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New 1/48th Scale Blenheim Announced by Airfix!!


tonyot

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Interesting. I wonder whether, and if so how, they will represent the fresh camo colours around the re-done fuselage roundel on K7059? Maybe have an optional outer ring decal? And rely on the natural perversity of the universe to make the colours slightly different from what everyone uses for the actual paint?

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  • 6 months later...

SBS have done a lovely resin engine and cowl set as noted above and now they have propellers to go with them  https://www.sbsmodel.com/model/SBS-48064/bristol-blenheim-propeller-set-for-airfix-kit showing in stock as I type. Obviously could be applied to other 1/48 Blenheim kits if needed.

 

For the Mk. IV Hannants have discounted their repop of the CA Mk IV https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CF4159?result-token=bwpWD and are showing a 1/48 conversion for the Airfix kit into a Mk.IV from Blackbird Models as a Future Release. Now I know there is 'history' between the two BMs but I know it wouldn't be planned if Airfix were doing one. So I think that comments above about just the one kit from Airfix are correct.

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  • 3 months later...

Box art, schemes & more - ref. A09190 - Bristol Blenheim Mk.1

Source: https://www.airfix.com/uk-en/news/workbench/mediterranean-blenheims-at-the-double

 

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The valiant Blenheim holds the line

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Our latest box artwork reveal is an absolute delight and shows an RAF Blenheim Mk.I engaged in combat with Fiat fighters of the Regia Aeronautica over a Mediterranean landscape

 

When it comes to the subject of aircraft, every modeller will undoubtedly have their own particular favourite type and even though we will often stray into other subject territory from time to time, it only takes the release of a new kit, new decals or new extra market detail accessory to tempt us back into our comfort zone. Having said that, our subject allegiances can sometimes be temporarily side-tracked when we look a little deeper into the history of certain aircraft, or the exploits of their heroic crews, affording us a better, if still relatively temporary appreciation for this alternative subject. When discussing ground-breaking British aircraft and ones which played a crucial role during the early stages of the Second World War, one aircraft stands head and shoulders above the rest, even though it rarely receives the recognition it undoubtedly deserves, the superb Bristol Blenheim. Thanks to the skill and dedication of one of our extremely talented product designers, the relatively recent release of a new Blenheim kit in 1/48th scale has brought this magnificent aeroplane to the attention of modellers some eighty three years after the type entered Royal Air Force service. The first release from this tooling presented the Blenheim in its heavy fighter/light attack aircraft configuration, but for the second release, modellers have scheme options to build the light bomber version of the aircraft, the role for which this aircraft was originally intended.

 

When newspaper magnet Lord Rothermere initiated a programme to produce a world leading light civilian airliner in 1934, his intentions were to regain some semblance of aviation credibility for a British nation which he felt was falling behind developments taking place in the rest of the world and more specifically, in Germany. The Bristol Type 142 design which was the result of this work could hardly have been more impressive - a sleek, twin engined aircraft with a profile which was dominated by two powerful Bristol Mercury radial engines, an aircraft which was bred for speed. Incorporating a host of advanced technologies, the new aircraft was of all metal stressed skin construction and featured retractable undercarriage, flaps, and variable pitch propellers. A significant leap forward in aviation technology, the Bristol airliner proved to be exactly what Lord Rothermere had been hoping for, especially when it later captured the world speed record for a civilian passenger aircraft. Symbolically naming his impressive new aircraft ‘Britain First’, he gifted it to the nation, hoping that it would attract interest from the military.

 

In truth, the Bristol Type 142 was something of an embarrassment for the RAF. Having only recently introduced the latest Gloster Gauntlet fighter into squadron service, it was found that the new Bristol airliner was actually 77 mph faster than the RAF’s home defence fighter. It was not lost on them that under most circumstances, the RAF would be incapable of intercepting this new civilian airliner, a situation which had to be addressed. Impressed by its world beating capabilities, British military officials immediately placed an order for a bomber variant of the Bristol Type 142 an aircraft which carried the official designation Bristol Type 142M (Military), but one which would soon be known as the Blenheim Mk.I. Thanks to his intervention, Lord Rothermere managed to increase the pace at which the Royal Air Force was modernising, with his Blenheim Mk.I heralding the arrival of a new breed of advanced aircraft. With the clouds of war already gathering in Europe, this development would prove crucial in the years to come.

