Bristol Beaufighter - woot!

[DaveB]

That's not bad JD

ATB
DaveB

[Airspeed]

I don't fly this half enough. It killed my old pc so I got out of the habit. Not so this one
...........
ATB
DaveB

Wouldn't like to be sitting in those aircraft hanging off the side of the deck, Dave.

[Airspeed]

...and Dave's is certainly far better than the Airfix one...
(pic omitted)

Neat model JOhn

The placement of the Squadron serials is unusual, isn't it? I've seen the same on others, but haven't nutted out if it was common in particular theatres, or what.

[J0hn]

Thanks - I actually left this model half-built for a few months because I was so disappointed with it. Being a '60's vintage model, I should have known.

When I finished building it, I didn't bother with too much detail as I didn't see the point.

I was thinking the same thing about the squadron code. I'm guessing the colour of the decal is possibly a bit off, although a quick look on Google images shows many other variants with similar colouring. I probably disposed of the instructions and can't remember the detail, but I'm pretty sure this was one based in the UK and operating over the North Sea. I think it might have been based at North Coates - I remember that because we used to live there!

Ah - a quick side-mission into Google land brought up the fact that it was a 236sqn aircraft, of RAF Coastal Command. There's an interesting discussion about it HERE

If you like the Beaufighters, have a quick look at this web page - lots of nice photo's with relevant info:

http://www.asisbiz.com/cod/Beaufighter/CF-late.html

Found this there:

The North Coates Strike Wing of Coastal Command, based at RAF North Coates on the Lincolnshire coast, developed tactics which combined large formations of Beaufighters using cannon and rockets to suppress flak while the Torbeaus attacked at low level with torpedoes. These tactics were put into practice in mid 1943, and in a 10-month period, 29,762 tons (27,000 tonnes) of shipping were sunk. Tactics were further adapted when shipping was moved from port during the night. North Coates Strike Wing operated as the largest anti-shipping force of the Second World War, and accounted for over 150,000 tons (136,100 tonnes) of shipping and 117 vessels for a loss of 120 Beaufighters and 241 aircrew killed or missing. This was half the total tonnage sunk by all strike wings between 1942 and 1945.

[Airspeed]

Hi JOhn,
You know what? I visited that site and was immediately drawn to the illustration that went with the text quoted by you.

I thought it was neat, but you are expressing disappointment with your model. Could you point out what you dislike about it? I'm about to embark on my first build in decades; that's the 1/24 Spitfire bought at the insistence of Mrs Airspeed for my birthday in April. So far I've not touched anything; now I'm even more reluctant to start.

[J0hn]

Hi Mike - it's only due to the Airfix models of that age. The fuselage is not quite the right shape and the fit of the parts was pretty awful - so lots of filler required.

If you look around the net at some of the novice builds "straight out of the box" you will easily see what I mean.

This one shows the awful canopy fit very well:

http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4149&p=65380

If you scroll down a little to the unfettered basic model in this forum, you'll get a good idea of the other issues:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/inde ... -modified/

This is my own page:

http://www.jsdixon.co.uk/models/archive/beaufighter.htm


I have been sorely tempted by the Airfix 1/24 scale models - especially the newer ones. Since Hornby took over, the new stuff coming from Airfix has been almost exclusively exceptional. The odd minor problem here and there, but most of the kits are great now. If it's one of the older ones, don't despair - I built their Mk22 or Mk24 Spit in 1/24 scale back in the '70's. I put an electric motor in it and ran a line from my bedroom down to the bottom of the garden and took photo's as it was "flying" past!

It was quite a good kit - even then as a relatively young novice, I had no issues building it and it looked very nice when finished.

[Airspeed]

Thanks JOhn,
I do see what you mean.