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DAP Beaufighter Mk.21 Conversion Set (7446 for Airfix Kit) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby The Mk.21 was a version of the Bristol Beaufighter built in Australia by the Department Of Aircraft Production. Between 1944 & 1946 365 Aircraft were built. The 0.303 guns were replaced by 0.5" guns and the ASV radar and dorsal fin were never fitted. However, the engines had their two-speed blowers made fully operational, thus becoming Hercules XVIIIs. A combination of quitter engines and increased armament led the Japanese to name these aircraft "The Whispering death". This new set from CMK provided new resin and Vac form parts along with decals. The resin parts are for the bulge in front of the canopy, and new hedgehog exhaust. There is a new vac form canopy for the observers position of which 2 are kindly provided in case you stuff one up! Decals Decals are provided in this set for two RAAF aircraft. The decals look to be in house and are well printed and should pose no issues. A8-27/DU-A - "Rockabye Baby", Morotai, 1945 A8-116/SK-N - "Babs/Pistol Pakin Gremlin", Labuan, Borneo, August 1945 Conclusion This set offers a quick drop in upgrade to the kit parts. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

It's not that I have enough models on my workbench currently, let's start one more! I mean, why not - it's not like one more is gonna do any difference So I was rummaging thru my dads stash once more and he had like three or four Tamiya Beaufighters there. One he had already built and says it's very good kit to build. Which I don't doubt, it's a Tamiya after all. So I snatched one for this GB - my build will be a beautiful Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VI in sandy colours. We have a deal with my dad, I can build pretty much anything from his stash, but I must return it to him once I'm finished. Beautiful box art. Also this is the scheme I will be doing. Box contents, decent amount of plastic but not too much. This is the paint scheme, Malta 1942. It will be a fighter bomber version, so with a rear gunner. Not sure what kind of load out is appropriate - maybe rockets?

Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VI Kit: Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VI (#61053) Scale: 1/48 Paints: Vallejo Model Air, Vallejo Metal Colour Weathering: Flory Models Wash, oil paints, Mig & Tamiya weathering products, A superb kit by Tamiya, a pleasure to build. I went quite heavy with the weathering, with chipping and oil paints. This plane represents those that flew anti-ship missions from Malta - which might have worn coastal command topside colours instead of desert colours, but with azure blue undersides. Images show the colours bit more blue as they are in real life and the colours shifted quite far from the original paint colours due to heavy oil paint weathering. But this was more of a product of having fun rather than trying to acquire 100% historical accuracy. I had fun with it, so mission succesful I suppose? Built for MTO GB - but missed the deadline. Feel free to comment & offer constructive criticism. Partial WIP thread can be found here:

Hobby 2000 from Poland has reboxed the 1/72nd Hasegawa Beaufighter - ref. H2K72002 - Bristol Beaufighter Mk. IF/IC Source: https://hobby2000.pl/index.php?id_product=22727&rewrite=p22727-hobby-2000-72002-beaufighter-mk-if-ic&controller=product&id_lang=1 - ref. H2K72003 - Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VIF No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron Sources: https://hobby2000.pl/index.php?id_product=22728&rewrite=p22728-hobby-2000-72003-beaufighter-mk-vif-307-polish-sq&controller=product&id_lang=1 https://www.armahobby.pl/h2k72003-bristol-baufighter-mk-vif-no-307-polish-night-fighter-squadron-ex-hasegawa-ex-hasegawa.html V.P.

.....My first post! I found this article completely by chance http://adf-serials.com.au/newsletter/ADF%20Telegraph%202019%20Spring.pdf published in 2019. The whole newsletter may be of interest but the Gold commences at page 39 - a very long section on RAAF Beaufighters. I don't get out too much but this stuff looks fairly original and extensive to say the least. I can't vouch for the accuracy however it will at least provide fuel to the RAAF Beaufighter colours fire. I was led here whilst looking for 60 lb Rocket Colours for my Mk21. There's also interesting details re AFC in WW1 and RAAF B24's. I will leave it to those far more learned than me to provide informed comment. I hope you find it interesting & useful. Happy viewing!