 

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This image features the first production Bristol Type 142M aircraft with the serial K7033, a historic aircraft in its own right, which served as the only prototype for this military derivative of the aircraft which would go on to be named the Blenheim

 

Entering Royal Air Force service in March 1937, when No.114 Squadron traded their Hawker Hind biplanes for the new Bristol Blenheim Mk.I, the squadron’s crews knew that they were at the cutting edge of world aviation. Immediately presenting them with an aircraft which was capable of speeds approaching 100 mph faster than their previous mount, the Blenheim was the fastest light/medium bomber in the world at that time and the aircraft against which all other future designs would be judged. Indeed, when conducting air combat exercises, Blenheim crews were instructed to fly slower than the aircraft was capable of doing, just so RAF fighters had the chance to intercept them. Unfortunately though, the impressive 307 mph top speed of Lord Rothermere’s civilian prototype could not be matched by the military variant of the aircraft, once all the additional weight of military equipment had been added and the Blenheim would be needing as much speed as it could get if the RAF was forced to go to war.

 

Historically, the Bristol Blenheim occupies such an important position in the annals of the Royal Air Force that it is difficult to understand why it doesn’t receive the widespread recognition it undoubtedly deserves. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Air Force had more Bristol Blenheims in service than any other aircraft type and its crews would be asked to carry a heavy load during the early years of the conflict. Underlining the strength of its design, the Blenheim could easily be described as a multi-role aircraft type, as it served in the bomber, fighter, strike fighter, reconnaissance and nightfighter roles during the war, even though it could be argued that it was not ideally suited to any of them at that time. Nevertheless, new operational requirements continued to be placed on the Blenheim and their brave crews continued to carry them out.

 

The announcement of our new 1/48th scale Bristol Blenheim tooling which was made in an edition of Workbench back in 2017, came as a pleasant surprise for most modellers, particularly as this is quite a large subject for this scale. When compared to the single engined fighters which make up the majority of this range, the Blenheim is a bit of a beast and when modelled in this larger scale, you really do get a better appreciation for the impressive design of this important aircraft. From a modelling perspective, it also allows us to show off all the skills we have picked up over the years, as the kit incorporates lots of fine detail for us to pick out. If nothing else, it makes a fascinating change from building a Spitfire or Hurricane, but as their brother in aviation arms, looks magnificent when displayed next to both of these famous fighters.

 

The second release from this impressive tooling comes complete with scheme options to finish your model as either an RAF Blenheim in service in the year before the outbreak of the Second World War, or a machine involved in the heavy fighting which took place in the Mediterranean Theatre during 1941. Both options present the bomber variant of the Blenheim, with either scheme serving as an effective contrast to the fighter variant modelled with the initial release in 2018. As you can see from the images above, the stunning box artwork we are delighted to be exclusively revealing above takes inspiration from the lead scheme option included with this kit, an aircraft which was engaged in combat with Fiat CR.42 Falco fighters of the Regia Aeronautica in the clear blue skies of the Mediterranean. You will also note that we are showing two appealing variations on this same theme with regard to this particular release, something we often do when commissioning our artwork.

 

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Sometimes, good things actually come in pairs and that is most certainly the case when it comes to this latest 1/48th scale Blenheim Mk.I box artwork, as two variations on the same theme have been produced. If you were the Airfix Development Manager, which of the two would you authorise as the preferred option?

 

With the magnificent artwork which graces the boxes of Airfix kits being regarded by many as one of the iconic features of this famous hobby brand, in most instances, a great amount of thought goes into how we think this image should look, even before the brief is sent to our digital artist. With much industry experience behind him, the Airfix Development Manager has a lifelong love of aviation and a real eye for detail and as he shepherds the current year’s projects through the various stages of development, he will already have a good idea of what he thinks the box artwork should look like. Working closely with the exceptionally talented digital artist Adam Tooby, they work together to bring this idea to life, not only providing a striking visual inspiration for modellers who make the kit in question their next build project, but also helping to tell the stories of the subject aircraft in a rather unique way. Although we may have access to black and white imagery taken some eighty years ago, this artwork really does bring the stories of famous incidents and engagements to life, acting like something of a full colour representation of our imaginations - perhaps that’s why these artworks have always been so popular with people.

