Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I (A05128A) 1:48

[Mike]

Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.I (A05128A)

1:48 Airfix

 

 

The Defiant came about due to the Air Ministry’s obsession at the time with turreted fighters.  The thinking was that the enemy bombers would come over unescorted in the mistaken belief that their defensive armament could fend off any attackers.  It was decided that the fighters would intercept the bombers en masse, and approach them either from underneath or the side, using their turreted armament to pick them off, separating the workload of flying and shooting, and hopefully resulting in a better rate of attrition of the bomber stream.  They were wrong of course, and the Defiant’s additional weight made the aircraft less manoeuvrable than its opponents, the Bf.109 and Bf.110, leading to unacceptable losses that resulted in it being moved to nightfighter duties where its talents were better utilised.  Having no forward-firing armament was a drawback, but its lack of agility mattered less under the cover of darkness.

 

It fought well as a nightfighter, but was eventually replaced by the more advanced Beaufighter and Mosquito, while the Defiant, nicknamed Daffy at the time was relegated to target tug and gunnery training duties until its services were no-longer required.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of the original 2016 release of the newly tooled kit, but with new decals to add a little variation to the proceedings.  Although I’ve owned one of these kits for a number of years, we haven’t reviewed one yet but as all the previous boxings contained the same sprues you can take this as a review of them all save for their decals.  The kit arrives in Airfix’s traditional red themed box and inside are four sprues of grey styrene, one of clear parts, a decal sheet and folded instruction booklet with colour profiles at the rear for painting and decaling.  The detail is excellent, and typical of Airfix’s modern output with the clear parts separately bagged within the main bag for their safety.

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, attaching the pilot’s seat to the bulkhead behind it, with a scrap diagram showing the correct angle from the side.  Underneath are added the controls and mounts, then the assembly is fitted to the cockpit floor and foot-plates then the front-bulkhead is made up with the rudder pedal box and control column added along the way.  In preparation for closing up the fuselage, the cockpit sidewalls moulded into the fuselage halves are ribbed horizontally, then upgraded with ribs and stringers plus additional cockpit instruments and detail painted before the cockpit assembly is trapped between the two halves.  Also fitted at the same time is a single piece rear section for the turret and the pilot’s main instrument panel with a decal supplied to portray the instruments.  Once the glue is all set up, the two connecting rails between the halves of the turret insert are cut away to leave a circular aperture for the turret later. 

 

The fuselage is then set aside for a while so that the wings can be made up.  The lower centre section has the bay attaches from within, with a stiffener box added to the upper wing halves before they are joined to the lower centre section, then enclosed with an overlapping lower section for a strong joint.  The fuselage is dropped into the waiting gap in between the wing fairings, after which the single-part ailerons can be glued at an angle that suits your requirements, with a total of 15^o deflection possible.  The radiator housing is fitted next, with two parts inside representing the radiators, and if you’re using an Airfix stand there is a choice of two pre-thinned holes that you can drill out to accommodate the locating pin.  The elevator fins are fabricated from top and bottom parts plus separate elevators, which can be posed deflected 10^o down or 22^o up, with 25^o in either direction for the rudder, which is also moulded from a single part with no visible sink marks.  To complete the fuselage the top cowling is fitted to the assembly, covering where the Merlin engine would normally be.  The tail-wheel is fixed and a single part, but you might benefit from adding it later, in case you knock it off during handling.

 

You have an option to pose the aircraft wheels up, and that will be particularly useful if you are using the stand, which is sold separately in case you weren’t aware.  Two inserts for the gear bay doors are supplied, with upstands that prevent them from slipping into the bays and should set them flush with the rest of the wing.  If you’re using the landing gear however, the main strut is joined by the long retraction jack, oleo-scissor and the wheel, which is made from a single part tyre with another part for the hub, which slides through the tyre and should be glued in evenly with liquid cement.  A scrap diagram shows the correct angle of the wheels to the ground.  The main bay doors are captive to the leg, with a small socket moulded into the top section and a mating surface on the bottom.  The angled inner doors are both attached either side of the centre-line by a small hinge that locks into a groove in the bay.

