Bristol Beaufighter Ic & X

[Col.]

Right gang, after much dithering I've finally come to a decision, the Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter will be my subject for this GB. I've two kits in the stash, one a Mk. X and the other a Mk. VI, what I want to produce is a Mk.Ic so that will take some minor converting.

There's a story I'll share later that has served as inspiration for this one but it also adds another type to the range of subjects we have within this GB.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Col.

[MiGFan79]

Will be following this. I have a Mk X about 70% complete lurking on my bench i ought to complete!

[Col.]

After further reorganisation (by which I of course mean wrestling with a badly stacked jumble of boxes) I now have both Tamiya kits to the fore. Do I follow the current popular flow of tide and do a double build? I'm usually struggling to finish a single kit within GB time-scales

[Arniec]

Nice Col.

I never build one, but got a few in my stash as well .

I can remember that there was a review in the SAMI when the kit was out and that the front cockpit should sit a bit lower in the fuselage. If my memory don't let me down they saw it of and placed it lower. shouldn't be to difficult to do.

There are some conversion parts to do a Beaufighter I from different sources.

take a look here for some more info https://www.scalemates.com/kits/121429-tamiya-61064-bristol-beaufighter-mk-vi

cheers,

Edited January 5, 2016 by Arniec

[PlaStix]

Always liked the Beaufighter and two would definitely be better than one.

[Col.]

Nice Col.

I never build one, but got a few in my stash as well .

I can remember that there was a review in the SAMI when the kit was out and that the front cockpit should sit a bit lower in the fuselage. If my memory don't let me down they saw it of and placed it lower. shouldn't be to difficult to do.

There are some conversion parts to do a Beaufighter I from different sources.

take a look here for some more info https://www.scalemates.com/kits/121429-tamiya-61064-bristol-beaufighter-mk-vi

cheers,

Thanks for the tip on the cockpit height Arnold, will investigate that once I get into it Thanks also for the link to Scalemates and the conversion parts. I was aware both CMK and Heritage made flat tailplanes but I'm hoping to butcher the kit parts well enough to get away with using them.

Always liked the Beaufighter and two would definitely be better than one.

Funny you should say that Stix... I now have two sets of wings, two tails, plus one set of complete tail-planes and another set hacked up all glued and drying on the bench

The thread title has been edited to suit

Edited January 5, 2016 by Col.

[CliffB]

Oh yes, another British classic (or indeed two)

Cliff

[Col.]

Cheers Cliff. I'm hoping it won't take twice as long to build both simultaneously as it would building them separately but may have to concentrate on one at a later date.

In the meantime here's a start to the action;

Tamiya box art showing some inspirational action

Started by making the wings from both kits. Those for the Mk.X have the rocket rail holes drilled out and the inner shell chute blanks fitted along with the landing light clear part as that will need to be blanked off along with the gun ports.

As you can also see the fit of the outer wing panel wasn't perfect on the Mk.X wing.

The engine nacelles are also a little slab-sided at their join, due I guess to limitations with the moulding, so a dollop of filler has been added in an attempt to round them out.

Two sets of tail feathers. One set of tailplanes have been cut at their angle point so I can try to produce the flat type required for the Mk.Ic

Hopefully I'll get a bit more done this evening.

[Col.]

Please excuse the lack of progress report but we had a friend stay over last night as a result of yesterdays weather disruptions. I did, however, find time to convert one set of tailplanes to the early flat type that will be a feature of the Mk.1c. With the original kit parts cut at the kink a tab of thick plastic sheet was glued into the root;

This gives the joint more support and with the interfacing angles cleaned up the various parts can then be joined;

Care at these points ensured everything went together without the need for much filler;

With that done the wings got some more attention. The machinegun gun ports in the wings of Coastal Command Mk. 10s were blanked off as the guns were removed so some plastic rod came to the rescue here;

Edited January 8, 2016 by Col.

[Arniec]

nice progress Col.

I just remembered something else from the magazine build. There was also something with the panel lines on top of the wings near the gun wings. I need to search for the magazine.

If you do the Ic you only need to fill the gun holes and underwing slots.

So you are OK with the Ic.

