Airfix Bristol Beaufighter TF.X 1:72 Airfix A04019A

[Julien]

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 

 

 

[stever219]

A couple of minor points to note: the engines are a very close fit within the cowlings and benefit from the cylinder heads being sanded or filled to reduce the engines' diameter slightly for a better fit.  The aero tail for the torpedo in my kits had a couple of ejector pin scars that needed filling and filling, remember that Beaufighters carried either torpedo or RPs, not both.  Two styles of fin and tailplane are provided so you'll need to check your references (there were a couple of very useful articles in Airfix Model World about the time the kit was first issued).  Overall this is a very neat little kit of Coastal Command's premier late war strike fighter

[Stuart Wilson]

Just built this kit for the second time or should I say third? The first time I built it I painted, decaled etc and then tried to attach the undercarriage. After a long struggle it went in the bin.

 

The U/C is easy enough to do but you have to be careful. With the next two (completed) kits I covered the unpainted wheel wells with the closed doors until after painting, decaling, flat coats etc. then glued in the lower (upper?) V shaped struts to the interior and let them dry completely. Painted the wheel wells and struts with a brush and then glued the U/C struts and supports in. If the V shaped parts aren't firmly attached before attaching the rest of the U/C  it's a nightmare trying to get it to hold together.

 

This may be obvious to others but I thought I'd mention it. Do it this way and there are no problems. Otherwise it's a lovely kit apart from the previously mentioned  nacelle issues.

 

Stuart

[Meatbox8]

On 1/15/2021 at 1:42 PM, stever219 said:

A couple of minor points to note: the engines are a very close fit within the cowlings and benefit from the cylinder heads being sanded or filled to reduce the engines' diameter slightly for a better fit.  The aero tail for the torpedo in my kits had a couple of ejector pin scars that needed filling and filling, remember that Beaufighters carried either torpedo or RPs, not both.  Two styles of fin and tailplane are provided so you'll need to check your references (there were a couple of very useful articles in Airfix Model World about the time the kit was first issued).  Overall this is a very neat little kit of Coastal Command's premier late war strike fighter

When I built my first of this kit I had the issue with the cowlings and filed down the cylinder blocks as you describe.  However, when building my second one I followed a tip which someone had posted on Britmodeller (I'm afraid I forget who it was) who suggested rather than doing surgery on the engines just attach the cowling sections as in the instructions but leave the ensuing gap between the two parts which include the exhaust egress.  Once set the exhaust pipe covers the gap nicely and the exhaust collecter ring fits perfectly.