Dogfight Double - Me109 v Beaufighter

 Phew, this charity shop acquisition of Airfix A50037 1:72 scale Dogfight Doubles is finally complete.

This 2008 reissued set contains a 1973 moulding of a Messerschmitt Bf109G and a 1958 moulded Bristol Beaufighter TF.X. and without exception they are showing their age. 

I’ve finished the pair with brush using the provided pots of acrylic paint.  The Beaufighter is in the colours of 404 squadron Royal Canadian Airforce based at Wick in 1944 and the Bf109G as JG53 “Pik As” based in Sicily 1943. The likelihood that these would have, therefore, met in a dogfight is so unlikely to say the least. 

Being without doubt the worst kits and finish of any I’ve completed in quite some time, I fear for their future. I foresee a dusting disaster on the horizon!

Now back to the P-38 Lightening which has been patiently awaiting a return to the bench! 

Beaufighter VIF

Built side by side with my Airfix Coastal Command Beaufighter that I shared yesterday, this is the Hobby 2000 (Hasegawa) kit of the Beaufighter VIF finished in the colours of 307 Squadron, Polish nightfigher unit in 1942. Between April 1941 - 1943 the squadron was based at RAF Clyst Honiton, now Exeter Airport, defending the SW England from enemy night bombers. 

From a model building view, this was one of the best quality 1:72 kits I’ve built and that’s saying something! 

I struck on building this aircraft after pausing at a memorial to two nightfighter pilots overlooking Beer beach. This remembers the night of 12th April 1942, when Beer Coastguards saw an aircraft crash into the sea one mile south of Beer Head. The aircraft was a Bristol Beaufighter IIF from 307 Squadron, based at RAF Exeter, operating in the nightfighter role, patrolling Lyme Bay to intercept German bombers which passed through this area en route to targets such as Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool.

In response to the crash 2 Beer fishermen took their boat to look for survivors, but found only small pieces of wreckage. Both members of the crew were killed in the crash. The body of the observer, Flying Officer Mieczyslaw Swierz, was recovered from the sea by an RAF rescue launch from Lyme Regis. The body of the pilot, Squadron Leader Roman Smok, was never found.

The Beaufighter being flown on 12 April was the rarer and less reliable Merlin engined Mk.IIF introduced late in 1941 when the Short Stirling bomber programme was given a higher priority for the Hercules engine. The squadron re-equipped with the improved Beaufighter Mk VIF in May 1942 and it is this aircraft I have recreated in my model. 

In total, Beaufighter crews shot down 15 enemy bombers with three probables and 6 damaged; the last victory was the shooting down of a Do 217 on 24/25 September 1942.

On 15 November 2019, the Polish 307 nightfighter squadron was honoured for defending the British city of Exeter from a German blitz campaign during the second World War. A Polish flag fluttered over the city honouring the pilots who prevented the destruction of Exeter in the 1942 Luftwaffe attack.

Bristol Beaufighter TF.X

I’ve finished this very nice 1:72 scale Airfix Bristol Beaufighter TF.X in the colours of 404 Squadron aircraft EE-H / NE355 apparently set in June 1944 when stationed at Davidstow, Cornwall. 

Having recently built a later Beaufighter with rockets, I thought this time I’d go with the torpedo. Airfix suggest these are interchangeable on this model, though I decided, however, to forgo the D-Day stripes, preferring its all grey appearance. I completed the look with a set of Vallejo’s Coastal Command paints and AK’s weathering pencils. 

Now for a bit of interesting background: 

In 1942, Coastal Command began to take delivery of the torpedo-carrying Beaufighter. The TF Mk.X (Torpedo Fighter), commonly known as the 'Torbeau', was the Beaufighter for precision attacks on shipping at wave-top height with torpedoes or '60lb' RP-3 rockets. 

In April 1943, after a spell in Cornwall flying missions over the Bay of Biscay, 404 moved to Scotland in support of 144 (RAF) Squadron’s torpedo-carrying Beaufighters in what was to be their new anti-flak role. Using machine-gun, cannon and rockets, their mission was to engage and neutralise defending flak ships and fighters, while 114’s torpedo bombers closed in on the high value merchant vessels.

In May 1944, 404 and 144 moved back to Cornwall, to Davidstow Moor. According to 404 Squadron’s website, this Airfix kit is based on one of the most famous photos of a Canadian Beaufighter taken during the War; that of the Commanding Officer’s (W/C Gatward) aircraft.  The ‘EE-H’ unit code and D-Day invasion stripes are interesting. I understand this picture was probably taken in August, long after D-day and that on D-Day, aircraft no. NE355 actually wore the unit code ‘2-H’, the ‘2’ signifying Davidstow Moor. 

So, this model is a bit of an oddity. For one, I have built it with a torpedo which although correct for the Beaufighters of 114 Squadron, not necessarily for 404 which were fitted with rockets; and while the unit code “EE” may have been correct as early as August, not so June. Discuss … 🧐

Either way, I always enjoy a ‘what-if’ build!

Beaufighter TF.10

After a couple of whirlwind days modelling, my 1:72 scale Beaufighter TF.10 is just about ready for tomorrow’s Somerset show. 

This is the Beaufighter which flew with No.45 Squadron, RAF Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, during “Operation Firedog”, late May to early December 1949. 

Its role was to provide ground support to the British and Commonwealth forces engaged in a guerrilla war with the communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army. 

This Airfix kit is a dream to build, with every part fitting beautifully and being the new moulding, there was only minimal need for filling and sanding. My only complaint would be the tyres, which I should really have taken more time over to fill the rather obvious centre seams and add some tread, but I’m out of time now so may revisit them another time.