Subject: Re: 1/72 FROG Beaufighter
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Corbett Legg" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:07:55 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
ARC Air - Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.arcair.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Corbett Legg 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 3:04 PM
  Subject: 1/72 FROG Beaufighter

  Gallery Article Template

  "1/72 FROG Bristol Beaufighter Mk. If" 

  by "Corbett Legg"

  --------------------

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here

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  I must admit I knew very little about the Beaufighter and would always just glance past them when I saw the model kits in the shops.  But my friend and colleague, Matthew Kirkman, mentioned that his father had worked on and helped develop airborne intercept radar for the night fighters in World War II.  His talking about it got me interested in airborne radar and I looked a little closer at this historically significant aircraft.

  The Bristol Beaufighter was developed from the Beaufort torpedo bomber to provide a heavily armed night fighter to counter Luftwaffe bombing of Britain during World War II.  It had four 20 mm Hispano Mk III cannons in the nose supplemented by six 7.7 mm Browning machine guns in the wings.  The new British Airborne Interception (AI) Nightfighter radar sets were fitted and the heavy Beaufighter was still fast enough to catch the German bombers.

  Several squadrons were equipped with the Beaufighter.  One of these, 68 Squadron, had been formed at Catterick with Bristol Blenheims in January 1941 and switched to the new Beaufighter Mk. If nightfighter after moving to High Ercall in May.  The 68 Squadron had a strong element of Czech pilots and the squadron crest displayed an owl’s head and the Czech motto Vždy připraven – "Always prepared". 

  Matthew’s father, Roger Kirkman, joined 68 Squadron and was at the genesis of the use of the top secret airborne intercept radar during their first experiences in making this new technology work.  The first practical and successful AI units, the Mk. IV, were carried by the Beaufighter Mk. If with the radar transmitting on wavelengths of one and a half meter.  Flight Sergeant Roger Kirkman subsequently became an RAF officer and helped introduce the improved centimeter band airborne intercept radar later in the war.

  One of the 68 Squadron Czech teams in 1941 consisted of the pilot, Pilot Officer Miloslav Mansfield, and his radar intercept operator, Sergeant Slovomil Janáček.  The aircraft I chose to model was flown by them on 12 October 1941 when they shot down two Heinkel He 111’s over the Irish Sea.  P/O Mansfeld and Sgt Janáček took-off after dark with Beaufighter Mk. If, R2248, WM-S, which was equipped with AI Mk. IV radar.  The two Luftwaffe bombers they shot down that night are considered the first "radar victories" of the Czechoslovak Air Force.

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

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  And now for the kit

  Your first reaction is probably, “Have you lost your mind?  Why on Earth would you try to build a 44 year old FROG kit when there are really great Hasegawa and Tamiya kits readily available?”

  While visiting a rather impressively stocked warehouse at Pelican Hobbies in Houston a few months ago I looked around to see what was there.  I thought I might look a little closer at a Beaufighter kit to see what they looked like.  The 1/48 Tamiya kit is huge (the Beaufighter was not a small airplane) so I searched in the 1/72 kits and found only a heavily damaged box with the FROG label.   The British FROG company was very prolific in the 1960’s and 1970’s in providing 1/72 scale models of sometimes rather obscure aircraft.  But the state-of-the-art of plastic model kits has been progressing steadily since that time, and this old kit is very primitive by today’s standards.  David Heno sold it to me for only a few dollars and I took it home for a closer look.

  Although I was an active modeler as a boy, living in a small town in New Mexico I saw very few FROG kits and had never built one.  This particular kit looked quite pathetic, with it’s damaged box, hopelessly water stained decals, sparse detail, and raised panel lines.  But this kit was a part of modeling history that I had missed, and the more I looked at the FROG kit, the more I wanted to pursue the build.  So I just pretended it was 1969 (but with 2013 skills and tools) and decided to have a go.  I planned to build it as a gift for Matthew, both for the significance of the aircraft for his family, and also for the historically significant British modeling company whose early contributions are often overlooked in these days of high quality Japanese, Czech, and Chinese kits.

  I found some some aftermarket items, Aires 7038 cockpit and Quickboost 72101 porcupine exhausts intended for the Hasegawa kit, and MPD 72506 decal markings for the Mansfield/Janáček aircraft.  I immediately ordered them from Hannants to be waiting for me in Abu Dhabi when I returned to my home there.

  I had added a squadron patch to a model I had built for a friend many years ago, and I wondered if there might be something like this available for British squadrons.  A quick search led me to a web site for Robin Finnegan Jewellers, www.militarybadges.co.uk.  A phone call to them connected me with Caroline, who was quite helpful in arranging the purchase and mailing of a 68 Squadron blazer badge.  Her question of if I desired “KC or QC” immediately stumped me, but she patiently and helpfully explained to this citizen of The Colonies the importance of having the proper “King’s Crown” or “Queen’s Crown” on the badge.  The target time frame was during the reign of King George VI, so “KC” it is … and the order was good to go.  A week later I was simply blown away by the high quality of the badge.  This is definitely not the typical American patch.  The Brits do this sort of thing very impressively, and adding this to a U.K. aircraft model display is definitely a good idea!