Cheers,

Edited January 8, 2016 by Arniec

[Col.]

nice progress Col.

I just remembered something else from the magazine build. There was also something with the panel lines on top of the wings near the gun wings. I need to search for the magazine.

Cheers,

Thanks Arnold. From what I understand Tamiya made the wings mirror images of each other, regardless of the fact one wing has a pair of .303 guns while the other has four, one side has to be modified by either deleting or adding a couple of the panel lines. Time to check my references again before going any further.

[Stew Dapple]

I'm pleased that you're building two Col, as you hoped I've never found it to take twice as long to build two kits and the differences between variants of the same type of aircraft are always interesting... plus, to misquote the unofficial BritModeller motto "You can't have too many Beaufighters"

Cheers,

Stew

[Col.]

I'm pleased that you're building two Col, as you hoped I've never found it to take twice as long to build two kits and the differences between variants of the same type of aircraft are always interesting... plus, to misquote the unofficial BritModeller motto "You can't have too many Beaufighters"

Cheers,

Stew

Can't recall seeing a Beaufighter featuring on Britmodeller for a while now so may as well do both to make up for it

[rob85]

Nice start, love a beau or two so this should be good!

Rob

[whitestar12chris]

Looking forward to seeing this pair Col.

All the best Chris

[Col.]

So why did I pick the Beaufighter? Well the Mk.X is one I've wanted to do for many years due to them being part of the Banff Strike Wing up along the coast from where I live. The Ic, however, was inspired by a dramatic Mark Postlethwaite painting on the cover of Aeroplane Monthly. Flicking through the March 2010 issue brought up an article on the exploit of a 236 Sqn Coastal Command Beaufighter Ic crew who, on 12 June 1942, flew to Nazi-occupied Paris to drop a French flag over the Arc de Triomphe and strafe the regular German military parade that marched up the Champs-Elysees. Alas the second part of their plan was thwarted by chance as the occupying German command had changed French time by one hour to bring it in line with Germany so Flt Lt Ken Gatward and Sgt George Fern took their frustration out on the local Gestapo Headquarters with the Beaufighters four cannon before dropping a second Tricolore over it and flying home.

The Mk.Ic will be ND-C T4800 as flown by Gatward and Fern while the Mk.X will be a rocket-armed machine from 404 Sqn using the Aviaeology sheet 'Black Friday' and other later Beaux which I ordered via Hannants this morning. In the meantime I've been removing the raised patches Tamiya have moulded on the upper wing parts and trying to make sense of the panel line differences between left and right wings and Ic to Xs. Seems Tamiya took inspiration from the Hendon Museum's ex-Portuguese(?) Mk.X's right wing and copied that for both wings. Alas there are plenty differences not only between the two sides but also across various marks of Beaufighter. At the moment I know the dingy storage hatch is missing and the machine gun access panel is wrong on the left wing for a I/VI but seems correct for a Mk.X with the wing fuel tanks on a rocket armed machine. At the moment I'm trying to work out if the Coastal Command Ic had wing machine guns fitted or not. As I'm getting slightly frustrated this will be a good tie to start playing with cockpit and interior parts.

[rob85]

Holy Moses that's a pair of chaps with some balls!! Great choice of topic Col.

Sounds like you're putting these kits in their place as well with the details. It will be good to see how you do it....not because I want to "borrow with pride"

Rob

[Col.]

Holy Moses that's a pair of chaps with some balls!! Great choice of topic Col.

Sounds like you're putting these kits in their place as well with the details. It will be good to see how you do it....not because I want to "borrow with pride"

Rob

Isn't it a great story Rob I found it such an inspiration the Tamiya Beaufighter VI kit was bought the next day for the very purpose of creating a model of the aircraft involved. I was surprised and a little disappointed to discover there were no decals available of it though.

[Stew Dapple]

...I was surprised and a little disappointed to discover there were no decals available of it though.

I remember reading the story of that raid in the 'Victor' comic when I was a kid, very inspiring - there are some transfers for T4800 available on the old Esci and ADS sheets... but only in 1/72 scale and increasingly difficult to find as well; the Esci ones don't seem to age well but I've got the ADS set and they look good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADS-Decals-1-72-Bristol-Beaufighter-Part-1-008-72-/111566133019?hash=item19f9dc171b:g:CFMAAOSwnDxUqQaW*

Cheers,

Stew

* Note the price!!!

