Airfix 1/72 Beaufighter X

[Simon]

Hello everyone

 

While I'm wrestling the Airfix Blenheim into submission, I thought I'd try another of their Bristol twins, the Beaufighter X. I'll be doing it as KW280 MB-M of 236 Squadron, flown on a few occasions my Flt. Lt. James Davies Taylor, D.F.C., who was born in Sunderland in 1921. He served with 236 Sqn, was awarded the D.F.C. in October 1944, but was killed whilst serving with 84 Squadron in Indonesia on December 8th 1945. His death was reported in the Sunderland Echo of December 12th 1945:

 

Sunderland D.F.C.’s Fate in Java

Flying Officer James Davies Taylor, D.F.C., whose wife resides at Humbledon, is reported missing and believed killed in Java.

‘Jimmy’ Taylor was one of Sunderland East End born boys, who, by sheer pluck and determination made his way in the world. Prior to the war he lived with his mother at The Barracks and attended Moor School, and when he started his apprenticeship at Messrs. Austin’s shipyard he got a number of awards, which entitled him to attendance year after year at Sunderland Technical College evening courses. Just before the outbreak of hostilities he signed professional forms with Newcastle United as reserve centre forward from Hylton Juniors – and it was one of his regrets that he was persuaded to sign for them instead of Sunderland.

In 1941 he enlisted in the R.A.F. and carried out his training in Canada. When he was awarded the D.F.C. in September last year. The citation said Flying Officer Taylor in May had engaged a Junkers 88, and later in the month attacked and damaged an enemy coastal vessel single-handed. During the attack his port engine was out of action.

“This officer”, concluded the citation, “has always pressed home his attacks with great determination.”

 

On both the occasions mentioned in the report he was flying KW280, and I've found a few more of his Ops from the 236 Squadron O.R.B. Another one of them was on August 12th 1944 when he took part in the attack against Sperrbrecher VII, formerly the Sauerland, also in KW280. The I.W.M. has a great photo of the attack:

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205218986

 

So the Beau will be Dark Sea Grey and Sky, with full D-Day stripes, armed with 8 R.P.s as is seen on the well-known photos of NT850 MB-T.

 

So, this is what I've got:

 

 

More soon

 

Simon

 

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Simon
added link

[Simon]

Hello again

 

A short update, with the fuselage and cockpit pretty much done.

 

Port side of the cockpit, with the Eduard etch added:

 

 

and the starboard side Eduard'd up, plus the cockpit heating tubing added:

 

 

and a much more 'busy' looking cockpit as a result:

 

 

The bit behind the cockpit and the rear fuselage are pretty bare, so I thought I'd add some bits and bobs. Part of the floor of the rear fuselage was plywood, but whether this was painted or left bare wood I'm not sure. I thought I'd try in bare wood, just to add some interest:

 

 

Here's the cockpit section, with the Eduard etc added, plus some extra gubbins added behind the pilot's seat:

 

 

I also decided to scratchbuild the ammo boxes for the four 20mm cannons that sit behind the wing spar, plus the cage that sits behind the gunner/observer's seat and has two compressed air bottles sitting in it:

 

 
And here painted and it place. Just about visible through the cockpit and upper blister:

 

 

 

That's the fuselage interior done, I think. I'm not sure if there was a bulkhead and doors on the rear wing spar on the Mk. X, or this was just for the earlier marks of Beau? There's a photo of pranged Mk.VI EL439 of 27 Squadron on page 27 of 'Beaufighter Squadrons in Focus' by Simon Parry with the fuselage broken off at the rear wing spar, and it has the bulkhead with the doors:

 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GxN5kZK060QC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=beaufighter+el439&source=bl&ots=BJeYDxeEu6&sig=ACfU3U1ewxfLsXcFiRNECTVgY3P5wuFExg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjltdycjrbpAhXEoFwKHevDBRcQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=beaufighter el439&f=false

 

I reckon it can do without it, as it won't be visible, but I'd be interested to know one way or t'other.

 

On to the wings, and the instructions tell you to remove the two teadrop blister fairing on the top of the wing for the Coastal Command option (for the 'earlier' wing😞

 

 

A bit of a pain, as the panel line runs right under it, but onwards and upwards:

 

 

Not the neatest bit of rescribing, but hopefully under a coat of primer it should be okay. I'm going to do the wings and main undercarriage bays next, with some more of Eduard's finest...

