The Night's Watch - 1/48th Tamiya Beaufighter Mk.IIF (Conversion)

This build project started with a Tamiya 1/48th Bristol Beaufighter Mk.IV kit that I picked up by chance at a model show. The owner was selling it as he had bought the Mk.IIF CMK Conversion Set and found himself out of his depth when the cutting started, so decided to abandon the project. I knew RCAF Squadrons had flown this type of aircraft so when the opportunity presented itself to own this kit at a reduced price, I jumped in.

Notable Kit Features:

• Nicely detailed interior

• Finely engraved panel lines

• Well fitting parts

• Straight-forward construction

Build Inspiration:

I knew I wanted to construct a RCAF Beaufighter Mk.IIF so it was just a matter of picking a suitable squadron and aircraft... sounds simple enough. Out comes one level of separation between model builders... some build for fun, they can pick a kit, finish it out of the box blissfully entertained & fulfilled by their accomplishment (ah, those were the days). Then there are those of us who have seemingly digressed into fretting over a multitude of details in the act of trying to produce some form of replica aircraft subject matter. This leads us into the depths of countless hours of internet research, hunting the detail of our chosen subject and the Holy Grail of a period photo of the specific aircraft type we seek to build. I know, this is just a hobby after all, and it is suppose to be for fun. Sometimes to others we may seem to have lost it, but I guess all that work must still be enjoyable or we wouldn't keep doing it, would we..? Note: We don't start off by saying "I think I'll spend 65 hours or so researching this next build", it just happens somehow :) So having said that, it was obviously an easy pick to select the 406 Squadron aircraft that was credited with the RCAF's first night kill on September 1, 1941 (Serial R2336).

Robert Fumerton (left) and Radar operator Pat Bing hold a piece of the Junkers 88 they shot down for the RCAF's first night kill September 1, 1941. It was used as the squadron "Kill Board" for the duration of the war.

Heads-Up Report:

This is a nice kit so it's a pretty short list

• It appears that the kit trim tabs on the tail horizontal stabilizers are on the upper instead of lower side (these stabilizers would be replaced as part of the conversion)

Kit Additions / Modifications: (Keep in mind this is a conversion, so a bit longer list here)

• Added seat belts to cockpit

• Filled all wing gun openings

• Cut out wing to allow for CMK Merlin engine replacements

• Fit replacement engines (Sand, fill, Sand, fill, Sand, fill, Sand, fill or so)

• Cut wing to remove wing filter intakes (not present on IIF) - Plug gaps with resin parts

• Repaired Merlin forward engine scoops (broken on CMK resin parts)... only to realize they were not present on this A/C - Removed repaired scoops

• After install and paint detail realized Merlin exhausts provided in the CMK kit were of the incorrect type for this A/C - Source & replace exhausts with correct type

• Replace kit tail with pair of accurately profiled horizontal stabilizers with trim tab actuator molded onto the lower surface as they should be (Points to CMK)

• CMK Replacement spinners were a bit large in diameter - Sanded down profile (Reported as possibly too pointy as well so blunted them a bit)

• Scratch-built "towel-rack" antenna on bottom fuselage of aircraft

• Custom sprayed Call Letters "HU L" on A/C - Later "Wait...L? that was supposed to be a J!" Repaint body and respray correct "HU J" call letters (After major problems finding the correct font for the J)

• Just to add to the calamity - The masking process changing the "L" to "J" damages the fuselage roundel decal - Replace both roundels

• Realizing that I do not have proper serial number decals (what was I thinking?) - Returned to paint shop to custom spray serial number R2336 (Careful not to damage fin flash decal as I do occasionally learn from my previous mistakes:)

(Hmmm... seems to be a high ratio of self inflicted issues above, however we won't dwell on those as I am supposed to know what I am doing here;)

End Result:

The weathered night-fighter black finish was achieved by multiple black tone applications of paint (none of which are straight black). Paint chipping was done by applying a silver paint undercoat in areas such as the leading edges and prop blades.

The After-Build Report on this kit is that I would definitely recommend this base Tamiya Beaufighter kit for modelers of all skill sets. If you want to do the Mk.IIF conversion you should have some experience behind you working with resin and performing kit modifications, as you will have to do major surgery on the wings of a decently expensive kit and it would be a shame to destroy it in the process.

I will give thanks to the fellow who bought this kit (as well as the Mk.II conversion), started it and then instead of binning it when he gave up on the project, sold it to the next guy, eager to take a crack at it. I don't know that I would have otherwise thought to tackle a project like this. Certainly my "I hate to see a good kit go to waste" adoption instincts cut in to save this example from from someone's "Shelf of Doom". It is now a proud, not-often-seen addition to my RCAF collection.

Completed build #183 - October 2015 using the 1/48th scale Tamiya 61964-2800 kit as well as the CMK Beaufighter Mk.IIF Conversion Set No4010.

Feel free to ask any questions and I will see how good my memory is of the build - Keep on building what you want, how you want - Cheers