Bristol Beaufighter part II

The Beaufighter has been built to represent ND221 as it would have appeared during the last months of Beaufighter use with 406 Squadron. The aircraft represents a Mk VIF from the second last Mk VIF production batch. It represents a mid production Beaufighter fitted with a thimble nose although the ADH decal sheet was not clear as to whether this was fitted. Much was written about the Tamiya Beaufighter at the time of its release. Although a nice build, engine and interior detail were more simplified than one might have expected. The cockpit and the radio compartment behind would benefit from upgrading. The interior used on this build was from KMC with scratch building in the radio compartment. The rear fuselage used Eduard photo etch sidewalls as well as scratch built details. However, unlike the cockpit, this work is difficult to see. Aires does an upgrade for the fuselage from cockpit to rear entrance, which looks very impressive, and I will use this on my next Beaufighter. The engines used are from Cutting Edge. Although very nice, the increased detail largely goes unseen. Exhausts are from Hi-Tech. The resin is brittle but they are an improvement on the kit’s exhausts. Ultracast does very nice replacements and the Flight Path upgrade gives white metal examples with photo-etch for the individual vents for those with more skill and patience than I possess. However, the Flight Path upgrade is a very comprehensive package and includes a large amount of photo etch, a resin extended fin, winch for the target tow version as well as a very nice torpedo. Cowl flaps on this kit are also resin replacements. As far as I am aware, the only cowl flaps currently available are from Red Roo but I have not used them. The upper wing gun access panels were modified to represent those of the Mk VIF rather than those of a TFX represented in the kit. The reference was an article in SAMI by David Batt from some years ago. The decals were from an ADH sheet but were very translucent and best avoided. I would recommend Xtradecal codes and serials. On the other hand, the ADH Publications “How To Build Tamiya’s Bristol Beaufighter “ is a very useful reference. SAM Modellers Datafile 6,”The Bristol Beaufighter” is also very good. The Hyperscale reference section also gives very useful interior and exterior photos of a preserved Australian Beaufighter. Hical, Allan

.