Bristol Beaufighter TF.X 1:72 Airfix A04019A The Beaufighter was originally developed as a fighter variant of the Beaufort, aiming to utilise as many components from the light bomber as possible to speed development, construction and minimise tooling costs. It didn't quite work out that simply, as it needed additional power that could only be provided by the new Hercules engines that was in development, as even a Merlin engine would leave it underpowered as they later found out. This meant a mid-wing mount had to be created so that the props had sufficient ground clearance, and a skinnier fuselage was used to reduce weight and drag. It was still fairly quick to reach production, and although it wasn't as amazing as the Mosquito, it turned out to be a good multirole aircraft, able to assume roles for which it was never intended for. The TF.X was a later mark that was adapted to carry a torpedo slung under its belly, and mounted two Hercules XVII engines that had been tuned for low-altitude performance to improve the crew's chances of survival during an attack. Over 2,000 were built, and they were colloquially referred to as the Torbeau. The Kit The kit is a re-release of Airfix's new tool kit from 2015. The smaller parts dont seem to suffer from the softness I have seen in other Airfix 1/72 kits, though will be needed to remove them from the sprues. Construction starts with the internal structure in that the wing spars for the kit are first attached to the cabin floor. In the cockpit the pilots seat and the flying controls then go in. A pilot figure is supplied if the modeller wishes to use it. Then in the rear compartment the seat also goes in there on its mounting. Again a figure is supplied if the modeller wishes to use it. Moving onto the fuselage halves up front the side consoles fro the cockpit go in. At the rear the tail wheel assembly goes in, different one are supplied if a wheels up kit is to be made. Again at the front the instrument panel goes in with the instruments provided as decals. The fuselage can then be closed up and added to the cabin floor. Underneath this goes the lower fuselage part remembering to open up holes for the torpedo and any stand you are going to be using. We now move onto constructing the wings. These are conventional left/right & upper/lower in construction. For this version the instructions indicate there are a couple of small bumps which will need to filed off. The complete wings then slide over the spars installed right at the beginning. Separate ailerons are provided for the wings. We now move to the tail. Depending on the decal option used there are different horizontal tail planes and inserts to be used. The tail plane is a single part so no worrying about getting the angles correct. This then attaches to the tail and the vertical fin can go on, followed by the rudder. We now move back to the main wings and those engines. Each has a double bank of cylinders outside of which goes a 3 part cowling. The exhaust collector ring goes onto the front of this and hedgehog exhausts down the side (these looking pretty good for this scale in injection plastic). The completed engines can then be fitted to the wings and the intakes are then fitted to the top. Note that these are different depending on the decal option chosen, as again is the nose cone with the Portuguese aircraft being fitted with a radar nose. Now we move to the landing gear. If doing an inflight model then Airfix again provide a seperate set of closed doors for this. The main legs and their retraction struts go in with the wheels going on followed by the gear bay doors. If you then want to add any armament now is your chance. Under the fuselage goes the Torpedo and under the wings four 60Lb rockets each side. The rockets and their racks fit to a plate. The instructions indicate these were only fitted to the RCAF Aircraft. To finish off the wingtip lights are added along with the landing lights. the canopies are fitted along with the rear gun; also the props and sinners are added. Last up there is the dorsal aerial, and for the Portuguese aircraft a largish intake just behind the pilots canopy. Decals The sheet here is from Cartograf who seem to be doing all of Airfix's decals so there should be no issues with it. Two options are provided; NE355, No.404 Sqn Royal Canadian Air Force, RAF Davidstowe, Cornwall June 1944 (If using invasion stripes these will need to be painted) BF17, Squadrilla B, Aviacao Maritima, Portela de Sacavem, Lisbon, Portugal 1946 Conclusion This is a great kit re-issued and with decals for an overseas operator. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Yesterday my lovely(and exceedingly patient) wife treated me to a visit to the Australian National Aviation Where i was able to get in and actually sit in their Beaufighter and get pictures of the Beaufighter and the Beaufort cockpit they have which I though might be of interest to others for reference. I thoroughly recommend visiting the museum as time, location, and COVID permit! Link to album if there is interest more than happy to post more pictures from the museum (of other aircraft)

