Bristol Beaufighter

Steffen Arndt
As I find the application of decals rather boring I need a lot of time for that .. thus my Spitfire project will take a little more time and i started something fresh to keep motivated. The Revell 2018 Beaufighter was released this year as Mark If and it includes decals for an ace pilot with John Cunninghams NG o R in which he eventually shot down 10 of his opponents. I bought some Eduard sets and took some of the stuff I already had for the Mk.X and got started.

First let me say that I hate the colour of the plastic. It is a dark grey with some metal flakes included. I do not know why Revell does not just make it a light grey like most of the other companies do or at least choose a solid colour (except black or white)... Anyway. The kit is rather nice. Fit so far is good. I am still undecided if I will replace the throttle blocks with the Eduard PE ... it is a lot of work to make these folded boxes look convincing.

Anyway I started with the wings as I am not a big fan of doing cockpits. I must be the only one on the planet because everyone I talk to tells me he likes doing the pit. The wheel wells are rather nice and fit very well. I am not sure i took the correct parts for the supercharger intakes .. need to check my refs. The flaps can be positioned open and are not so bad but need some detailing or replacement with PE. So I chose to keep these closed. The inner flaps fit excellent while the outer ones need a little work to fit, nothing difficult though.

The parts of the interior also fit well. As written above, I need to make a decision and so the side consoles are not yet glued but just "clipped" into place. I will use the Eduard instrument panel ant the CMK pilots seat (plus steelbelts for the rear seat). As I have bought the larger set for the interior (491124) which has some side wall details for the access bay I will pose the entrance door open. Else the Zoom is more than sufficient for this kit.

Alan Crawford
Anybody know of an aftermarket part for the fuselage top intake just behind the cockpit on these? The Taniya TF.X includes the thimble nose, spinners, extended engine intakes - but the lack of the fuselage intake is standing between me and a nice post-war Beaufighter...

Łukasz Gliński
Missed this one

Guy Rump
Welcome Lukasz!

Guy Rump
Complete with some light weathering.

This denotes a Beaufighter of 144 Sqn PL O that took part in the raid on Forde Fjord on 9 Feb 1945 known as Black Friday.

This raid was conducted with 31 Beaufighters from 404, 405, 489 & 144 Sqns, all from RAF Dalachy (Dalachy Wing). The 404 & 405 Sqn aircraft were equipped with rockets (for anti-shipping)whilst the other Beaufighters had their cannon and machine guns for their anti-flak role. 65 Sqn Mustangs provided fighter cover.

At Forde Fjord at around 1610 hours, as the Beaufighters attacked shipping and flak guns, 12 FW 190 s attacked. This engagement, with Beaufighters, Mustangs & FW 190s led to dog fights and aircraft attacking ships with around 50 aircraft taking part, the largest aerial battle over Norway during WW2.

The fighting lasted until 1625 hours. The German ships had shot down 7 Beaufighters and the FW 190s had shot down another 2 Beaufighters and a Mustang.

The Allies damaged several German ships and shot down either 4 or 5 FW 190s.

The losses suffered by the Dalachy Wing on 9 Feb were the highest of any of the Wings of Coastal Command sustained in a single operation during WW2.

Łukasz Gliński
Nice. Could've been more dirty, but still it does look good

Guy Rump
Thanks Lukasz. I'm still experimenting with weathering, perhaps the next project will be more "weathered"

Roland Gunslinger
Very nice! Looks good

Andy Ball
Nice 'n' fresh!, and great backstory Guy!, glad you're happy with the finished result!

Guy Rump
Many thanks Roland and Andy

Rex
It has been a real treat to see the Airfix transition. Some might say that "Airfix xyz" is not perfect, but, compare each new tooling to their old one,,,,,and the leap is really cool to see.

Other companies have progressed also,,,,,,,but, not at the low prices that Airfix seems able to do it.

Rui Da Silva
Absolutely agree Rex.

Although, I didn't do to many Airfix kits back in the day; mostly 1:76 armour and figures battle dioramas, and only did a couple of aircraft. The most memorable being the B-25 Mitchell (c.1970s); admittedly a lot of kit for a youngster. I moved on to Matchbox because they were well designed builds and easy to get creative with, but then I discovered Tamiya and I was hooked.

Fast-forward 30-years and I'm getting back into it. I find Tamiya still has quality, but costly and without innovation. In my research to return to the hobby, I'm thinking Fujimi/Tamiya (naval), Airfix/Hasegawa/RevellG (aircraft), and for armour I'm undecided, but I have a couple of Meng kits coming in and if they workout then it's Tamiya/Meng mix I guess.

The new thing for me in the hobby is the photo-etch; we never had it and its an unknown variable. I'm concerned about working with something unfamiliar to get the desired resiled I want, Therefore seeming and level of detail in the Airfix kits shows me that I may be able to get a high quality build without having to resort to PE.

For more Airfix praise, I will refer you to the post I am about to make on the 'Wall' about the little gem that cam in today. Cheers!

Patrick Hagelstein
I'm interested!

David Thor
In on this one!

Alec K
Is this boxing based on the Hasegawa plastic?

Łukasz Gliński
My tiny knowledge of čeština tells me it's Hasegawa's rebox:
Beaufighter 1/72, přebal Hasegawy, bude na trh uveden v druhé polovině října. Každá krabice obsahuje kompletní výlisek pro verze Mk.I, Mk.VI, Mk.21. Výfuky dodal Quickboost, masku na kabinu AZ/KP, obtisky BOA.
V Mk.I a Mk.VI jsou i obtisky na stroje používané československými piloty, Australské Beau postihují všechny tři verze.
(via: 72news.eu/2017/09/mpm-3x-bristol-beaufighter-mk-i-mk-vi.html)

Alec K
Thanks for the info Lukasz

Nigel Home
Complete Kit