 

The turret assembly is based on the turret ring, adding detail to the underside including support frame for the seat plus pedals for the gunner to rotate it.  On the topside, the pivot point for the quad .303 guns is planted into the ring, then the pairs of guns on their mounts are fixed, as well as the twin firing handles between them.  The front turret glazing slides over the guns and is glued in place, then the two sliding door panels are fixed to the rear, ready to insert into the fuselage.  There is also a complete turret part that fits the same way if you plan on leaving the doors on it closed.  Before the turret can be inserted however, the main cockpit is made up with a choice of open or closed glazing.  The closed canopy uses the common windscreen part, with a single part for the rest of the glazing, and an insert that improves aerodynamics when the turret is stowed, or slides down to allow the guns to traverse and fire.  With the canopy open, the opening section is placed over a different rear, which has the fairing moulded into it that should be painted before the canopy is glued over it.  This restricts the movement of the turret to the sides and rear however, and if the movable insert to the rear is fitted in the raised position, the turret should be positioned pointed to the rear in the “travel” mode.  It can also be posed toward the front with just the canopy insert dropped, but to my eyes that just looks awkward.  Finally, with the canopy open, the turret can be positioned to the sides and rear as long as the rear insert is dropped.  To drop the rear insert, the part is inserted without a spacer, setting it flush with the rest of the fuselage.

 

 

We’re on the final straits now, with the prop next, made from a single blade part, front spinner, back-plate and axle, which passes through a collar that needs to remain glue-free if you want to leave the prop capable of spinning.  The crew step in the wing root fairing can be posed up or down, and a choice of exhaust stubs with fish-tail or straight outlets is provided, although the exits aren’t hollow so you’ll have to either paint them black or figure out a way to ream them out if that bothers you.  Clear lenses and reflectors for the wing-mounted landing and wingtip lights are the last parts from the clear sprue, then it’s a case of adding the pitot probe to the port wing and two antennae under the fuselage and it’s done.

 

 

Markings

This is the new part, and you get two decal options on the sheet, one a day fighter, the other an all-black night fighter.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• L7021 No.264 Squ. RAF Hornchurch, Essex, England, 25th Aug 1940
• N1801 No.264 Squ. RAF Duxford, Cambs, England April 1941 – flown by F.O. F.D. Hughes & Sgt. F Gash (gunner)

 

 

 

The decals are printed by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

A welcome reboxing of the new(ish) Defiant that brings all the latest improvements that the reinvigorated Airfix have brought to their modern range of kits.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[iainpeden]

Interesting review - thanks. Can you explain why the upper ring roundels for the night fighter are a different blue to the day fighter? Or is it just how it has come out in the scanning.

[Troy Smith]

28 minutes ago, iainpeden said:

Can you explain why the upper ring roundels for the night fighter are a different blue to the day fighter?

 

 

see top caption here

 

from https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php/Modeling-References/Camoflage-Markings/08-Boulton-Paul-Defiant

 

in this specific case, I think they are wrong though.

 

Perhaps @AndyL   maybe able to add some info on this?

 

Note in the linked monograph,  at that time (1970) the specifics were not known, and the image reproduction implies a lighter upperwing shade

 

my query is why the section of the decals for N1801 has a 'Y' (as shown on placement) and a 'B' ? 

 

HTH

[Vulcanicity]

23 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

my query is why the section of the decals for N1801 has a 'Y' (as shown on placement) and a 'B' ?

I seem to recall that both Y and B have been suggested as individual code letters for N1801 (presumably based on an ORB or Hughes' logbook) but there is no consensus on which was actually correct.

The MPM 1/72nd kit goes for "Y" and Xtradecal went for "B".  Presumably Airfix are hedging their bets and providing both!

[Johnny Tip]

On 10/08/2020 at 15:20, Vulcanicity said:

The MPM 1/72nd kit goes for "Y" and Xtradecal went for "B".  Presumably Airfix are hedging their bets and providing both!

In the instructions, they say they're leaving the decision to the modeller.