  The FROG kit fit together nicely, and the aftermarket items needed only a little bit of coaxing to fit as well.  Part of the model’s charm is that it is a FROG kit, so I wanted to keep the raised panel lines and thick canopy, even though it severely obscured the nice detail of the Aires set.  I decided to try some new things for me.  I cut off the areas of the wing tips where the prominent navigation lights go and patiently carved and sanded some clear plastic to fill the holes, adding the search lights as well.    I replaced the heavy kit antennas with some I created from stretched sprue.  I never use black paint on a kit, especially as small as 1/72, and this time I painted the aircraft Vallejo German Grey acrylic.  I covered this with a few coats of Future.  The Czech MPD decals were superb, probably the best I have ever used, and look painted on the model.  After a day to dry, I washed the model and then covered it with Microscale flat varnish before unmasking the canopies.  It looks appropriately like a black airplane from viewing distance.  I finished with adding the radio wire using 8X tippet, thinly painted with a thin coat of aluminum enamel.

  I decided to show the Beaufighter in flight and found some thin clear sheet plastic to create discs for the propeller arcs.  I airbrushed the yellow propeller tips and then lightly airbrushed the three propeller blades as if they were being reflected while spinning.  I think it worked pretty well for a first attempt.

  I built a base to display the badge and label at a slight slant.  After a pasteboard trial, I cut and assembled 0.080 inch styrene sheet, cut a hole for the clear acrylic rod, and airbrushed it with flat white enamel.  I made the label on the computer and printed it on satin photo paper and used a general purpose glue to attach it and the badge to the base.  All this went into a display case I had arranged to be made here locally.

          
        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

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  Matthew was quite pleased with it, but I assured him that I had an immensely enjoyable time building it while learning quite a few new skills.  It was a challenge in many places, and it is certainly not a show winner, but I built and improved a FROG kit of the Bristol Beaufighter just as the good Brit modelers did over 40 years ago.  Now that�s British history!

  "Corbett Legg"

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 10.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 10.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 11.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 11.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 12.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 12.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 13.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 13.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 14.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 14.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 15.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 15.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 16.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 16.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 17.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 17.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 18.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 18.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 19.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 19.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 20.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 20.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 21.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 21.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 22.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 22.jpg 

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  Photos and text � by "Corbett Legg"

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  Gallery Article Template

  "1/72 FROG Bristol Beaufighter Mk. If" 

  by "Corbett Legg"

  --------------------

  Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here
         
  I must admit I knew very little about the Beaufighter and would always just glance past them when I saw the model kits in the shops.  But my friend and colleague, Matthew Kirkman, mentioned that his father had worked on and helped develop airborne intercept radar for the night fighters in World War II.  His talking about it got me interested in airborne radar and I looked a little closer at this historically significant aircraft.

  The Bristol Beaufighter was developed from the Beaufort torpedo bomber to provide a heavily armed night fighter to counter Luftwaffe bombing of Britain during World War II.  It had four 20 mm Hispano Mk III cannons in the nose supplemented by six 7.7 mm Browning machine guns in the wings.  The new British Airborne Interception (AI) Nightfighter radar sets were fitted and the heavy Beaufighter was still fast enough to catch the German bombers.

  Several squadrons were equipped with the Beaufighter.  One of these, 68 Squadron, had been formed at Catterick with Bristol Blenheims in January 1941 and switched to the new Beaufighter Mk. If nightfighter after moving to High Ercall in May.  The 68 Squadron had a strong element of Czech pilots and the squadron crest displayed an owl’s head and the Czech motto Vždy připraven – "Always prepared". 

  Matthew’s father, Roger Kirkman, joined 68 Squadron and was at the genesis of the use of the top secret airborne intercept radar during their first experiences in making this new technology work.  The first practical and successful AI units, the Mk. IV, were carried by the Beaufighter Mk. If with the radar transmitting on wavelengths of one and a half meter.  Flight Sergeant Roger Kirkman subsequently became an RAF officer and helped introduce the improved centimeter band airborne intercept radar later in the war.

  One of the 68 Squadron Czech teams in 1941 consisted of the pilot, Pilot Officer Miloslav Mansfield, and his radar intercept operator, Sergeant Slovomil Janáček.  The aircraft I chose to model was flown by them on 12 October 1941 when they shot down two Heinkel He 111’s over the Irish Sea.  P/O Mansfeld and Sgt Janáček took-off after dark with Beaufighter Mk. If, R2248, WM-S, which was equipped with AI Mk. IV radar.  The two Luftwaffe bombers they shot down that night are considered the first "radar victories" of the Czechoslovak Air Force.

