A couple of pics of my new build, the 1/48 Tamiya Beaufighter Mk VI. The kit will be pretty much OOB as there is enough detail in it without having to add more. Much of the kit interior detail behind the pilot's cockpit is wasted really as it cannot be seen when the fuselage is assembled. I added some detail to the dials but when I put a drop of Future in to simulate the glass it mixed with the paint and it doesn't show, I didn't realise until I glued the thing into the fuselage.

Hi Martin, I started my Mosquito in preference to the Beaufighter, because I had a detail set for the Mossi, but nut the Beau. There are some good seats, for the beau, out there, I personally like molded on seat belts. Kit seats, nearly always look to "chunky". I see you have used Eduard pre-painted belts? Are they the correct type?
Bummer about the detail in the dials, probably wont be able to be seen when the canopy is in place. The yellow dials look a little stark? maybe they could be toned down a little with a dark wash? or, if possible, a little black in their centres?
As I will be building this model, hopefully, in the near future, but have no references, I'm currious about the colour of the handles on the "specticle" hand grips, I would have assumed black?
I remember reading in a couple of reviews, when this beauty came out, that the step in the cockpit was to high/low, can't remember which, and has to be cut and moved. Is this the case?
Also in reviews there is mention of "patches", on the wings, that shouldn't be there, any thoughts?
Cockpit is looking good, despite your missgivings
Mal

Probably not but they were the only ones I had. The kit provides decal seatbelts but I'm not a fan of them. When I build the Mosquito I think I will apply the decal belts to some foil from a pot noodle and cut them out.. The textured surface may make them look better.


They aren't quite as bad as they appear in the pic. The flash used close up made everything appear stark, I tried to correct the colours but it is still not quite there.


The only references I found were online, a couple of restored cockpits. One had them black, the other a dark brown. I went with brown as they show against the instrument panel better.


I left everything as is for the internal structure. To be honest the fuselage is so deep that most of the interior behind the cockpit seat is in shadow and not easy to see. In this pic I have coloured in what is not seen when the fuselage is assembled. The blue can't be seen at all and the pink is difficult to see without holding the kit up to the light. The gunner's seat blocks out most of the rear section when fitted facing rearwards as per the instructions. I should have placed it facing forwards as I presume it swivels?



I hadn't really noticed until you pointed this out. I think it is a feature of Tamiya 1/48 aircraft kits that they add surface detail that is not required. I'm thinking about the spitfire Mk1a which has a couple of bumps on the upper wing that I've never seen in photos of the real thing.

I am not familiary with this kit, didn't Tamiya have the decal with the instuments on it? What I have done in that case is to punch out the instruments on the decal sheet and apply them as individual decals. it's time consuming but looks a heck of a lot better than trying to get that decal to snuggle down over the raised detail. It looks like you have enough room to through the cockpit opening to still do that if there is a decal.

Apart from that the rest of the cockpit looks great, your use of different colors of RAF interior green really gives it a great weathered appearance. I might run a little in the way of brown pastels over the belts to dirty them up a bit. They are kind of a stark white that makes them stand out.

Can't wait to see more!

Thanks, I should do something with them, they are a bit "new" looking. The reason I didn't use the instrument dial decals is that they are bigger than the dials on the panel and I don't have any punches to resize them. With hindsight I should have used them and painted over the raised detail to hide the overlap.

Hi Martin

Nice work so far.

Following on from Scott's suggestion, a punch & die set is probably one of the best investments you can make in modelling - it has so many uses... you'll wonder how you managed without it!

Many years ago, I built Falcon's vacuformed Beaufighter and scratchbuilt the cockpit and all the mid fuselage area... I expect you can guess how much of the latter was visible on the finished model!

All the best

Rowan

I'm partway through weathering now. The panel lines are done and I've faded the paintwork as this aircraft is based in desert conditions.

Actually, the "gunner" isn't a gunner at all. The Beaufighter was never armed with rear-facing machine guns. The aircraft the Beaufighter was designed from (the Bristol Beaufort) had a rear-facing machine gun, but a single .303 wasn't enough to protect the Beaufort from attacks from the rear. That position is for the AI (airborne intercept) and he should be facing forward.

Before Bob Braham died, I questioned him at length about the Beau... he had fond memories of it, as he did of his AI operator Jack (Sticks) Gregory. I also contacted Bob's Luftwaffe friend, Hauptmann Robert Spreckels, and he fondly remembered the Beaufighter, and the Mossie that he shot Bob down in. His main beef with the Beaufighter, was that it could intercept German radar before they could find the Beaufighter's radar signature.

As this is a Mk. VI, it was primarily used by Coastal Command in Europe. If it was used in Australia, then it was used to strafe Japanese warships and freighters, as well as gun emplacements on those ships, in concert with A-20 Boston and B-25 Mitchells (skip-bombing), and would have been possibly in desert camouflage (given Australia's natural landscape). Coastal Command Beaus were used as torpedo-bombers mostly, although they did do some rocket attack work.

