Kit: No. CP13
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Hasegawa, distributed by Marco Polo Import, 532 S. Coralridge Pl., City of Industry, CA 91746
Price: $19.98
Comments: Injection molded, 137 parts (2 cast metal, 4 vinyl), decals.
Armed with four 20mm cannons and six 7.7mm machine guns, the British Beaufighter was the most heavily armed fighter of World War II. Responding to the immediate need for a heavy twin-engined fighter, Bristol combined the proven wings of its Beaufort bomber with a new fuselage to create the powerful fighter in record time. Armament could be enhanced with the addition of bombs and underwing rockets. Beaufighters served many roles, including night fighter, long-range escort, and coastal patrol.
It's been a long time since a new 1/72 scale kit of the Beaufighter has been produced. Hasegawa's features fine recessed panel lines, top-quality moldings, and excellent fit. The parts breakdowns and unused parts suggest more variants could be on the way.
The injection-molding process could not produce the "hedgehog" exhausts stacks, so Hasegawa has provided them perfectly molded in white metal. The radar antennas are as fine as can be made in styrene, but they're still too thick for this scale.
The markings are provided for a Mk. VIf night fighter based in North Africa and a Mk. VIc based in Malta. Decals are provided for the instrument panel and side consoles, and these are adequate for this scale.
Be sure to install the tail wheel before closing the fuselage, as it cannot be added afterward. You also need to open holes for antennas in the top of the fuselage depending on which variant you're building. Overall, the fit was excellent, but the bottom seam of the fuselage just ahead of the tail wheel needed a little super glue filler. I was worried that the various separate fuselage panels (designed for the different variants) would be trouble, but they fit well, too.
If you plan to use the gun-port tape decals, you don't need to open the ports in the wings. If you're building the night fighter, remember to open up the holes in the wings for the antennas.
Hasegawa's Hercules engines have both rows of cylinders molded in one piece, but they sit deep in the cowl and look fine. Poly caps mount in the crankcase so the propellers can be added after painting is complete.
Hasegawa did a fine job capturing the complex main landing gear, using seven parts for each mechanism. Flattened tires are provided, and the wheels are separate parts, making painting the tires easy.
I painted the camouflage with Polly Scale acrylic colors. The engine nacelles were masked and the fronts painted with SNJ bronze, but I should have painted them before attachment to the nacelles. When the paint was dry, I airbrushed a couple of coats of Future floor polish to prepare the model for decaling.
To make the decals more opaque, Hasegawa printed the red ink over white, but my sample's red wasn't lined up with the white underprinting. While this was not a problem for the fin flashes and ID code, it made the serial number and red stencils unusable. The decals I could use snuggled into the recessed panel lines with a little help from Microsol.
It took me about 16 hours to build my Beaufighter; that's not bad for a kit this size and a paint scheme this complex. The model measures exactly to scale with the dimensions in Squadron/Signal's Beaufighter in Action, and the major components matched well to the plans in Alan Hall's Warpaint Series No. 1, Beaufighter. It's a fine kit, but you should have experience with small parts and camouflage painting before starting this one.
- John Plzak