[Col.]

I remember reading the story of that raid in the 'Victor' comic when I was a kid, very inspiring - there are some transfers for T4800 available on the old Esci and ADS sheets... but only in 1/72 scale and increasingly difficult to find as well; the Esci ones don't seem to age well but I've got the ADS set and they look good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADS-Decals-1-72-Bristol-Beaufighter-Part-1-008-72-/111566133019?hash=item19f9dc171b:g:CFMAAOSwnDxUqQaW*

Cheers,

Stew

* Note the price!!!

Thanks for the link Stew. I didn't know of the ADS sheet until now but was aware of the ESCI ones. In fact there was a sheet of the latter on eBay the other week but having been disappointed with their quality on several levels in the past chose to ignore it even at £1.99.

I'll post a bit more about my findings on the subject of T4800's markings later but as an aside at the moment I'm still obsessing about the existence or not of wing guns on her. From what I've read they were deleted on the Coastal Command machines in favour of extra fuel tanks and a photo often mistakenly identified as T4800 shows none; on the other hand there is a photo of another 236 Sqn Ic which does show the dope-patched ports on its left wing. The last piece of evidence I can offer is a quote from George Fern himself who stated, "As we passed (Gestapo Headquarters) I dropped the other Tricolore and Ken gave the building a good burst of fire with the four cannon in the nose". Given how specific his quote is I'm taking that as evidence for deleting the wing gun ports and chutes. In the meantime, after much swearing at Photobucket, here's some progress photos;

With the wing gun ports blanked off I flashed filler over the landing light cover as these were deleted from rocket-equipped Xs and added the oil cooler(?) intakes. As you can see the fit of them is poor and will need some attention since the real item was a single piece cowl.

I've also filled a spurious panel line and scribed the dingy access hatch near the left wing root.

May as well do the same on the Ic wing while it's fresh in my mind.

[Col.]

The Ic left wing had its dingy hatch done last night along with the smaller fuel tank bay cover sorted by filling the incorrect panel lines with stretched sprue and a new line scribed,

Then the various gun holes in both wings filled with plastic rod and strip,

For most wartime aircraft and certainly the Ic there should only be one set of holes under the wings. The second row was added later. When not in use the casing and link ejector holes were covered over with doped patches. The wing ports were plugged with wooden bungs and/or patched. As you can see I've also added the small set of intakes above the engine cowl to both sets of wings.

The tailplanes also had the triangle of plastic that represents the trim tab cable and horn cut off,

Not only are these a rather basic representation of reality but are in the wrong position for a wartime Beaufighter. These were fitted below the tailplane until the target tugs came about; fitting them above the tailplane stopped them fouling the banner cable. Yet another hangover from using the Hendon Beaufighter as the main reference while researching this kit I suspect.

Now I need to turn my attention to the fuselage interior...

Edited January 12, 2016 by Col.

[whitestar12chris]

Coming along very nicely Col. sounds like youve done your homework.

All the best Chris

[Stew Dapple]

Good progress there Col

Cheers,

Stew

[Col.]

Coming along very nicely Col. sounds like youve done your homework.

All the best Chris

Good progress there Col

Cheers,

Stew

Thanks gents. Glad you're enjoying the progress so far. If truth be told I'm spending more time consulting references than I am working on the models but trying hard to account for the various differences between both machines and get them correct.

In between the hours spent researching I started on the interior of both kits. Here's what comes out of the box;

The cockpit and floor section has had both seats and the centre blastwall added. Alas stupid boy here spent a while thinning the chunky rear seat part to look more realistic prior to test fitting it

Bit too tall, innit. Hacked a bit off the top and reshaped it;

There, that's better. I've also spend some time cutting the arms off one of the crew figures to ensure he can actually touch the controls. One of my pet hates is kit figures who fly with both hands on their laps. Then again I really should be glad there is any crew figures included at all I suppose.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Col.

[PlaStix]

Good progress Col. and the seat is looking fine now.

Kind regards,

Stix