I would like to
present my Tamiya 1/48 Bristol Beaufighter, finished in the markings of 488 (NZ)
Sqn.
This was built from the all-black night fighter release of this kit, which for
some reason retailed at around $20-00 less than the standard MkVI release. The
kit's contents are exactly the same, with the exception of the markings provided
(two options) and the colour schemes, which are the RDM2 all black finish. The
plastic is moulded in black as well, which makes an undercoat somewhat
necessary.
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I'm very happy to report that no
resin was harmed in the process of building this kit, and the only photo-etch
used was some "Lion Roar" generic RAF seatbelts, which look rather
convincing. Construction started with the fuselage, with the blanking off of the
area over the wing root fairings. This was followed by scratchbuilding the radio
gear using plastic bar and rod, with the exception of the rear radar and radio
sets, which were purloined from a Tamiya Mossie. The cockpit "tub" was
strategically cut away to more closely resemble the MkVI cockpit, and the
emergency hydraulic pump added. The extra gauges below the left canopy window
were scratchbuilt using plastic sheet and a very sharp knife. Not visible in the
photos are the lightening holes in the bulkheads in the entry hatch wells.
On to the wings, and the spar
carry-through was added to the wheel wells, as was the Ki-Gas primer (I think
that is what it is). The engines had exhaust pipes made from solder added to the
engine fronts, which pass into the recess at the front of the cowling.
Once all the seams were filled to
my satisfaction, it was painted using Gunze acrylics. To achieve the very tight
overspray it was masked using blu-tac, which gives a rather pleasing finish.
All was going well up to this
point...I decided that to save myself some time I'd only put Klear on in the
places where decals were going. That was dumb move #1 as it gave a slightly
different hue to the finish in those places. The second dumb move was to not
allow enough time for the Klear to cure, and just launch into decalling...the
MicroSol reacted with the Klear, and caused it to craze rather badly. Of course,
this didn't manifest itself until the next day, when all the decals were on and
dried... NUTS!
The decals themselves came from a
variety of sources; the roundels are Aeromaster, and the codes, serials, and
stencils were custom printed.
Note that due to the previously
mentioned lack of photographs, the colour scheme is marginally speculative
- all I had to go on was a code/serial tie-in, and a photograph of a Polish
squadron machine that was purportedly transferred to 488.
While most New Zealand squadrons
within the RAF are well documented both in words and photographs, there seems to
be very little about 488 Sqn. It seems that photographs of 488 Beaufighters are
virtually non-existent; inquiries with the ever-helpful folks at the RNZAF
museum in Christchurch, and the IWM proved fruitless. If anyone has photos of
488 Beau's I'd be very happy to hear from you!
I would like to extend a big
thank you to Pete Mossong, who printed the decals for me and provided enormous
amounts of information. Pete has a very good website for those interested in the
RNZAF in the Pacific http://rnzaf.hobbyvista.com/ , it's well worth a look.
I'd also like to thank Stewart
Griffiths, who sent more information, particularly the arrangement of the
exhausts.
Mike
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