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Kit
No: 1663 Decal options: 2 Rating: 3/10 Comments: An old kit that has not weather time well. Good decal sheet, but little else. |
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Airfix
- 1/72 Bristol Beaufighter
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| The Beaufighter seems to enjoyed a revival in recent year, with Tamiya's
superb 1/48 kit and Hasegawa's forthcoming 1/72 'Beau'. Not to be left
out, Airfix bought their aged Beaufighter back out again. Unfortunately, this Beau started to show it's age years ago and that the fact that it's been trotted out again highlights it's deficiencies even more. The overall sharpness of the kit is poor, a clear indication that these moulds are starting to wear a little thin after nearly 40 years of service. There is no interior detail save for a couple of lugs for the crew to sit on, the cowlings feature sketchy relief-moulded engines and the nose seems a little blunt and misshapen, even for the stubby Beaufighter. The skinny propeller blades in my kit were so thin at the cuffs that they all acquired a different pitch! I needed filler on almost every joint to fill gaps and plug some ejector pin marks. The new decal sheet however is something to be applauded. The original 236 Sqn option remains, though for this reissue Airfix have now included the invasion stripes too - which should be a bonus for younger modellers - while experienced hands can of course use them as a guide for painting their own. The new addition to the decals is for an aircraft of No.404 Sqn RCAF, in an even simpler scheme of extra dark sea grey and sky. The decals in my sample were well designed, but the registration on the roundels was very poor. I can remember his as being a great kit in my youth, but now it's rather too long in the tooth. The finish model can be made to look like a Beaufighter, but only after a lot of effort and if one adds up the expense of adding cockpit detail, new engines and transparencies, many may opt for easier life and buy the Hasegawa kit. |
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