Brisfit

[Ginger.]

Can anyone help?I am starting the old Airfix Brisfit.I know it had a forward firing Vickers,but the kit does not include it.Where was it located or was it totally enclosed?I have a Vickers in my spares box but don't know where to stick it!!!Much more crucial-is there any way to put the wings on an Airfix biplane,without winding up on blood pressure tablets.

Hi Ginger.
I may be wrong here (whimping out) but as far as I know the Vickers was totaly enclosed with just a small hole above the grill to fire through.

About the wings. The guy to get hold of is our local model guru PeterL (Leonard) You can view his web page at http://www.escadrille.mcmail.com/frames.html (his E mail addy is over there as well) or just go to The Legion of Honour page here at the 'drome to find a pic of him and his addy

VBR
Vic

>Where was it located or was it totally enclosed?

The butt of the gun was just above the cockpit dash and ran over the top of the engine. There is a central hole in the front of the radiator above the prop.

If you can, get the In Action book on the Biff, it is around 10$, the Windsock Datafiles will give you a bunch more detailed interior shots but are more expensive.

The following link includes a photo of a Biff dash from Valle, AZ as well as a repro they had hanging up.

http://members.xoom.com/artattack/rhinebeck99.htm




cam
AFC - http://members.xoom.com/PointCook/index.htm

[Vigilant]

Yep, the gun nestled in the "V" of the engine cylinders under the cowling. As for Airfix biplane wings, I know what you mean! Some kind of system whereby you attach the struts, let them dry a little and then fiddle around with piles of paint pots or coins to support the top wing is usually required. There must be a better way!

[Ginger.]

Thanks all,especially VigilantI scaffolded my fist Brisfit with matchboxes 30 years ago.Nice to see the march of time hasn't left me behind.

Oh lawdy, not another man usin' the term 'Brisfit' to describe Bristol's F2B in a WW1 context. During the Great War, the aircraft was called 'Biff', 'Bristol Fighter, or plain 'Fighter'; the 'Brisfit' handle (abbreviation for 'Bristol Misfit' came along in the 'twenties, when the ol' dear had grown long in the tooth and served in the Army Co-operation role as 'the Empire's Policeman'.

Best source of info on the Bristol F2B bar none is the Windsock Datafile two-part Special;ISBNs 0-948414-85-5 and 1-902207-06-8, published 1997 and 1998 respectively. Adress o' the publishers is Albatros Productions Ltd., 10 Long View, Chiltern Park Estate, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 1BY, UK.

Well done on giving the ol' Airfix kit a goin'-over. I built my first when it first came out <creaks with age>, now I'm trying to find the time to build the two Blue Max and three Aeroclub 1:48 kits that sit here in me den, along with all the other 'loft insulation'. Gimme strength . . .

The Biff's front gun was mounted between the V-12 Falcon's cylinder banks; the top hole in the radiator was the exit point. The main fuel tank, forward of the instrument panel and above the engine, had a tunnel incorporated, through which the gun barrel protruded. Designer Frank Barnwell would never have got away with that nowadays, eh?

A help for fixing the struttery is to build a jig - mine's adjustable according to gap, stagger etc., cobbled it together out of a few bits of Meccano - and use it to fix the outer interplane struts firmly. Then gently lift the upper wing twixt finger 'n' thumb, and glue the inners and the centre-section struts into place. Make sure all struts are the right length beforehand, o' course . . .

Good luck a-buildin' your BIFF - cheers!

(8:¬)}