CMK Beaufighter Mk.II Late Conversion Set (7490 for Airfix Mk.X) 1:72

[Mike]

Beaufighter Mk.II Late Conversion Set (7490 for Airfix Mk.X)

1:72 CMK by Special Hobby

 

 

When Bristol were developing the Beaufighter from their own Beaufort light bomber, there were concerns that the proposed Hercules power plants could be in short supply, as at the time the new Stirling heavy bomber took priority.  As a stop-gap measure in case those concerns materialised, the Mk.II Beaufighter was developed to mount a pair of Merlin XX engines in streamlined nacelles that were designed by Rolls-Royce, and bear a family resemblance to the later Lancaster bomber with good reason.  Of the 330 airframes built with Merlins on the wings, around a third were lost in accidents due to the aggressive torque steer of the twin Merlins on take-off and landing.  Unbelievably, the type was also considered to be underpowered when compared to the Hercules equipped airframes, which is especially confusing when comparing the performance of the Stirling with the Lancaster.

 

 

The Conversion

This is a resin conversion set that is designed to be applied to the Airfix Beaufighter Mk.X kit, and arrives in a large cardboard box that has thirty-six resin parts inside, plus a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret and a decal sheet, all packed into two Ziploc bags and protected by the folded instruction booklet.  Some of the resin parts are large, the biggest being the inner wing panels and engine nacelle fairings, which also incorporates the gear bays, both of which are filled with detail, and have panel lines in a style matching those of the kit.

 

 

 

Construction begins with removal of the kit’s inner wing panels and the intakes for the oil coolers, which should be sanded back to the profile of the leading edge, filling any depressions where needed.  The remaining outer wings are then joined with the resin inners, with a deep plug projecting into the outer panel to give a strong join.  The nacelles, their exhaust stubs and PE flash hiders are mated to the bulkheads, with small intakes on the cheeks, and a small upstand at the rear of the nacelle fairing.  The props consist of a back-plate, three keyed blades, and hollow spinner that are made up as a pair to be glued to the front of the nacelles after painting.  The kit landing gear is made up and inserted into the new bays, taking your cues from the Airfix instructions, then the bays are bracketed by new resin doors, plus an exhaust flap under the engines, set in the open or closed position at your choice, using two PE struts to support them at each side.  On my example, the flaps had detached from their casting block, but were otherwise undamaged.  The wings have PE radar aerials drilled into the leading edges, with distances from the nacelles given to assist you.  Another arrow-shaped antenna is fixed into the centre of the nose cone, and a towel-rail antenna attached to the underside of the fuselage, offset to one side slightly.  The last aerial is just behind the astrodome on the fuselage spine, and the last resin parts are the elevators, which are fixed to the fuselage at right-angles to the unfilleted tail fin.

 

 

Markings

There are a generous five markings options on the decal sheet, including day and night schemes.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Mk.II EW-U/T3048, No.307 (Polish) Sqn. RAF, Exeter, 1942
• Mk.II ZJ-M/T3415, No.96 Sqn. RAF, S/L Dickie Haine, Wrexham Base, England, May 1942
• Mk.II RX-B/T3017, No.456 Sqn. RAF, S/L Charles G C Olive, CBE DFC, Valley Base, Anglesey, Wales, 1942*
• Mk.II KP-K/T3145, No.409 (Canadian) Sqn. RAF, Coleby Grange, late 1941
• Mk.II, LI-P/T3223 No.798 Sqn. FAA, Lee-on-Solent, 1944

 

* Note that the instructions have spelt Valley and Anglesey incorrectly.

 

 

 

The decals are well-printed, sharp and with good register to allow you to build one of the options above.

 

 

Conclusion

If I was a 1:72 builder I’d be building this right now, as it’s a pretty cool conversion.  The resin is well-cast, the build should be relatively easy, and the instructions are comprehensive.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of