  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg

   
  And now for the kit

  Your first reaction is probably, “Have you lost your mind?  Why on Earth would you try to build a 44 year old FROG kit when there are really great Hasegawa and Tamiya kits readily available?”

  While visiting a rather impressively stocked warehouse at Pelican Hobbies in Houston a few months ago I looked around to see what was there.  I thought I might look a little closer at a Beaufighter kit to see what they looked like.  The 1/48 Tamiya kit is huge (the Beaufighter was not a small airplane) so I searched in the 1/72 kits and found only a heavily damaged box with the FROG label.   The British FROG company was very prolific in the 1960’s and 1970’s in providing 1/72 scale models of sometimes rather obscure aircraft.  But the state-of-the-art of plastic model kits has been progressing steadily since that time, and this old kit is very primitive by today’s standards.  David Heno sold it to me for only a few dollars and I took it home for a closer look.

  Although I was an active modeler as a boy, living in a small town in New Mexico I saw very few FROG kits and had never built one.  This particular kit looked quite pathetic, with it’s damaged box, hopelessly water stained decals, sparse detail, and raised panel lines.  But this kit was a part of modeling history that I had missed, and the more I looked at the FROG kit, the more I wanted to pursue the build.  So I just pretended it was 1969 (but with 2013 skills and tools) and decided to have a go.  I planned to build it as a gift for Matthew, both for the significance of the aircraft for his family, and also for the historically significant British modeling company whose early contributions are often overlooked in these days of high quality Japanese, Czech, and Chinese kits.

  I found some some aftermarket items, Aires 7038 cockpit and Quickboost 72101 porcupine exhausts intended for the Hasegawa kit, and MPD 72506 decal markings for the Mansfield/Janáček aircraft.  I immediately ordered them from Hannants to be waiting for me in Abu Dhabi when I returned to my home there.

  I had added a squadron patch to a model I had built for a friend many years ago, and I wondered if there might be something like this available for British squadrons.  A quick search led me to a web site for Robin Finnegan Jewellers, www.militarybadges.co.uk.  A phone call to them connected me with Caroline, who was quite helpful in arranging the purchase and mailing of a 68 Squadron blazer badge.  Her question of if I desired “KC or QC” immediately stumped me, but she patiently and helpfully explained to this citizen of The Colonies the importance of having the proper “King’s Crown” or “Queen’s Crown” on the badge.  The target time frame was during the reign of King George VI, so “KC” it is … and the order was good to go.  A week later I was simply blown away by the high quality of the badge.  This is definitely not the typical American patch.  The Brits do this sort of thing very impressively, and adding this to a U.K. aircraft model display is definitely a good idea!

  The FROG kit fit together nicely, and the aftermarket items needed only a little bit of coaxing to fit as well.  Part of the model’s charm is that it is a FROG kit, so I wanted to keep the raised panel lines and thick canopy, even though it severely obscured the nice detail of the Aires set.  I decided to try some new things for me.  I cut off the areas of the wing tips where the prominent navigation lights go and patiently carved and sanded some clear plastic to fill the holes, adding the search lights as well.    I replaced the heavy kit antennas with some I created from stretched sprue.  I never use black paint on a kit, especially as small as 1/72, and this time I painted the aircraft Vallejo German Grey acrylic.  I covered this with a few coats of Future.  The Czech MPD decals were superb, probably the best I have ever used, and look painted on the model.  After a day to dry, I washed the model and then covered it with Microscale flat varnish before unmasking the canopies.  It looks appropriately like a black airplane from viewing distance.  I finished with adding the radio wire using 8X tippet, thinly painted with a thin coat of aluminum enamel.

  I decided to show the Beaufighter in flight and found some thin clear sheet plastic to create discs for the propeller arcs.  I airbrushed the yellow propeller tips and then lightly airbrushed the three propeller blades as if they were being reflected while spinning.  I think it worked pretty well for a first attempt.

  I built a base to display the badge and label at a slight slant.  After a pasteboard trial, I cut and assembled 0.080 inch styrene sheet, cut a hole for the clear acrylic rod, and airbrushed it with flat white enamel.  I made the label on the computer and printed it on satin photo paper and used a general purpose glue to attach it and the badge to the base.  All this went into a display case I had arranged to be made here locally.

   
  Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here
  Matthew was quite pleased with it, but I assured him that I had an immensely enjoyable time building it while learning quite a few new skills.  It was a challenge in many places, and it is certainly not a show winner, but I built and improved a FROG kit of the Bristol Beaufighter just as the good Brit modelers did over 40 years ago.  Now that’s British history!

  "Corbett Legg"

  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 10.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 10.jpg
  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 11.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 11.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 12.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 12.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 13.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 13.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 14.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 14.jpg
   
  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 15.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 15.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 16.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 16.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 17.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 17.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 18.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 18.jpg
   
  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 19.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 19.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 20.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 20.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 21.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 21.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 22.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 22.jpg
   
  Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 23.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 23.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 24.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 24.jpg 

  Photos and text © by "Corbett Legg"