Dear All, I'm hoping that an erudite fellow BM-er may be able to tell me whether there are any externally visible differences between the Australian DAP-built Beaufighter XXI and the UK-built TF.X? As you may be able to guess, I'm interested in doing a 1/72 XXI using the Airfix kit, and as far as I can make out, the two variants used the same engine (Hercules XVII), and the only differences are the lack of a dorsal gun, and the XXI having two 0.50cal machine guns in each wing. Are there any other differences that I need to take into account? Many thanks for any help Happy New Year, Mark

Hello Gentlemen, Here's my recently completed Beaufighter Mk.X, from RAF 22 Sq. in Burma, circa 1944. This kit was first build in 1999, as a coastal command TF X, but with the years, skills ameliorations and techniques enahnced and it cried for a restauration! Paints are AK real Colors for the dark earth and dark green, Tamiya for the underside Ocean Grey. Decals from the Extradecals range. The gunner cupola didn't took benefit of paint removal and masking, so the result is a bit down level, and the radar cooler additional scoop on the upper fuselage is standing a bit proud and should be smaller. As usual, comments and critics most welcome. I hope you'll like her. Best Stef (#6)

Hi all, I’m currently in a beaufighter build - 1/32 Revell and Interior features are pretty lame to say the least. I have a model monkeys pilot cockpit and entrance/radio Resin section which has loads of detail and features but am now onto the observer/radio operators area and I’m looking for photos and details to help scratch build up this area (as assume no kits exist) including so I can open up the access hatch and the observer Perspex any info and details would be much appreciated thanks in advance

I'm having a problem with the dorsal (observers) gun used on Coastal Command Beaufighters, and I'm hoping someone here will be able to help. All the references I've read state that the dorsal gun was a Vickers 'K' gun, belt fed. The problem I'm having is that all the photo's/drawings I've been able to find of the 'K' gun not only show it with a drum feed, but look nothing at all like the available photo's (admittedly not great) of the Beaufighter installation. The Vickers 'K' gun The Beaufighter's gun The plastic guns on both the 1/48 Tamiya, and the 1/48 Revell kits are cartoonish, and look nothing like the photo's. Can anyone here help? thanks, Colin

Hi everyone! just got accepted in and thanks to all! Excited to get advice and tips and look forward to great discussions I’m currently in a beaufighter build - 1/32 revel and Interior features are pretty lame to say the least. I have a model monkeys pilot cockpit and entrance/radio Resin section which has loads of detail and features but am now onto the observer/radio operators area and I’m looking for photos and details to help scratch build up this area (as assume no kits exist) including so I can open up the access hatch and the observer Perspex any info and details would be much appreciated thanks in advance

It's been another long while since I have posted anything here - I guess I have too many home projects! A pair of 1/72 Airfix kits. Neither will see a competition table for sure! The T.F. X is the wrong grey - Ocean Grey (it should be Extra Dark Sea Grey) over Sky (Xatracrylx paints). The T.F. 10 has no crew! (long story but let's just say if you're building 2 at once - make sure the right belly pan goes on the right airplane!) It is EDSG over Sky (Gunze acrylic paints). Fit is pretty good on the kits, details are noce too. I can't judge the accuracy but I like them for sure! Well here they are...

Hi all, Am in the research stage for my next project, which is going to be a Beaufighter, Now the one I have is a TFX, which was mainly used for torpedo bombing. I would like to convert it to a MK1, which was used for PRU, mainly by 'Warby'. Since I am going to be building in 1/72 scale, I would like to know if there are any significant (external) changes that I need to take care of in order to convert a TFX to Mk.1. TIA

Bristol Beaufighter Mk VI Night Fighter, Tamiya 1/48, my latest model which I finished this week. Airbrushed Vallejo acrylics and oil colours for weathering, the base is an old teak wood chopping board with a map section of Crete from about 6,000 feet. I tried a lot of different possibilities to reproduce the "rotating" props. But I guess in the end there is no good way except installing small electric engines. Well maybe next time... Hope you like my Black Beauty a bit - thanks for looking!