 

In some instances, our DM has some difficulty deciding which view of a particular scene would work best as artwork for certain releases and may request an alternative representation of a particular scene, with the two often looking quite different from each other. As you can see from the two versions of the new Blenheim Mk.I box artwork, both are based around the same theme of RAF Blenheim’s engaged in combat with Italian Air Force fighters, but whilst the background and aircraft included are basically the same, the main images actually look quite different. One of the pictures will definitely work better as a box artwork image, with the other usually making it onto the side panels of the box. With both artworks looking equally appealing, this is just another fascinating example of the various stages a new kit has to negotiate before it makes it onto our modelling workstations. With this artwork being so popular with Airfix fans all over the world, most of us wouldn’t complain if there were always several alternatives of every piece of box artwork produced for our viewing pleasure, although Mr Tooby might have something to say about that, from a workload perspective. It would be interesting to see what Workbench readers think about this - if it were your call, which of the two versions above would you select as the new Blenheim box artwork? Please drop us a quick line at [email protected] and let us know.

 

Let’s now take a closer look at the two scheme options which will be included with the early January 2021 release of Bristol Blenheim Mk.I A09190 in 1/48th scale.

 

Scheme A - Bristol Blenheim Mk.I L6670, RAF No.211 Squadron, Menidi airfield, Greece, 1941

 

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As part of the huge expansion of the Royal Air Force in the years immediately prior to the start of the Second World War, No.211 Squadron re-formed at Mildenhall during the summer of 1937 as a day bomber unit, initially equipped with the Hawker Audax single engined biplane light bomber, but quickly trading these in for Hawker Hinds. By April of the following year, the squadron had been sent to help settle tensions in the Middle East and it was whilst they were overseas that they re-equipped once more, this time with the much more capable Bristol Blenheim Mk.I. When the Middle East erupted into conflict in June 1940, the squadron was heavily involved operations against Italian forces in both Libya and the Western Desert, where they would enjoy some notable successes. After the Italians also moved against Greece, No.112 Squadron formed part of the British Air Forces Greece contingent sent to support Greek defensive operations against the invaders, with the entire unit relocating to the Greek mainland. When the squadron arrived at their new airfield home at Menidi/ Tatoi, they were greeted like heroes by the local people, who were confident that the British would prove significant in helping defend their country.

 

The squadron would be heavily involved in flying bombing missions in support of Greek Army operations, targeting Italian troop concentrations, supply ships, ammunition and fuel dumps and if they did come across the Regia Aeronautica, they were more than capable of holding their own. With the combined forces repelling most of the Italian advances during this period, the deteriorating situation for the Axis powers forced the hand of the Germans and by the beginning of April 1941, they invaded Greece through Yugoslavia and Bulgaria in some force, including the arrival of battle hardened Luftwaffe units, who immediately began to take a heavy toll of Allied squadrons. Despite the valiant efforts of an ever diminishing number of Blenheim’s available for operations and with overwhelming odds making their position almost untenable, an inevitable withdrawal of remaining units was soon ordered.

 

With the remnants of the squadron arriving in Egypt via Crete and after suffering horrendous casualties, No.112 Squadron were withdrawn from operations and allowed a six month period of rest and replenishment. The scheme option presented here is a fine example of a Blenheim Mk.I bomber which fought hard to prevent Greece from falling to Axis forces, but eventually had to succumb to the overwhelming strength of the enemy. The subject of several unusually clear wartime photographs taken during the squadron’s Greek deployment, they show the aircraft returning to Menidi airfield following the completion of yet another infantry support sortie and show the aircraft to be in strikingly good condition. This is a fine example of a Mediterranean Theatre Blenheim bomber from this period and these attractive colours only serve to enhance the appearance of this handsome Bristol twin - this scheme is also strikingly different to the other scheme option included with this new kit, not to mention the two fighter schemes included with the initial Blenheim release.

 

Scheme B - Bristol Blenheim Mk.I K7059, RAF No.90 Squadron, Bicester, Oxfordshire, England, Autumn 1938

 

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For pilots selected to fly the new Blenheim bomber, the sense of anticipation must have been quite daunting. The aircraft they were used to flying were in the main, single engined biplane bombers and whilst these were still high performance aircraft at the time of their introduction, the Blenheim represented something completely different. An aircraft which possessed extreme performance, it also introduced several new features which they simply would not have encountered previously during their careers. These included such things as variable pitch propellers and retractable undercarriage, not to mention the fact that they would now be flying a twin engined aircraft, something most would again be doing for the first time. As they walked out to the aircraft to make their first flight, it would invariably have been taking place after a long night studying the pilot’s notes for the aircraft and with a crib sheet of instructions in hand, which they intended to attach to the control column as a first flight aide-memoire.

