from the famous Defiant. I was hoping for a quick build, a real "slammer". Little did I know...
2nd of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
Zac's Defiant build was missing the canopy, ailerons, horizontal stabs, landing gear doors and propellor. These challenges would probably stop most sane modellers, but I decided to proceed bodly. Here's a cool head-on shot.
3rd of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
I was able to find a replacement for the prop easily, and I discovered that the horizontal stabs left over from the PZL-P.11 were a perfect fit. I had to use some left-over styrene to cobble together ailerons and I had to scratch gear doors from 10 thou. card. The hardest part of this build was fairing over the space where the gun turret was. This took an "almost-the-right-size" bit of blisterpack material, a lot of putty and a heap of patience. The canopy was no problem as I had a Squadron vac in the stash for some Japanese fighter that fit very nicely. With a little creative painting I was home free.
4th of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
Speaking of painting, the entire model was brush-painted by hand with acrylics. I used ModelMasters Euro Green and Tamiya Brown on the uppers. ModelMasters RAF Sky was used for the cockpit and I used Tamiya Gunmetal on the exhausts. Windsor-Newton Artists' acrylics Mars Black and Cadmium Yellow were used on the prop and the Mars Black was used on the tailwheel too. I painted the undersides with Tamiya Sky. Speaking of undersides, here's a shot which highlights how much trouble I had getting those gear doors right even though I traced the shape on a piece of clear tape to transfer it to the 10 thou. card.
5th of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
The decals were a mix of R.A.F. markings I had in my decal stash. They're not very accurate for a Battle of Britain fighter, but I've always been intrigued by the variations in R.A.F. markings and thought it might be possible they were testing out some ideas. The great thing about What-If is that any inconsistencies can be explained in the backstory. Accurate or not, I really like the way the yellow outlines highlight the roundels against the camoflage.
6th of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
Another winner Brian! You're going to be my inspiration when I start my Defiant tankbuster. :cheers:
While this project was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be, I still had a blast with it! I think old models are great for whiffery and are certainly easy on the wallet! Zac, thanks for sending me this old warbird! It made me very happy to bring her back to life! Hee's a shot that highlights the tailwheel fin I added to make this fighter even more closely resemble the famous Hurricane.
Last of 7 pics.
Brian da Basher
Bri, I'd always wondered why the Defiant wasn't given conventional armament once it was realised that the turret was useless. I've got nothing to go on, but I've often thought it might have made a very good fighter in it's own right. Thanks for making my musings a reality!
I'm glad you liked it Mossie! Here's the design drawings that gave me the idea in the first place, courtesy of our own Thorvic, who is a vast wealth of information.
Brian da Basher
Hmm, see in that clipping there was a turretless aircraft flown, wonder how well it performed? You learn something new every day on this forum!
(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aeroflight.co.uk%2Ftypes%2Fuk%2Fboulton_paul%2Fdefiant%2Fdefiant-bpa4.jpg&hash=55e1f6b01ddde578c63b897df5c0946d33e7031f)
QuoteAnother winner Brian! You're going to be my inspiration when I start my Defiant tankbuster. :cheers:
I'm glad you liked it, Mr. Rat-San! It's not too much of a stretch to imagine one of these in desert camo with a Vokes filter and maybe under-wing cannon pods. I hope you'll share pics with us of your Defiant tank-buster when you get it built!
Brian da Basher
Brian, that is one sleek little fighter! I love it :wub: , great work yet again!
~Steve
BRILLIANT!!!!!!!! :wub: :wub: :wub:
EDIT: Okay, upon further thought I've decided to also commit the following comments:
Nice work Brian! I love the camo, you've pulled off the BoB dayfighter look quite well. I enjoyed the mix of markings you used, highly creative. I, too, believe the P.94 should have progressed beyond paper. I can't imagine a better use for that old Airfix kit of mine. Thank you so very, very much for doing her justice. :wub:
Ben, thank you for providing an image of the turretless Defiant. I highly enjoyed the look of this fine machine.
*struggles to not sound sycophantic and keep comments balanced* :P
QuoteIn late 1939 production of Hurricanes hit a snag when simultaneously, the snack machine at the Hawker works ran out of Twiglets and the cafeteria experienced a shortage of pork pies. With the war on and Lord Beaverbrook well aware that the "Phony War" was just a temporary lull, a stop-gap measure had to be found and fast.
:D seems about right. :D
interesting idea and great model BdB, but
where are the spats? :o
t.
But wouldnt it have been 100x better had it been fitted with spats? ;)
One problem with the backstory Brian - "Snack Machine" - Britain in the 40's ? No way, even if they'd have existed over here the Union's would never have allowed it - you'd do "Doris the Tea Lady" out of her job :P Massive strike on your hands before you could say "4 sugars please" - War or no War :lol:
Nice build mate.