The Beaufighter was an interim aircraft until the Mosquito could fill the gap. Armed with 4 20mm cannon under the nose and 6 .303 machine guns in the wings, it made for the most fearsome aircraft and earned the respect of the Japanese, who apparently called it "Whispering Death" although I thought the F4U-1 Corsair had that distinction.

Other than my historical critique, it's an excellent model.... keep up the good work!

This beau looks fantastic, both inside and out.
Very realist look on that desert camo

Cheers
Pedro

Martin,

Looking good, I always liked the Beau! By the way, are you slipping in the occasional Mossie pic just to keep us on our toes?

Michael

My tuppence worth is that while the Mosquito is one of the most beautiful combat aircraft ever, the Beau was one of the coolest looking of WW II. Reminds me of a busted-nose boxer about to deliver a one-two punch!

Your model is looking great!

Hi Jim

While early Beaufighters simply had a blister canopy for the observer / radar operator (he had a swivel-seat), later versions did add a rear-firing gun.

I'm not sure where those photos of a Mossie cockpit came from. The thread is 9 years old, so I guess some files with the same name got their lines crossed at some point.

It would be great to see BrandyDog building again on Aeroscale - I miss having Martin around regularly.

All the best

Rowan

If I recall Martin did actually post those pictures of the Mossie cockpit when he started this thread, the muppet I may see him at Telford I'll give a reminder to post some finished pics, if he's actually finished it!

Hi Mal

I don't know - Martin comments read as though he was yet to build the Mossie, and you referred to yellow instrument dials that looked too stark. I can't see them in the photos, which makes me suspect the shots got switched at some stage.

Plus, of course, we'd have asked at the time why he was posting shots of a Mossie.

All the best

Rowan

Then, those Beaus were XXI versions... in reference to your comment about the gunner, Rowan.

As the Beau packed a formidable punch from 4x20mm Hispano cannon and 6x.303 machine guns, it would hardly need a single rear-facing gun, even if it was a .303.

My grandfather was a tailgunner on a Lancaster. He swore that the .303 round was ineffective on anything that had a skin thicker than a few pieces of tinfoil. The only reason he shot down three German fighters (Me-109E (2), Fw-190A (1)) was due to the tracer rounds (every sixth bullet was a tracer in .303 machine gun belts). He said he never shot at the engine; just behind the pilot where the fuel filler cap was, and more often than not, the resulting fire from striking the radio equipment nearby was the cause of the loss of the aircraft (German, not his Lancaster). One thing history never said was that if you hit a Me-109 in the radio compartment, that it results in a spectacular fire (with all those vapors from the engines and fuel filling the space).

The Beaufighter never had a window on the starboard or port side where these are... that's a Mossie, for sure.

Sorry James but you'll find that most Mk.VI and X's had a rear facing gun and some of the early Mk.Ic's and VI's supplied to the Aussie's had them field fitted. The night fights didn't need them but the coastal command one's needed any advantage they could get when weighted down with torpedoes, bombs and/or rockets.

The early marks used by the Aussies could outrun a Zero at sea level but even so they would do whatever they could to dissuade the Jap from trying, even flashing a flashlight to look like a gun firing before they did get actual guns fitted.

I stand corrected, Littorio, on some points. I was not aware that the Aussie Beaus were fitted with a machine gun. I spoke at some length with Bob Braham, his widow and his AI operator, "Sticks" Gregory. Bob was one of Britain's most decorated night-fighter pilots, and he was well known at 23 Sqdrn., Tangmere.

He flew Beaufighters for most of his wartime career, and until 1944-45 (when he was shot down by Hauptmann Robert Spreckels - and yes, I talked to him about Bob many times) when he was shot down in a Mossie ('cuz he was daydreaming after a Ranger mission).

Robert and Bob spent many a weekend after the war, drinking whiskey (a totally uncivilized drink as far as we colonials are concerned) and catching up on life. The Spreckels family own a shipping company in Hamburg, and I have a standing invite to go there, sometime, even though Hauptmann Spreckels passed away about 10 years ago.

The Zero's advantage was not all-out speed; it was rate of turn. A Allison-powered P-40 Kittyhawk or Warhawk could outrun a Zero at sea level, but if the Zero was 100' higher, then the Zero had the advantage. This explains why most American and British pilots dove out of the sun, but the Japanese knew that trick. The only aircraft that could outrun a Zero in a dive was the F4U-1D Corsair. At 3 tons heavier and with the inverted gullwing, the Corsair could take a speed advantage and pull out of the dive; Zeros couldn't and would disintegrate if they tried, so they rarely dove unless they had 12-15,000' height advantage.

Martin,your Beaufighter MK VI is coming out great. The interior looks nicely weathered and just busy enough, especially considering how little of it will be seen. What I can see of your camo paint and weathering, it certainly has that dusty used look to it. Looking forward to your next update.
Joel

Hi everyone

Just a reminder - this thread is 9 years old.

All the best

Rowan

Looks like I need to start looking at the start date more, and not the last post.
Joel