The Little World

But that was life at Doukhobor Bay in the old days. Baths once a month and toothbrushing every second week…

The interior of the Bristol Beaufort is pretty well complete and has received a coat of filth. Fortunately it will be hard to see inside the fuselage once it’s closed up. Just as well, it’s pretty mucky in there.

This is proving to be a sterling kit – all the parts fit and lock themselves into a rigid structure. The fettling has been absolutely minimal. And the design is quite new to me – as was the Blenheim I and IV and the Beaufighter. Of course you can see the familial resemblances and trace the design improvements from one airframe to the next – but overall they are refreshingly new and instructional.

Complex, too – giving the impression that the designers were either taking their own boffin-like pathway, or dodging patents. I suspect that a lot of the design was also driven by what they could actually do in the way of alloys and welding, as much as aero shape. They had a set of workplaces, workers, and abilities and had to draw the lines to use them.