 

Despite some trepidation, as they walked out to their beautiful new aircraft, they must have felt just a little special, because the aircraft they were about to fly were without doubt amongst to most advanced in the world and the fastest thing in British skies at the time, making them something of elite flyers. Representing a new era for aircraft design, the sleek and purposeful appearance of these first Blenheim bombers must have looked as if Bomber Command could achieve anything they set out to do, but there was one drawback - the Blenheim would now be the aircraft against which all others would be judged and unless it could better Britain’s new light bomber, there was no point developing it further. In addition to this, the 307 mph top speed of ‘Britain First’ was attained by a machine unencumbered by the weight of war and the RAF’s military derivatives were very different aircraft than the one which was their predecessor. Nevertheless, the RAF ordered Blenheims in their hundreds and by the time Europe erupted into conflict once more, there were more Bristol Blenheims in RAF service than any other aircraft type.

 

RAF No.90 Squadron can trace their history back to the Great War and operations as a fighter unit, originally based at Shawbury in Shropshire, preparing pilots for future operations over the Western Front. Reforming once more in March 1937 to operate as a light bomber unit from the grass aerodrome at RAF Bicester, the squadron was initially equipped with Hawker Hind biplanes, but quickly traded these for the new Bristol Blenheim light bomber. One of the initial units charged with introducing this cutting-edge new high performance aircraft into RAF service, the squadron’s pilots were rightly proud of their place in the hierarchy of a fast modernising Royal Air Force, with crews being more than happy to do their bit in promoting the force, helping to encourage thousands of young men to join the RAF. This particular Blenheim (K7059) was the subject of some stunning air-to-air photographs whilst conducting a pre-war training flight high above the British countryside. These images were circulated widely and appear in many Blenheim publications to this day. The appealing scheme of dark earth and dark green over night undersides is typical for a Blenheim of this period, however, the images show that the A1 roundels have had their yellow outer band overpainted with camouflage and masks to replicate this development have been included as an option with this new kit.

 

At the start of the Second World War, No.90 Squadron would become a training unit, preparing Blenheim crews for Bomber Command service, crews who would be asked to carry a particularly heavy burden during the early months of the war, but whose heroic efforts ensured Britain remained defiant in the face of seemingly unrelenting German aggression.

 

There is no doubting that the new 1/48th scale Bristol Blenheim tooling is a hugely popular addition to the Airfix kit range and a real triumph for our product designers, bringing a new appreciation for an aircraft which stands as one of the most significant in the history of the Royal Air Force. This second release allows us to present the Blenheim in either a pre-war home based bomber, or as one of the attractive aircraft which fought in Mediterranean skies against overwhelming odds, attempting to prevent Axis forces occupying the Greek mainland. A truly stunning new kit, Bristol Blenheim Mk.I A09190 will be available very early in the new year and will make an ideal build project with which to attack 2021, from a modelling perspective.

 

V.P.

Edited by Homebee
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  • 1 year later...

Well it would require two completely new fuselage pieces, which is unlike their 1/72 kit which has a broken join to allow different nose type choices. Personally I have my doubts, however would probably stump up for one as well if they ever released a Mk. IV. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

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57 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Well it would require two completely new fuselage pieces, which is unlike their 1/72 kit which has a broken join to allow different nose type choices. Personally I have my doubts, however would probably stump up for one as well if they ever released a Mk. IV. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

It'd need new transparencies too, as well as some additional parts for the née navigator's Station in the nose.  Whilst/if Airfix were at it they could chuck in some extra bits for the deeper Mk. IV ventral gun pack and the most common under-nose scare gun installations; even if they went for a bare basics standard I'd still stump up for a couple.

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To make a Blenheim IV from a I means replacing all of the fuselage forward of the wing root. The cockpit changed completely with the change of mark unless you're building a Bolingbroke which kept the Mk.I cockpit with the longer Mk.IV nose although that means other changes elsewhere. Hopefully the Blackbird Conversion appears soon.

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At the risk of dashing the hopes of anyone who still wishes to see a 1/48 Blenheim IV from Airfix I will reitirate what I was told by the Airfix the guys on the stand at Telford a few years ago when the Blenheim Mk.1 was revealed. They told me that they had NO plans to follow up the Mk.1 with a Mk.IV.

 

I did think it strange but that was what they said.

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