 

More soon...

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

[Simon]

A quick update for today...

 

I've added the very nice Eduard etch to the mainwheel bays, and glued the wings together:

 

 

 

Fuselage all buttoned up, and trussed up like a Christmas turkey while the glue set:

 

 

Fit of the fuselage was okay, just a smidge of filler and a bit of sanding along the seams.

 

Once they set, the wings and fuselage can meet at last:

 

 

Once again, fit is good, and just a little filler needed and maybe a little rescribing. It all seems a bit better all rouhnd than the Blenheim, thank goodness...!

 

More soon

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

[Simon]

Back again to the Beau, after having spent so much time wrestling the Airfix 1/72 Blenheim IV into some sort of shape.

 

All main parts together, minor bit of filling and a coat of primer on. I'd bought the Quickboost Beaufighter intakes set, so I've added the wing leading edge ones. The holes need some major enlarging:

 

Before:

 

 

and after:

 

 

I did have a slight issue with the Quickboost intakes. I assume the vents are supposed to be aligned with the wing leading edge?

 

This one does:

 

 

but this one don't

 

 

Annoying, but not the end of the world.

 

Next up I thought I'd do the D-Day stripes on the wings and fuselage. I'd marked them out in pencil before I added the wing intakes:

 

 

Then added a bit of pre-shading in dark grey:

 

 

 

and then put on a base coat of white after adding the intakes:

 

 

 

The 'closed' undercarriage doors were useful for temporarily masking the wheel bays.

 

 

I'll do the black stripes next, then can get on to the Sky and EDSG camo...

 

More soon

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Simon
typo

[Edge]

She's coming along really nicely Simon. Just finishes the same (well later boxing) kit with similar after market. The Quickboost pieces really lift the level of detail. I especially liked the fuel vents - incredibly fine pieces.

I found the fit of the Brassin exhaust to the kit part was tricky to get right, particularly as I'd already painted the collector. Next time I'd fiddle the fit before painting the whole thing as one.

 

Edge

 

[Simon]

Back with another quick update.

 

First up I added the black stripes to the wings and fuselage. Marked up with pencil, then quite diluted black added in thin coats:

 

 

 

 

Then I masked off the stripes so I could add the Sky to the undersides and EDSG to the uppers:

 

 

 

The Extra Dark Sea Grey uppers on Coastal Command Beaufighters seem to suffer from weathering very badly, so they were sprayed with a base of Dark Sea Grey, then oversprays of EDSG:

 

 

 

Masks off:

 

 

and kit decals on:

 

 

 

I didn't realise how many stencils there are on a Beau! These decals are really well printed, and bedded down really well.

 

Unlike the codes from the 'old Airfix' Beaufighter (kit number A02003), which I got from Ebay for a couple of quid. Out of register, and oddly-coloured red and with a halftone screen on the red:

 

 

and they wouldn't bed down at all:

 

 

So they came straight off, and I'm looking at Plan B and possibly Plan C. Plan B is to try and get some codes from the Hasegawa D-Day Beaufighter/Spitfire kit, which had the MB-T codes, and Plan C is Almark's AKA06B, but I think they're even older than the 'old Airfix' decals...!

 

On to some more weathering now, and hopefully getting the codes sorted.

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Simon]

On 7/5/2020 at 3:12 PM, Edge said:

She's coming along really nicely Simon. Just finishes the same (well later boxing) kit with similar after market. The Quickboost pieces really lift the level of detail. I especially liked the fuel vents - incredibly fine pieces.

I found the fit of the Brassin exhaust to the kit part was tricky to get right, particularly as I'd already painted the collector. Next time I'd fiddle the fit before painting the whole thing as one.

 

Edge

 

 

I'm glad you mentioned the exhausts. I just checked the exhausts I've got, and I realised I've got the wrong ones (QB 72101) which I think are for the Hasegawa Beaufighter.

 

Oh well, proper ones ordered now...

 

Simon

 

 

[Simon]

Another quickie update...

