1/144 89 Squadron Bristol Beaufighter Mk.1F - Mark 1 Models

[ajmm]

This is an early-mark Beaufighter night-fighter which I finished recently. It is of 89 Squadron while it was based at Abu Sueir in Egypt in Spring 1942. The Squadron only wore the WP lettering for a very short period of time. 

 

 

This aircraft is that of Squadron Leader Derek Pain. On the night of 2/3 March 1942, Pain and his Navigator, Sgt. Briggs, shot down a Heinkel 111 over Jebel Mariut near Alexandria, his second victory; the squadron's long-awaited first. 

 

 

Pain went on to become a night-fighter ace, while 89 Squadron was to be one of the highest-scoring nightfighter units of the war with 141.3 victories (second only to 600 Squadron with 180 kills).

 

 

X7671 was also flown by the future ace Nevil Reeves and the superbly named Flg Officer 'Moose' Fumerton RCAF in 89 Squadron. It was transferred to 46 and then 227 Squadrons before being struck off charge in the second half of 1944.

 

 

The Mark 1 kit has its few vices, noted elsewhere. It's still a lovely little kit though. I used the Marabu etch for the aerials and other details (although I actually didn't bother with the etch interior or dropped flaps on this one) and can highly recommend this. Will eke this etch set out for the next few Beaus I build so the next should have dropped flaps and the final one I'll try and detail the interior.

 

 

Paint was Humbrol 225 and 29 - no real problems and a good match for middlestone and dark earth to my eye. I found a spare Balkenkreuz kill mark in the spares and decided to add it, possibly spurious but I could find no references to suggest this wasn't added in March 1942 and it livens things up.

 

 

My wife (who is excellent, by the way) kindly gave me a bunch of 1/144 Coastal Kit bases the other day, just for taking the odd photo with. They are very nice, I think. Matt-textured and high-definition printed - good for photos like this and for goons like me who lack the requisite skills to make a full diorama of similar proportions. You'll probably see a few more from me in due course.

 

 

Thanks very much for looking!

[Bangor Lad]

Excellent! 

[Simon382]

Stunning for such a small model. I take my hat off to anyone who can model this well in anything smaller than 1/48!!!!

[Pete in Lincs]

Beautiful brown beau.

The 50p size comparison was a surprise.

Before that it could have been any scale.

[Viking]

Hard to believe that is only 1:144, it is so finely done. Excellent!

 

 

Cheers

 

John

[Dave N]

 What an amazing build. The paint work and detailing are superb and I really like the photo base too, adds a lot.   Very nicely done.        Cheers, Dave

 

1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Beautiful brown beau.

The 50p size comparison was a surprise.

Before that it could have been any scale.

 

    Hey Pete- that's  20p !!        D.

[tonyot]

Thats a beautiful Beau,.......I love the scheme and intend on doing that one myself one day.........  you should be very proud of this little gem,

Cheers

          Tony

[spaddad]

tasty

[JWM]

Nice work indeed on the half-size model

Congrats!

J-W

[Gerrardandrews]

your model is great looking, and a great base, and looks 1/72.

on a personal level, never made my mind up about 1/144 small aircraft, you have pushed the envelope, And made the model stand out 😊

[ajmm]

Thanks so much for the kind comments everyone. I'm properly flattered, thank you!  

 

I think the photo-etch is fantastic and really lifts this kit - I highly recommend this to anyone doing the Mark 1 Beau. 

[airbus320]

Cracking Beau! Hard to believe its 1/144th!!!

 

Chris

[Lawzer]

16 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Beautiful brown beau.

The 50p size comparison was a surprise.

Before that it could have been any scale.

 

Stunning!

 

BTW what makes it more amazing is that's a 20p!!!!

[Pete in Lincs]

So it is. Even more Kudos is deserved then.