CMK Beaufighter Mk.21 Conversion Set (4406 for Revell) & British Hedgehog Exhausts (Q38386 for Revell) 1:48

[Mike]

Beaufighter Mk.21 Conversion Set (4406 for Revell) & British Hedgehog Exhausts (Q38386 for Revell)

1:48 CMK by Special Hobby

 

 

Revell released a new tooling of the Beaufighter in 1:48 in 2018, with a few reboxings happening since then.  There are some additions and conversions not yet covered though, and Special Hobby have identified a few areas that could be of use to us modellers. 

 

DAP Beaufighter Mk.21 Conversion Set (4406 for Revell)

The Mk.21 was a variant made in Australia where it saw extensive service against the Japanese forces, fitted with Hercules XVII engines, four .50cal machine guns in the wings, plus four 20mm cannons in the nose that gave it a deadly punch, tightly concentrated centrally in the direction of flight.  They could also carry torpedoes, HVAR rockets and small bombs under the wings.  It was referred to as the DAP Beaufighter, as the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP) were the instigators of the type, while the Japanese had the name “Whispering Death” for it, thanks to its fast, silent and deadly approach.  Fewer than 400 were made from 1944 and remained in service until after the war in the Pacific ended.

 

 

This conversion set arrives in a small cardboard box, with a bag of resin and vacformed parts within, another bag with two small sheets of decals, plus a short instruction leaflet.  The exhausts are replaced by resin short hedgehog units of two different styles, and the nose is given its hump by cutting the front off the kit canopy just forward of the windscreen, plus a little of the nose skin as per the accompanying diagram.  The resin nose hump fits into that space and the kit canopy is reused after its trimming.  The DAP specific observer’s dome in the fuselage spine is supplied as two vacform parts, of which you only need one unless you make a mistake.  Fill the depression in the vacform with Blutak and cut it carefully, checking fit frequently as you go along, trimming it as necessary.

 

 

The decals are printed by Special Hobby, and have good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  The red centres are missed off the roundels by design, as any red on a wing could be mistaken for a Japanese Hinomaru in the excitement of combat.  There are decal options for two of the type, which were painted in a foliage green colour all over.  From the set you can build either of the following:

 

• SK-N/A8-116 dubbed Babs/Pistol Packin’ Gremlin, NO.93 Sqn., RAAF. Borneo, Aug. 1945
• DU-A/A8-27, named Rockabye Babey, Morotai, 1945

 

The set shouldn’t tax the average modeller, with just the observer blister perhaps giving a little pause for thought.  Don’t be too concerned, just treat it like any other modelling task and take your time.

 

 

 

British-type Hedgehog Exhausts (Q48386 for Revell)

This set from CMK’s Quick & Easy range arrives in CMK's familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear.  It includes two resin Hedgehog exhausts that replace the kit parts if you are building the new(ish) Revell kit as an airframe that utilised them.  They are drop-in replacements and a diagram on the instruction sheet shows just how easy it is.

 

 

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Maginot]

Ooh! Very tempting. But like some others, dreaming of DAP Mk.21 conversion bits in 1/32 to complete a Brit (and Skip) fighter twin trio in 1/32.