1/48th Tamiya- DAP Beaufighter Mk.21, `Reckabye Baby' 22 Sqn, RAAF, Morotai, 1944

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

Another one which I`ve got around to finishing, this is the lovely Tamiya 1/48th scale Beaufighter built as a DAP built Beau Mk.21, A8-27 DU-A “Reckabye Baby”, flown by the crew of F/L McMilan & F/O Hayes of no. 22 Sqn RAAF, based at Morotai in February 1944. In case you cannot see it, the nose art includes a Beaufighter!;

The decals came from Printscale and reference photos were found on the net thanks to the fantastic ADF Serials website found here; http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/

One photo showed the right hand side of a 22 Sqn Beau which bore the codes as `A-DU' on the right hand side as opposed to DU-A as expected so the decals were cut and applied as A-DU and this photo also shows a pair of US bombs under the wings so some spares box bombs and racks were used and my thanks go to Terry for his help with these.

Hope you like it,

Cheers

Tony

PS- Here is the real aircraft thanks to the ADF Serials website;

Here is a photo showing the codes `A-DU' on a 22 Sqn Beau Mk.21, also showing bombs under the wings inboard of the rocket blast plates;

and here is the Printscale decal sheet, they can be a bit hit and mis but this one is OK;

Edited August 25, 2015 by tonyot

[woody37]

On a roll again here mate, love the subtle way in which you've weathered the large areas of green to break it up a bit, really brings it alive

[DAG058]

Another stunner, where do you find the time?!

[chuckb1]

As above another stunning build. I wish I could turn them out like this all the time.

Luverly job

[tonyot]

Thanks Folks,

Glad you lik it and cheers for saying so,........this one had been ticking along for some time in between other builds so took over a year to finish but if it had been done in one go it would probably have taken a month or so,.....the Tamiya kit really is one of those `easy' kits which you fall back onto after a particularly horrible model!

Cheers

Tony

[Knight_Flyer]

Excellent build and like the nose art. Tamiya seems to have a gained a good reputation, don't think I've seen a negative review.

[Mmarchal]

Looks great Tony

[tonyot]

Cheers Fella`s,

If I were to be picky the windscreen on the Tamiya kit looks strange to me, maybe not sloping back enough but it is the only game in town and we cannot really complain as it is definitely a superb kit otherwise. I wonder if Airfix will ever scale their kit up? I`m sure it would sell very well, especially if they included the straight tail and other parts for the earlier variants which had some superb colour schemes,....just a thought!

Tony

[batcode]

another great looking build, very nice job on the scheme and finish.....

[keith in the uk]

Another cracker Tony , that's a lovely job.

[GREG DESTEC]

Superb! Great Beau

[WildeSau75]

very very nice build - top notch weathering and painting.

Cheers,
Michael

[Janremco]

Nice Beaufighter, I like it with some origanl photos.

[stevej60]

Another fine build Tony,superb paintwork.

[Andrew Perren]

Great build Tony. Love the Beaufighter and you've done it justice.

[pacificmustang]

God, he's finished another!!!

I m just going to curl up into a ball

Great work Tony, how did you find the decals performed?

[Bob Henry]

That's a great looking build. NICE WORK !!! Bob H.

[Etiennedup]

VERY nice one Tony..........I like the subtle weathering.

BTW what happened to the right hand tyre?............

Cheers.

[tonyot]

Thanks again Folks,

So glad that you like it,........ I have been wanting to build a 1/48th scale RAAF overall green Beau for years,...here is my other 1/48th RAAF Beau in an earlier scheme;

Bruce- The decals were great,......I was a bit scared about using them and had a stand by decal option but there was no need!

Etienne- The right tyre,.......oh yes that was a giant right thumb which reached down out of the Pacific sky and rubbed off the dust and dirt by accident! Ooops! Part of the same clumsy celestial hand which knocked part of the undercarriage off while positioning the Beau for photos!

Cheers

Tony