Bristol Beaufort Mk. I by Airfix

1/72 scale
Kit No. A04021
Price: $32.00
Decals: Two versions – both Royal Air Force
Comments: New tooling (2021), highly detailed cockpit and internal structures, separately mounted flaps, ailerons and rudder, detailed landing gear and rear defensive machine gun turret assembly; includes torpedo

History

The Bristol Beaufort was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, a design based upon the vast experience gained from the Bristol’s earlier Blenheim light-bombers. It was a powerful, well-armed high performance aircraft that led to the Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, the aircraft which eventually replaced the Beaufort in its maritime strike role.

In an unprecedented step, the Bristol Type 152 Beaufort was ordered “off the drawing board,” an indication of the RAF’s urgent need for an effective anti-shipping aircraft. Although the design is considered to be similar to the Bristol Blenheim, the Beaufort it had a slightly larger wingspan with an extended fuselage, both longer and taller to accommodate a forth crew member and a semi-recessed torpedo.

After a number of teething problems with the Bristol Taurus engines, the prototype (L4441) finally flew on October 15, 1938. Subsequent bombing trials from Boscombe Down revealed “an exceptionally poor bombing platform” with an excessive tendency to roll — this was corrected on later aircraft with semi-circular plates fitted to the trailing edges of the upper wings which provided the required stability. This was a fortunate modification because although designed as a torpedo-bomber, the Beaufort was more often used as a medium day bomber.

The initial order was placed for 320 units which meant that due to its commitment to producing the Bristol Blenheim, only 78 units could be built at Filton, with Blackburn Aircraft Company building the remaining 242 in Yorkshire. This production balance was to be redressed later whilst the Department of Aircraft Production in Australia, also built huge numbers of what was known as Beaufort DAP. These were used to great effect in the Pacific theatre against the Japanese.

Engine development and reliability issues restricted initial UK production aircraft whilst Australian aircraft used the American Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines. Later British aircraft used the improved and more powerful Bristol Taurus XX.

Beauforts first saw service with Royal Air Force Coastal Command and then the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm starting in 1940. They were used as torpedo bombers, conventional bombers and mine-layers until 1942, when they were phased out of active service and were then used as trainer aircraft until being declared obsolete in 1945. Beauforts saw considerable action in the Mediterranean, with Beaufort squadrons based in Egypt and on Malta helping to interdict Axis shipping supplying Rommel’s Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa.

The Beaufort also flew more hours in training than on operational missions and more were lost through accidents and mechanical failures than were lost to enemy fire. A variant of the Beaufort, the Bristol Beaufighter, was designed as a long-range heavy fighter and proved to be very successful as a day and night fighter as well as a torpedo bomber. Many Beaufort units eventually converted to the Beaufighter. In all some 2,130 Beauforts were built, of which 700 were manufactured in Australia. The main production marks were the Bristol Beaufort I (1,015 built) and the Bristol Beaufort VIII (520 built).

The Kit

Airfix’ long-awaited Bristol Beaufort Mk. I is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 160 parts, including 18 clear parts for the cockpit windscreen, glazed nose, rear gun turret, gun and observation blisters and navigation lights. This meticulously researched kit features a detailed cockpit and cabin interior, complete with instrumentation, bulkheads, wing spars and separately mounted sidewall detail.

There are separately mounted ailerons and rudder, as well as a choice of separately mounted flaps for the trailing edges of the upper wings, one of which bears the semi-circular plates fitted to address the tendency to roll which initially made it a poor bombing platform. The engine nacelles are well detailed with both internal ribbing and internal bulkheads, a perfect complement to the detailed radial engines. Engine cowlings consist of two halves which will require seam hiding skill, and feature separately mounted cooling gills and exhaust pipes.

The kit can be built with the bomb bay doors open or closed, but if closed then the torpedo cannot be carried because the torpedo bomber version carried the torpedoes partially contained within the bomb bay. The torpedo itself features a cradle and a large tail, very likely to moderate its rate of descent once dropped. The main landing gear are highly detailed, with each one consisting of seven parts including realistically flattened tires. There appears to be no direct option for depicting the landing gear doors closed, but modelers so inclined will devise the necessary modifications.

The rear machine gun turret assembly is equally detailed and also costs of seven parts, including two Lewis guns, one mounted on its side to fit within the turret’s confines. There is a separate rearward firing gun blister on the right side of the ventral surface of the nose that appears to have been remotely controlled. In addition, there is an option for yet another machine gun position on the port side of the fuselage that involves leaving out a panel to be cemented to the fuselage at Step 5, and instead cementing a gun mount just below the opening.

Markings

Decals are provided for one of two versions of the Beaufort. The first version is for an aircraft of RAF Coastal Command No. 22 Squadron piloted by Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell, VC, with Sgt. J.P. Scott DFM RCAF (navigator), Sgt. R.W. Hillman (wireless operator) and W.C. Mulliss (air gunner), based at Cornwall, England. It is painted in a scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green over Sky. This aircraft and her crew executed a successful torpedo attack against the German battleship Gneisenau at Brest Harbor on the night of Sunday, April 6, 1941, knowing that the aircraft which should have preceded them to soften up the harbor defenses had gotten lost in poor weather and had not hit their targets. Campbell and his crew went in, completing their torpedo run in the face of thick flak and put the Gneisenau out of action for 6 months. Encountering intense anti-aircraft fire, the Beaufort was shot down and none of her crew survived. They are buried at Kerfautras Cemetery in Brest.

The second version is for an aircraft of RAF No. 217 Squadron piloted by Sgt. John Bell Rutherford, with Sgt. Thomas Patrick O’Byrne (navigator), Sgt. William Samuel Ralph Browning (wireless operator) and Sgt. John Anthony Duckworth Wood (air gunner) which engaged in the hunt for the German cruiser Admiral Hipper during February 1941 when it wreaked havoc as a commerce raider in the Atlantic. It is painted in a scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey over Matt Black under surfaces.

Conclusion

This is an extremely detailed kit of the Beaufort, well worth the wait. The markings selected by Airfix heighten the kit’s historical interest. Highly recommended.

Reference

www.baesystems.com