An old Novo 1/72 Beaufighter with aftermarket decals finished as a Coastal Command Torpedo and rocket armed aircraft. the panel lines are pencil and chalk. All hand painted with Tamiya acrylics. Figure and jeep are Airfix, the truck is an old unnamed metal kit. The grass is some Czhek ready made mat and hangar printed off the net!! the base is mine!!

After the endless struggle of the Revell Hudson, I wanted a quick and trouble-free build, so here’s my version of the 1/72 Airfix Bristol Beaufighter TF. X. As most builders seem to, I chose to depict NE829, flown by No.144 Squadron from RAF Banff in Aberdeenshire. Built straight from the box, this is a great little kit, with a fit good enough to negate the use of (almost) any putty . The engineering is - as with a lot of these 1/72 Airfix kits - clever enough to make simple constructions out of complicated forms. It’s been noted that the 3-part engine cowls are the least satisfying aspect of the kit, but the seams either line up with colour transitions or are covered by the exhaust or supercharger air intake - a nice detail, I thought. Although 1/72 isn’t my preferred scale, I was attracted to the rugged look of the Beau, with the big Popeye forearms of the Hercules engines and the rather worn look it had in most of the source photos I found. Using Tamiya paints throughout, I built numerous thin layers to break up the large monochrome expanses of the fuselage and integrate the weathering into the paint scheme.

I have built many Beaufighter's over the years and all but one have been 1/72, and none to date have been Australian (I have a Frog Mk.21, and that's next on the pile). Ive had a bit of a soft spot for Aussie Beaufighter's and Beaufort's as my Grandmother used to work on both aircraft at Bristol, and tells a story about showing some Australians, who were visiting Filton, the work she carried out to connect control cables in the cockpit prior to them heading back to Oz to build their own (Very nice men they were too, very polite). So, whilst i wait for someone to produce an injection moulded 1/48 Beaufort (I was hoping it would be the Airfix Telford announcement, maybe next year....), i shall crack on with a Mk.21 Beaufighter. For this i have the Tamiya 1/48 TF.Mk.X kit and will be disposing of the torpedo and rockets in favour of wing mounted bombs. The aircraft will be Beaufighter A8-27 DU-A 'Rockabye Baby' of 22 Squadron RAAF, based on Morotai Island in 1945. These are the decals i have on order. Additional bits and bobs will be as follows: # Decals - Print Scale PSL48062 # Exhausts - Quickboost QB48043 (Kit supplied are too small) # Bomb racks - Scratch built # Open up observers hatch # Improve observers area. # Open up and improve wing oil coolers # Open up cannons # Embellish wheel wells and undercarriage Additional embellishments or corrections will be added as i get to them or notice them in any photos. This will be a long process, and more than likely to be interrupted by the Airfix 1/48 Blenheim. I love Bristol's (no giggling at the back!). I will dispense with any sprue shots for the moment, I think everyone has seen them before, and mine are currently having an overnight soak. Matt

Among several RAF squadrons flying the Beaufighter over the CBI theatre most were either anti-shipping strike units using the Mk.Xs or night fighter squadrons equipped with the Mk.VI. As far as I know only No.27 Squadron (since November 1942 till July 1944) and No.177 Squadron (between May 1943 and May 1944) used also the Mk.VI in anti-shipping and coastal patrol roles. However I haven't seen any photos of these a/c and my question concerns their camouflage. For how long could they wear the factory-applied Temperate Sea Scheme (typical for the Coastal Command Mk.VIs)? Or were they repainted into the Temperate Land Scheme (like most Mk.Xs) before the delivery to the front-line units? BTW were the undersides of DE/DG Beaus painted Sea Grey Medium (like on Thunderbolts and Hurricanes) or Azure Blue (like on Mosquitoes)? Or maybe were they left in Sky Type S like on Blenheims and Vengeances? Cheers Michael

