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Bristol Beaufighter nightfighter

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  • Member since
    January 2012
  • From: East Peoria, IL
Bristol Beaufighter nightfighter
Posted by stoutfella on Friday, October 31, 2014 12:02 PM

Greetings,

I finished this a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't gotten around to posting anything. I built Tamiya's 1/48 Bristol Beaufighter Mk. VI in the kit's nightfighter scheme. I've always rather liked the Beaufighter, and wanted to add a nightfighter to my collection.

It's yet another Tamiya kit that goes together with very few problems, naturally, though I did end up doing a fair amount of seam sanding, simply because it's a fairly sizable critter. Assembly was simple, straightforward and logical, also as usual for Tamiya. I've got a few kits from other manufacturers in the stash, but I always find myself pulling out the Tamiya stock first, and this was a case where I wanted simple and straightforward.

It's straight out of the box, with the exception of some Eduard belts on the pilot and radar operator seats. The cockpit is nicely detailed as is, but it's not highly visible, even under all that glass.

There's a bit more shading variation than shows up in the pics, but I purposely finished it as a fairly clean bird, again because I was in the mood for simplicity, and didn't feel like spending too much effort on trying to weather up the black finish. I primed as usual with Mr. Surfacer 1200, followed by Tamiya NATO black, sprayed in several sessions mixed with varying amounts of flat white. I glossed it with Future (or whatever they're calling it these days) before decaling.

I took a chance on the kit decals despite previous bad experiences with Tamiya markings. I put them down with a touch of Microset, then went straight to Solvaset, and they ended up being acceptable, if still on the thick side. I did trim the fuselage letters closely and applied them individually to minimize the thick decal film. British birds don't seem to come with much stenciling, and most of it wouldn't show up on the black anyway, so I only used a few of those.

I went with my usual Model Master acrylic flat coat and added the fiddly bits, saving the VERY delicate radar antennae for last. 

As mentioned, this wasn't intended as an ambitious build, and it isn't. My goal was to add a nightfighter in a relatively anxiety-free fashion, and Tamiya once again satisfied.

Cheers,

Stoutfella

On the bench: 1/48 Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter

On deck: 1/48 Tamiya P51-B

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Friday, October 31, 2014 12:12 PM

Thats great looking. it is a fantastic kit. I built it in USAAF markings a while ago for a friend who crewed in one.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    July 2014
Posted by modelcrazy on Friday, October 31, 2014 12:15 PM

stoutfella,

That's a great looking build, I've always kinda liked the Beaufighter,

Steve

Building a kit from your stash is like cutting a head off a Hydra, two more take it's place.

 

 

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Cameron, Texas
Posted by Texgunner on Friday, October 31, 2014 1:21 PM

I like it too SF!   You did a great job on her; I'd like to have one in my collection too, and would hope it would look as nice.Yes

BeerBeerBeer...on me brother!!

Gary


"All you mugs need to get busy building, and post pics!"

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Borlando Fla home of the rat
Posted by TREYZX10R on Friday, October 31, 2014 5:52 PM

Very nicely done Sir! The finish is top notch!

G-J
  • Member since
    July 2012
Posted by G-J on Friday, October 31, 2014 7:40 PM

Well done.

Looks great.

On the bench:  Tamyia Mosquito Mk. VI for the '44 group build.  Yes, still.

On deck: 

  • Member since
    September 2014
Posted by atcDave on Saturday, November 1, 2014 7:09 AM

I love the Beaufighter, and that's a great build.  She looks awesome in black!

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Canada
Posted by dogsbody on Saturday, November 1, 2014 4:26 PM

Looks quite nice. A few minor errors, but nice over all.

Chris

"What young man could possibly be bored
with a uniform to wear,
a fast aeroplane to fly,
and something to shoot at?"

  • Member since
    June 2014
Posted by BrandonK on Saturday, November 1, 2014 4:43 PM

Looks very nice. I need to add one of those to my stash. It turned out beautiful!!

On the bench:

A lot !! And I mean A LOT!!

2024 Kits on deck / in process / completed   

                         14 / 5 / 2  

                              Tongue Tied

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Saturday, November 1, 2014 5:16 PM

stoutfella - a nice looking model! Congratulations!

Although WWII isn't my time range, I managed to build a Beaufighter recently, too. It's a 1/72 model and looks like this:

More on my build here: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/160029.aspx

I like the black finish of your model a lot, too! What's comin' next?

Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

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