Boulton Paul Defiant NF.I

This was not a particularly memorable kit or build but I have no big complaints about the kit. Most of it went together well, there were just a couple of issues where the wings fitted to the fuselage but they were easily remedied. The alignment of the port wing was a little off too, it looks okay and isn't really noticeable on the finished model, but the joints for the aileron don't line up properly. Nothing that is a deal breaker though. I did however break the front windscreen and another clear part that forms part of the mid section of the canopy. Airfix don't currently have any spare but I will check back with them at some point

In terms of the after market: I would say all are worthwhile additions. None of it broke the bank and either really added a lot of details of just made life easier

This was my first go at a night camouflage and I am quite happy with the result. Initially the pre-shading came through quite well but that has not been lost. The oil dot fading has added a bit of variation though. I also used Nato black initially but found that too green so went over with some rubber black (which is probably where the pre-shading was lost). I ended up using rubber black for the exterior and Nato black for the interior black parts.

The decals were a slight issue as I think the Tamiya paint produced too matt a surface and I didn't gloss it (I haven't needed to for my last couple of build but was using Mr Hobby Aqueous, which seems to produce a smoother finish). I did order some aftermarket decals as I destroyed some of the kit ones, but they were even worse so reverted back to the kits one for everything apart from the SP on both sides of the fuselage.

I used a light dirt on a satin coat initially and although I liked the look it gave in terms of dirt within panels, for the panel lines wash I found it too much of a contrast with the main colours. After a gloss coat I did a panel line wash from a mixture of dark and light dirt, which I am happy with. I didn't create exhaust stains or leaks as I didn't think there would show up particularly well unless I used lighter colours and I thought that wouldn't look very good

An okay kit from Airfix - I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the HobbyBoss A-10 now though, which I have high hopes for