I did a build a while back that used up some spare new Airfix Beaufighter engines and an engineless Frog Beaufighter. Long story, WIP here. I finally got around to taking some better prictures today, and here they are: Thanks for looking, Adrian

Well I’ve got a Frog Beaufighter with no engines: ... and some Airfix bits... So what happens if you replace some of the old Frog bits with Shiny New Airfix ones? ...and scratch up some other Beaufighter details that you used up elsewhere? I wasn’t planning to start it, honest! Thanks for looking, Adrian

Here is another of my F-Toys Beaufighters in 1:144. It's Bristol Beaufighter Mk.10 RD776/OB-B of No. 45 Sqn RAF at Negumbo, Ceylon, in February 1947. I finished this one in 2016. F-Toys planes are pre-painted partially assembled snap-fit kits. I removed the paint and separated the parts and converted the kit to a late Mk.X. I added the wing leading edge light, the strike camera behind the cockpit, made longer carburettor intakes, added all the aerials, the underwing pylon stubs and the propeller spinners, which came from the spares box and I had to shape accordingly. The kit was completely painted with brush. The scheme's main markings came from an MYK Design sheet and the insignia were sourced from a Mark I sheet. The MYK sheet had some flaws, the main one being the incomplete underwing serials. Since they go underneath I decided to live with it! Thanks for looking and al comments are welcome Miguel

Here is one of my F-Toys Beaufighters in 1:144. It's Bristol Beaufighter Mk.10 RD857/OB-R of No. 45 Sqn RAF at Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, 1949, during Operation "Firedog". I finished this one in 2016. F-Toys planes are pre-painted partially assembled snap-fit kits. I removed the paint and separated the parts and converted the kit to a late Mk.X. I added the wing leading edge light, the strike camera behind the cockpit, made longer carburettor intakes and scratchbuilt the late-type rocket pylons. The kit's rockets were modified to make the later type with larger warheads. I also added all the aerials. The kit was completely painted with brush. The scheme's main markings came from an MYK Design sheet and the insignia were sourced from a Mark I sheet. The MYK sheet had some flaws, the main one being the incomplete underwing serials. Since they go underneath I decided to live with it! Thanks for looking and al comments are welcome Miguel

For those of you who don't know what the title of this build is referring to "whispering death" is the name given to the Bristol Beaufighter by the Japanese as it wrought havoc on their forces in both Burma and in the Pacific. For this build I will be building an example flown by the RAAF which was used to great effect over the islands of the Netherlands East Indies. I will be using the 1/48 Tamiya TF.MK.X kit which I believe should have all the parts I need to reproduce one, here are the box and contents shots; As you can see the kit is still sealed in it's original bags. No decals for it yet but I'm planning on getting this set from DK Decals which has a nice one on it in the TSS scheme; http://www.dkdecals.cz/48016 RAAF Twins 1_48_1ZS.jpg It could still end up being one in the all over foliage green scheme but I prefer the one shown above. I won't start on it yet as I have too many on the go but once the Buffalo is done I should start it soon afterwards. Thanks for looking in. Craig.

Hi all, Latest off the production line is a Tamiya 1/48 Beaufighter TF Mk.X finished in the markings of 31 Sqn RAAF engaged in operations over New Guinea and the Netherlands East Indies against the Japanese during 1944. I have used the excellent Tamiya kit and equally good decals by DK Decals with paints by Gunze and Aeromaster, the kit is an absolute pleasure to build with no problems at all and the only alteration I made to the kit was to move the aileron actuators on the tail planes from the upper surfaces to the lower surfaces. So without further waffling here are the pictures of the finished item; Thanks for looking in and for those interested here is the WIP; I strongly recommend popping along to the Pacific At War GB which I have built this as part of as there are some truly excellent builds on it, and it's not too late to join in either!! As usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig.