Bristol Beaufighter

Tamiya 1/48 Bristol Beaufighter by Paul Adams

It’s been a few years since I finished my 1/48^th scale Beaufighter and only short while ago did I realise that I have written little about the project, or even taken many photos. Since completion, it’s done many shows for Romsey and received some favourable comments from fellow modellers and show goers alike. I reckon therefore I’ve done something right with it!!

Inspiration came from seeing Ben’s version win the John Cox Memorial Trophy and an article in Tamiya Model Magazine, which appeared a number of years earlier. I’ve always loved the form of the fuselage and wing shape, and the chance to attempt the Malta based mid stone and dark earth paint scheme was all the motivation I needed.

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If you’ve built aircraft models before it’ll come as no surprise where I started. The interior was primed with Halford’s grey primer, pre-shaded with Tamiya flat black and sprayed Humbrol Interior green. After drying, I coated the fuselage walls with a couple of thin coats of Johnson’s Klear. This surface received a wash of brown and black oil paint to break up the monotone green. The cockpit was treated the same. Some careful masking helped pick out the black instrument panels, which were detail painted with various enamels. Despite being sparse in comparison to the real thing, once assembled complete with pre coloured etch belts it all looked very good. An airbrush coat of Hannants flat varnish was followed up with a dry brush of chrome silver and a dirtying down with Mig pigments. The fuselage halves could then be mated. Here’s the rear gunners cockpit. [1]   

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As you would expect from Tamiya, the fit is first class and with a little filling and cleaning up, the wings were added shortly after. I decided at an early stage to remove the tail section so it could be posed at a slight angle for interest. After trimming the plastic away with the back of a hobby knife, the offending gap was filled with thin plastic card and holes drilled and angled pins fitted to the tail. A quick job that took no longer than an hour to achieve.  After the filling and sanding was completed I rescribed some panel lines that unavoidably get removed during the process. While this model was strictly out of the box, I did add a little detail. The landing lights located under the wings were removed for later replacement with lenses. Next up was the cockpit windscreen. The fit was a little off here and so a few hours of sanding the fuselage and test fitting, improved things. These were masked off with Tamiya tape before painting began. [2]

The model was prepared for painting with Halfords grey primer upon which I airbrushed a pre-shading dark mix of Tamiya red brown. I thought I was being clever, but in hindsight this was a mistake, as I wasn’t happy with the resultant hue achieved once the top colours were on. I lightly sanded the primered and shaded surface with 1500 grit wet `n’ dry paper just to smooth out the blemishes slightly.

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The main colours of this Malta based aircraft feature an azure blue underside, with mid stone and dark earth camouflage on top. I had done this scheme previously on my MkVb Spitfire, and while it looked ok, the overall paint job wasn’t weathered enough for my tastes, so I aimed to go further on this model. Hannants range of Xtra acrylics had just been released and I quickly snapped up their pre-faded colours, but decided to use the azure blue that I’d used on the Spitfire. The blue was thinned and applied randomly over the wing surface to achieve an inconsistent finish. The pre-shade brown didn’t help the overall look, turning the blue slightly too red in places. Next time I’ll use black. Allowing a day for drying was enough for the paint to withstand masking. I used large strips across the wings and left the ends `loose’ to allow for a soft painted edge along the leading edge of the wing. The 1/48^th Beaufighter is a large model, so expect to get through some masking tape! 

When I sprayed the Spitfire camouflage, I used sausages of blutak to create the soft edged finish. However, there was some residue left from this, so on the Beaufighter I took on the challenge of spraying the scheme freehand. The faded mid stone was airbrushed on, thinned slightly and as random as I could create. The end result was very satisfying, with several blotchy areas reminiscent of real weathering. Long before I began using Iwata airbrushes, I had my cheap eBay copy to use, and though it did the job, I struggled to spray the outline dark earth areas. You really do need a fine, double action airbrush for this task, something even finer than the Iwata CR Revolution. By spraying too far away (which is what I had to do), and too far away is 3-4 inches or so, the soft edge represents about 2 foot across in scale! The outlining took an age to do and in total I spent about 4 hours doing just this. This was in part down to my inexperience, and the fact that the airbrush would repeatedly block. I discovered later this was because I thinned the Xtra acrylics paint with Tamiya thinners, not Hannants own version. Once the outline was done, it was a simple case (of course it wasn’t!) of filling in using a random motion with the airbrush. The model looked very stark at this point, but the weathering was about to change all that.

To start with I mixed up a thinned mid stone and sprayed this in random streaks across the wings and fuselage, covering the dark earth patches to achieve a sun bleached look. I concentrated on the panel lines first and then broader areas, particularly on the wings. Once I was happy with that, several coats of klear were applied to the entire model. The glossy finish then received the few decals required. The wing roundels were difficult to bed down even after lashings of Microsol. I followed this with a dark brown wash of oils mixed from brown and black applied with a small brush to all panel lines and surface fittings. When I look back on it now, I’m not happy with the wash. The pigment would separate from the thinner and gather in some places in clumps. The wash should fade seamlessly into the surrounding paint – I’ll need to work on this for my next aircraft model.  I also added streaks of black oils around the engine cowlings to represent various fluid leaks. I retrospect I under did this area a little. [3,4,5] 

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Once the oil wash had dried, I completed the assembly, fitting the undercarriage, which clips nicely into place, and attached the landing wheels. I applied several coats of Hannants acrylic flat varnish. This stuff is very gloopy and is to be airbrushed straight from the jar. I believe some thinner is needed, as the resultant finish is too rough for what I was seeking. More weathering followed with Mig pigments powders. I used black for a sooty look around gun ports and the extensive exhaust staining under the wings. Desert sand pigment was used on the tail wheel and around the landing gear with a dusting added to the tyres. [6]

o achieve the chipping effect I used two Berol Charismacolour pencils, one dark grey and the other silver. Dark grey was used to provide a primer/undercoat and then filling in with silver in a random fashion for fresh damage. [7,8]

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Lastly, the rear gunner’s canopy was added, along with aerial wire made from invisible thread. All that remained was to unmask the pilot’s canopy and she was done. [9]

Overall I am pleased with the model – going further with the weathering was very satisfying, but in hindsight I could have gone further. Thanks to John Hazel, I recently learnt that I had applied the colours of the navigation lights on the wing tips the wrong way around!! Cheers John!  Since completing this model I’ve seen several other Beaufighters at shows, but one in particular at Scale Modelworld made me realise how much more I need to learn to make the most of these superb kits. [10]

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