Chris who's now remembering the "origional" Nestle chocolate bar machine - put thrupence in and pull the drawer - anyone else remember that ? Rad ?
Simple + nice + plausible = I like it
:wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:
I have a Czech Omega Hurricane model which has a Griffon engine, I think this would work very well on this project too.
http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=OM72195 (http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=OM72195)
To reiterate, yeah where's the spats?
QuoteChris who's now remembering the "origional" Nestle chocolate bar machine - put thrupence in and pull the drawer - anyone else remember that ? Rad ?
good idea there brian.
hey chris they had something simler in the 70's and 80's on most Underground and BR stations when i was a nipper.
Yes it lacks spats. I have failed utterly. :(
Brian da Basher
Wow, Brian!
That's an interesting subject there!
I really like the camo and the detail added to the tailwheel.
Wonderful little gem!!
Rafa
I like it very much, and the (humoristic) backstory, too ;)
Bloody well done mate!!!
QuoteYes it lacks spats. I have failed utterly. :(
Brian da Basher
Its okay. Next model you build must have TWO sets of spats :lol:
Quote(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aeroflight.co.uk%2Ftypes%2Fuk%2Fboulton_paul%2Fdefiant%2Fdefiant-bpa4.jpg&hash=55e1f6b01ddde578c63b897df5c0946d33e7031f)
Oooohh, ta! Quite a nice looking fighter in it's own right, anyone know why it was never adopted? Was it crap, or just enough fighter types available already?
QuoteFrom Tony Buttler's 'British Secret Projects, Fighters and Bombers 1935-1950.
Prototype Defiant K8310 eventually had its turret removed and in August 1940 was flown as an unarmed flying demonstrator for a fixed-gun version called P.94, which was intended for rapid production using many complete Defiant components. The P94 had the turret replaced by 12 0.303" MG disposed in each side of the wing centre section in nests of six – 4 20mm cannon replacing 8 of the 0.303" in two nests of two each were an alternative while the MG could also be depressed 17 degrees for ground attack work. P.94 had a 1,100hp Merlin XX, which offered a maximum speed of 360mph at 21.700ft, a sea level climb of 3,250ft.min and would get to 25,000ft in 8.1 minutes. To allow the type to act as a long range fighter two 30-gallon auxiliary tanks could be carried and in production the aircraft would use standard Defiant jigs. The P94 was never ordered but Boulton Paul also proposed to convert the now single seat Defiant prototype into a 4 cannon fighter demonstrator. The Air Ministry's rejection of this idea was recorded at a company board meeting on 26th September 1940.
Hope that helps Mossie... as i recall a spit mark 1 was good for 365mph @ 20,000ft, so the boulton paul was not far behind. i imagine that she would have superior to the hurricane and certainly had more development potential.
Brian how incredibly rude of me - what a wonderful model! See all of the discussion that it's kicked off? the mark of a truly successful whif!
Thanks again Retro! The 1935-50 book is the only one in the BSP range I haven't yet (except for the Hypersonics volume of course). It's just been pay day & I've been intendingto put order in, I'll get it done in the next couple of days.
Quite spritley for it's day,then. Hmmm, opens up the whole question of Defiant development all the way through to post war. PR, tank buster, or naval variants? Engines, Griffon, Sabre, Centaurus?
QuoteQuoteYes it lacks spats. I have failed utterly. :(
Its okay. Next model you build must have TWO sets of spats :lol:
only two!? ;) we want spats in triplicate! :lol:
:wub: lovely stuff! :wub:
Nice one BdB, I really like this little gem!
Nice work, BdB ! Love the backstory....hilarious ! It's photo number 6 (of 7 ) that does it for me....just looks right in that pose ! But man, you need a new camera, bigtime ! I also dig your choice of markings, does make the camo stand out.
Cheers !
Quoteour own Thorvic, who is a vast wealth of information.
You got that right, brother ! I threw out all my old referance material...just ask Geoff !
:cheers:
QuoteBut wouldnt it have been 100x better had it been fitted with spats? ;)
Not 100x better, 100 % cooler. Spats add to the coolness factor by 100%. Or was it 1000% ? That's alot of percent.....
:wacko:
QuoteI have a Czech Omega Hurricane model which has a Griffon engine, I think this would work very well on this project too.
http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=OM72195 (http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=OM72195)
Yowzers, kitnut...that thing costs a small fortune ! Looks alot like a P-40 to me.
QuoteDefiant development all the way through to post war. PR, tank buster, or naval variants?
I like the Naval idea.....something along the lines of a Firefly type. I think this may be the inkling of a GB !
:wub: