Bristol Blenheim Mk. I by Airfix

1/72 scale
Kit No. A04016
Retail: $31.99
Decals: Two versions – RAF and Romanian Air Force
Comments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit, multi-part glazing over cockpit, separately mounted control surfaces (including flaps), detailed twin bomb bays with bombs

History

The Bristol Blenheim originated in July 1933 from a concept for a commercial transport drafted by Frank Barnwell, the Bristol Aeroplane Company’s chief designer. It called for a twin-engine low wing monoplane capable of carrying six passengers and two pilots, and its intended power plant was to be two Bristol Aquila air-cooled radial engines. The design was brought to the attention of Lord Rothermere, a prominent newspaper proprietor of the day, who had previously expressed his intention of having built for himself “the fastest commercial airplane in Europe, if not the world.”

Rothermere had multiple motives: his own private use; encouraging other business executives to make greater use of commercial air transport; and to prod the British Air Ministry into recognizing that their existing fighters might be no match for a fast transport used as a bomber. His thinking on this last point was cutting edge. By the early 1930’s there was evidence that newly developed bomber aircraft were faster than most front-line fighters of the various nations’ air forces, all of which were still operating with biplanes. This led to a growing concern that “the bomber would always get through” and that, in the next war, it would be at the top of the pecking order in terms of air power.

Lord Rothermere’s belief on this point was prescient. Although the military air arms of the various nations were at first slow to embrace the new technology, monoplane combat aircraft had existed as far back as World War I (Germany’s Fokker Eindekker and Junkers J.1, and the French Morane Saulnier Type N). In Germany during the early to mid-1930’s, at least two aircraft ostensibly developed — at least initially — for commercial purposes would later be converted to bombers and in fact employed against the British Isles during the Battle of Britain. The first of these was the Dornier Do17Z, initially developed as a high speed mail plane, and the Heinkel He 111, which even before it was dropping bombs on London, would garner international headlines in 1937 for the terror bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Rothermere contacted Bristol, asking for details of the design they called the Type 135. Barnwell responded with the news that if the Type 135 could be fitted with more powerful Bristol Mercury engines instead of the initially planned Aguilas, it would be capable of 240 mph at 6,500 feet – impressive figures for 1933.

The prototype for Lord Rothermere’s aircraft (Type 142) first flew on April 12, 1935. By June, its performance had aroused deep interest in Air Ministry circles due to its top speed, which was not 240 but 307 mph, faster than any R.A.F. fighter then in service. On July 9, 1935, the Air Ministry met with Bristol to discuss converting the Type 142 into a medium bomber. This meeting resulted in Specification 28/35, what would ultimately become the Blenheim Mk. I. The new militarized prototype took its maiden flight on June 25, 1936 and entered RAF service in March 1937, with the first deliveries going to No. 114 Squadron.

By the time of the 1938 Munich Agreement averting war over Hitler’s annexation of critical parts of Czechoslovakia, the Blenheim Mk. I equipped 16 squadrons of RAF Bomber Command, most of which were overseas (Egypt, Iraq, India and Singapore). When war came in September 1939, the Blenheim Mk. IV equipped the bulk of the UK-based squadrons. Seven home-based squadrons had converted to Blenheim Mk IF, a fighter version fitted with a gun pack of four .303 Browning machine guns just forward of the bomb bay doors.

The Blenheim Mk. IF fighters proved inadequate in the skies over both Western Europe and Malaya, and were mauled by the likes of Messerschmitt Bf 109’s in France, as well as Mitsubishi A6M’s (the Zero) and the Nakajima Ki-43 over Singapore. However, the Blenheim IF was chosen to pioneer the technique of airborne radar-guided night interception, and enjoyed some success as a night fighter, scoring its first kill on the night of July 2-3, 1940. Blenheim IF nightfighters served throughout the Blitz of 1940-41, and together with similarly equipped Beaufighters formed an effective force against the Luftwaffe’s night raids.

In North Africa Blenheims conducted effective attacks against the Italians, when a formation of 26 aircraft (from Nos. 45, 55 and 113 Squadrons) struck the Regia Aeronautica airfield at El Adem at dawn on June 10, 1940, within hours of the Italian declaration of war. This raid and a second later the same day claimed 18 enemy aircraft destroyed or damaged on the ground. Blenheim Mk. I’s continued operating in the Middle East into 1941, taking part in the ill-fated defense of Greece against the German invasion.

Blenheims were exported to Finland, Yugoslavia, Turkey and Romania, and consequently many of them wound up in the hands of the Russians (after the Russo-Finnish War of 1940-41) or the Germans. In Yugoslavia in particular they fought valiantly against the German onslaught but were ultimately overwhelmed, as they were fast but not quite maneuverable enough to take on the Bf 109, and in any event were outnumbered.

The Blenheim was an effective weapon in the early part of the war, but it seems only when it could capitalize on the element of surprise, or when operating as a nightfighter. Its most significant contribution may be that it spurred the Air Ministry and the British Government into action to put the RAF on a more modernized war footing with meaningful offensive capability during the troubling years of the late 1930’s – before it was too late.

The Kit

Airfix’s Bristol Blenheim Mk. I, first released in 2014, is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 140 parts, 6 of which are clear plastic for the nose glazing and the turret for the aft machine gun. There are three key options to be aware of during assembly: optional position landing gear, optional gun turrets, optional position bomb bay doors, and optional position landing flaps. In addition to the two large bombs for the main bomb bays, there is an option for eight more smaller anti-personnel bombs to be mounted on the ventral surface of the fuselage just aft of the bomb bay doors.

Construction begins in an unconventional manner with the rear portion of the fuselage, from just aft of the bomb bays to the tail section, and the instructions indicate where to drill holes in the fuselage if you intend to mount the finished model on a separately sold display stand. You quickly move on the main wing assembly, at which point it will be necessary to decide whether to build the kit with the landing gear up or down.

Once the wing is joined to the fuselage, only then do you get to the cockpit, part of a detailed nose assembly, including the nose glazing, which is cemented to the fuselage when complete.
There is a small decal for the diminutive main instrument panel, but there is a fair amount of detail otherwise, between the pilot’s seat, side instrumentation, control yoke, and navigator’s seat (with a second seat for him up forward, more of a fold-down stool, when he doubles as the bombardier).

The bomb bay (should you opt to depict the bomb bay doors open) and engine assemblies are quite well detailed. An interesting note is that while the dorsal turret only requires a single Lewis machine gun, Airfix have provided a total of three, molded with above average detail for this scale, so there will be goodies left over for your spares box.

Markings

The markings are excellent with realistic color, fully in register with no color bleed, consistent with the dramatically improved Airfix quality in their kits of the past decade. The kit includes decals for two versions. The first of these is a Royal Air Force machine flown by Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf, Victoria Cross, of No. 62 Squadron based at RAF Butterworth, Malaysia, December 9, 1941. This aircraft is in a camouflage scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green over Matt Black. The second set of markings are for a Blenheim Mk. I of the Romanian Air Force, based at Brasov, Transylvania in 1939. It appears in a paint scheme of Dark Green upper surfaces over Matt Light Blue undersides, with the underside of the outer wing panels painted Matt Yellow. Both aircraft feature Gun Metal cowling lips over the engines.

Conclusion

This is an excellent and detailed kit of an early war Allied medium fighter-bomber that carried the fight to the enemy despite the fact that it was often outclassed, and managed to provide some offensive capability until more newer, effective aircraft could fulfill the role. Highly recommended.

Reference

The Bristol Blenheim Mk. I; Profile Publications No. 93, Copyright 1965 Philip J.R. Moyes. Printed by Profile Publications Ltd., Leatherhead, Surrey, England.