 

I've added the main undercarriage and doors, and started on a bit of weathering:

 

 

 

 

Kindly interrupted by next door's cat Myrtle. She seems to like to use our house as her day house and me as her personal cat seat, often at somewhat inconvenient times:

 

 

I thought I'd cracked the issue with the 24" red code letters. Hannants had some 24" red codes by Almark, reduced to 50p per sheet, which I thought was too good to be true....which of course it was, when these arrived:

 

 

Seems the set used to include both 24" and 36", but for some reason they only had the 36" bits left, and their website hadn't been update. It's annoying as they're the right 'wider' style, unlike the Modeldecal 114 and Tally Ho sets which are the narrower style. D'oh...

 

Not quite sure what to do now about the codes. I did ask on the 'Wanted' setion for the MB-T codes from the 1/72 Hasegawa D-Day boxing, but no joy.

 

I might try some more of the old Airfix decs. They're not great quality, but better than nowt and hopefully I can get some that aren't out of register.

 

More soon...

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Simon]

Another update, with some more bits and bobs being finished and added:

 

Engine cowlings are all done and dusted, with the Quickboost exhausts added:

 

 

For some reason they don't have the tube at the rear for the cabin heating system, so I cut the ones off the kit's parts and added them:

 

 

These were added to the wings, and I test-fitted the props:

 

 

Which sit too far back, and actually rub against the cowlings. I think it's due to using the much thinner Eduard etch to replace the Airfix parts. Nothing that a small shim won't sort:

 

 

Much better (and more better once straightened a little...)

 

So here are the engines and props in all their weather-beaten glory:

 

 

 

 

I've also added some of the aerials - here's the radio altimeter one under the horizontal tail:

 

 

and the ones on the nose:

 

 

and finally the extra aerial on the rear fuselage:

 

 

Just the cockpit frames and gunner's position to do now, I think, as well as the troublesome codes. I did paint the glazing, but Xtracrylix Dark Sea Grey didn't agree at all with Airfix clear plastic and came off in flakes when the masks were removed, so I've had to order some new masks and I'll try another brand of paint.

 

I've had this before with Xtracrylix Night Black on an Airfix Lancaster glazing:

 

 

Dunno whether I've not mixed the paint enough, if it's too thin, too thick, if the masks were left on too long or not long enough, or if it's just not good at adhering to transparencies...

 

Anyway, not the end of the world.

 

More soon...

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jur]

What a gorgeous model you've built here! You're paintwork is excellent. I'm sure you will find a way around the canopy problem.

[Simon]

So, I've finally managed to get back to the workbench after a few months (!) distracted doing work stuff, and I've been trying to pick up where I left off in July.

 

I fortunately had the sense to make a to-do list back then, and most things were crossed off, so only a few bits and bobs to hopefully get sorted.

 

First up was the issue with the red fuselage codes. I had a short list of markings I needed printing by Greg at DrawDecal so I made my own MB-M codes, which turned out very well indeed (thanks to Mr. Drawbaugh, as ever, for the excellent service and fast turnaround ). Here they are in situ:

 

 

 

They're not as bright as the photos might suggest, and I'm pretty happy with them.

 

The only other big job was to get the rocket rails and rockets done. The Airfix rockets are very nice indeed, if a bit of a pain in the whatsits to paint.

 

 

 

The little dangly cables are from the Eduard set. Here they are added to the Beau:

 

 

 

And finally, á propos of nothing very much, why does the Airfix Beaufighter seem to have two James Mays as pilot and gunner?

 

 

More soon...(soon as in a few days, not a few months, hopefully!)

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

[2996 Victor]

Hi Simon,

 

Not sure if perhaps I missed an RFI, but did you complete this beautiful Beau? I've got several in my stash, and I've got to say that your build will be my go-to when I make a start on them!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Simon]

5 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

Hi Simon,

 

Not sure if perhaps I missed an RFI, but did you complete this beautiful Beau? I've got several in my stash, and I've got to say that your build will be my go-to when I make a start on them!

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

Hi Mark

 

You had me worried for a moment here! Yes, I did finish it, but clearly forgot to link to the other thread

 

 

Simon

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Simon

[2996 Victor]

Thanks, Simon - I missed it!!! No great surprise there, I suppose  Beautiful result, if I may say so!

 

Cheers,

Mark