The Box,

The very well done box art shows a two Brisfits and a Sopwith Camel being attacked by an eclectic mixture of Fokker Dr.Is and a Pfalz D.III. Bristol F.2b Fighter is tastefully written in chrome and black, so there is no doubt as to what is in the box. The side panel shows port side profiles of the five featured aircraft.
1.B1112 – White “F” 22 or 16 Squadron 1917 – 1918 (My research shows this aircraft as being assigned to number 22 Squadron in the Autumn of 1917.
2.B1313 – Blue "2" “The Maharajah of Bahabur” 39 Squadron 1918
3.C4619 – White “R” 62 Squadron Lt W Staton and Lt J Gordon April – May 1918. (Gordon and Staton scored a total of 9 confirmed victories, 1 shared destroyed and 5 going down out of control.)
4.C814 – White “12” 48 Squadron Capt K Park and Lt R Little April 1918. Captain Park went on to command 48 squadron and was credited with 20 victories. He retired after WWII as Air Marshall, Sir Keith Park.
5.D8084 – White “T” 139 Squadron based at Villavera aerodrome. Capt Sydney Dalrymple mid 1918 .

Box Contents,

Inside the box you will find eight individually bagged plastic sprues, and a large, bagged set of decals, a PE fret and an instruction booklet. One really nice thing I need to mention about the packaging is that everything fits. There is not a lot of room left over for the contents to scoot around and get damaged. But there is enough room that you can pack everything back in the box after removing and admiring it. By my count, there are 185 parts molded in gray plastic and 3 in clear plastic, and 14 photoetch. Some of the pieces will not be used in this build. So you will end up with some highly detailed parts for the spares box, to include a Lewis gun, either an open or closed radiator shutter, a set of undercarriage legs, a two or four bladed propeller with a choice of spinners, Holt flares, and possibly a bomb rack and bombs, should you choose not to add them. As always, I like to put parts under my 10X microscope to see what detail is there. The first thing that jumps out is the wing rib detail, with precisely rendered fasteners. The detail is so very fine that it won’t be seen by anybody unless they are using magnification. Next is the fuselage stitching. Again, it is rendered with fasteners and is amazing. The observers floor section was carpeted in the actual F.2bs. You will find the finely detailed carpet weave in that section of the cockpit. Also of special note is the wicker pilot’s seat. The seat back is molded as single piece with an amazing weave detail. A thoughtful bonus found in this kit is the holes for rigging are molded into the wings, fuselage, and tailplane. This really eliminates the guesswork as to where to drill the holes. The interplane and cabane struts also have long pins that will almost insure you get a very good glue joint with precise alignment to the wings. The wings have substantial tabs that should make it easier to get the proper wing dihedral. The engineering built into this kit will ensure everything lines up perfectly. The struts that attach the fuselage to the lower wing look a little thin, but when everything is assembled, I think the model will imitate the real thing, and prove to be sturdier than it looks. A case of art imitating life. The detail of the molding and the extra effort put into the engineering of this kit promise to make this an easy and rewarding build.

The decals,

are Cartograph. So you can be assured they are some of the best available. Color and registration are perfect.

Instruction Booklet,

The instruction booklet consists of 26 color pages. Page one explains the symbols used in the instructions and the color call-outs for Tamiya, Humbrol and Misterkit colors. The second page shows the parts layout. Pages 3-19 show the actual construction and rigging of the model. These pages are mostly color line drawings interspersed with color photos of an actual Bristol Fighter relevant to the construction steps being undertaken. This technique is great as it shows the colors and layout of the real thing. It really takes guesswork out of the building process. Page 20 is a full page photo of the restored D-8084. Pages 21-23 show color profiles of the featured schemes. The profiles present a top, bottom, and port side views. It would be nice to also have starboard side views in the future releases. But I must admit the profiles are extremely well done. The final pages consist of vintage photos of Brisfits, and information about some of the people responsible for presenting this project. This is the best instruction book I have ever seen. The bar has been set high for other manufacturers.

Comments,

This promises to be an excellent kit, and should be a straight forward build. Some experience my be helpful, but I think this would be a great kit for somebody new to stringbag modeling.