ICM continues their run of “dioramas in a box,” this time by kitting their recently released Bristol Beaufort Mk1A with tropical air filters (Kit 48311) with their RAF bomber and torpedo pilots (Kit 48090).

Background

The Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber entered service with RAF Coastal Command in late 1939. In the spring of 1942 all of Coastal Commands Beauforts were sent to the Mediterranean for use in attacking German convoys that were resupplying the Afrika Korp in North Africa. The high temperatures encountered in this region of the world required the carburetor air intakes to be modified to allow greater air intake.

The Beauforts were initially stationed in Malta, but would later be moved to Egypt and the Pacific and Far East.

What’s in the Box

• 1 large bag with 8 sprues of gray plastic for the Beaufort.
• 1 medium-size bag with 1 sprue of gray plastic for the RAF pilot and torpedo handler figures.
• 1 small bag of clear parts.
• An 8-inch by 11.5-inch instruction booklet assembly and painting of the Bristol Beaufort.
• An 8-inch by 11.5-inch sheet for assembly and painting for the five figures.
• A flyer for ICM water based acrylic paints, with a partial color chart.

The Instructions

The instructions consist of a 24-page glossy 8-inch by 11.5-inch instruction booklet. The front cover provides a brief description/history of the aircraft, including technical data, in both Ukrainian and English. ICM paint colors and descriptions of the various pictorial symbol/notes are also on this page. The paint color chart has the letter call-out used in the instructions, a color name on a background of the color, the ICM paint number, and cross-references to Revell and Tamiya paint colors.

Pages 2 through 4 are the parts maps for the eight sprues of the Bristol Beaufort and one sprue of the British torpedo and trailer. Pages 5 thru 18 are the assembly instructions for the Beaufort. The images are sharp and show the assembly as an exploded ¾ view. Page 19 covers assembly of the torpedo and torpedo trailer.

A really nice touch is page 20. This page has mask templates and placement diagrams. Pages 21 through 24 are four-view painting guides for four decal options included in the kit.

A separate two-sided sheet covers the five figures. One side has a parts map, paint guide, and descriptions of the various pictorial symbol/notes. The other side is a combined assembly and painting guide figures.

Things to Consider Before Starting

As with many kits the various decal options also have aircraft specific details. So one must decide which decal option they wish to complete so the proper options can be added. In the case of this kit there are two variants with a torpedo load and two with a bomb load

Construction

I start all my builds by scrubbing the sprues with an old toothbrush in warm water and dish soap (Dawn) to remove any residual mold release residue.

I have built and reviewed other ICM kits and a nice touch here the note at the beginning of the assembly instructions that notes all internal detail and elements are color A (US Dark Green) except marked separately.

Many parts are scale thin, so use caution when removing these parts as they are prone to breaking or disappearing into the ether if not carefully cut from the sprue.

Cockpit and Interior Details

As noted in other online reviews the cockpit is rather Spartan given the amount of glass that allows a good view into the area. Only a throttle quadrant and instrument panel are supplied. For those looking to add more, Eduard has a photo-etched set that provides much of the missing equipment.

I assembled all the interior parts that would be US Dark Green in steps 1 through 23. I then primed and painted these parts. At the same time I primed and painted the non‑green interior parts. Once dry these parts are added to the interior. Were I to build this kit again I would leave the wing spars loose, as it would make attaching the radio equipment (Steps 8 - 10) much easier. I also did not attach the tail wheel in Step 22, instead opting to attach it towards the end of the build and thus avoiding breaking it off. In step 23 DO NOT forget to drill the two holes in the left fuselage half for the antennas that are added later. In Step 24 leave Part F2-9 off until later (See Rear Turret below).

The first trouble I encountered was in trying to join the fuselage halves. I believe this is due to the very exacting tolerances of the kit. My initial effort resulted in a gap upwards of ⅛-inch. After removing the paint and primer from the wing spars and bulkheads the remaining gap was less than 1/16-inch.

I skipped installing the clear cockpit parts in Steps 25 and 28 to make masking and painting them easier.

Wings

Again DO NOT forget to drill the holes for the radar antennas in the wings in steps 29 and 32. The first decision on which option to build comes in step 31. There are two options for the inner upper wing. The part with the round tab is used for only option 1.

In step 38 the lower flaps are designed to be installed dropped. Looking at photos online and in references for the Bristol Beaufort the flaps are normally up when on the plane is ground. Modeling the flaps up is done by cutting off the connecting tabs. When placing the flaps in the up position it is important to note that they go BEHIND the trailing edge lip (photo).

The fit of the wings, elevators, and rudder were trouble free, with one exception. The tight fit of the fuselage halves resulted in one of the bulkheads causing the right side to bow out slightly. This left a fair-size gap at the rear of the wing joint (photo). Also, when attaching the wings make sure that the wing spars line up with the guide slots in the wings or else the wings will not fit flush to the fuselage.

The Beaufort had full length wing-tip lights. The kit provides these as solid clear pieces. I hollowed out the centers to represent the lights. I then painted the inside of these spaces with Model Master Acryl Transparent Red (4630) and Clear Green (4668). Once dry these were attached to the wing-tips after the camouflage was applied.

Landing Gear

The landing gear is built up of a top and bottom section. Use caution when removing the extremely thin parts from the sprue as they are quite fragile. Pay attention to the insets in Steps 44 and 47. Part E15 has two different ends on the cross bar. For the right landing gear (Step 44) the end with the pin goes into the left side member (Part E12). For the left landing gear the pin end goes into the right side member (Part E11). The square pins at the top of the cross-member go into square holes just below where the crossbar (Part E3) attaches. The fit of the lower gear assembly to the upper gear assembly is only slightly more than a butt joint. Allow the glue to fully cure before moving on. I assembled both left and right landing gear without the tire and primed and painted them at this stage. I also left them off until the end of the build to avoid breaking them.

Engines

The engines are amazingly detailed models in themselves. Step 53 through 55 has you construct the engine with the collector ring and propeller first. I found it easier to start at Step 55 and build the engine cylinders (Parts E30 and E31), paint that, and then attach the painted exhaust ring (Part E28). Move to Step 56 and install all the pre-painted exhaust stubs (Parts E44 and E45). Once the glue has cured then attach the collector ring (Part E20). I left the propeller off till later in the build, again to avoid breaking them.

I ran into an issue in Step 59 with attaching the tropical air filters. Putting them into their slots on the engine nacelles forced the cowl flaps (Parts D38 and 39) out of alignment. To solve this I ended up removing the cowl flap that is in front of the air filter. This allowed the remaining cowl flaps to sit square on the nacelle.

I left the engines off and temporarily attached the cowlings for painting.

Rear Turret

In Step 68 I had real trouble getting the turret gun assembly into the mounting base in the fuselage (Part F2-9). When part F2-5 is installed in Step 64 it is very tough to see into the fuselage and line up the attachment holes with the parts of the gun assembly. I would recommend skipping Step 64 and building the machine gun assembly (Steps 65 - 67) first. Then attach the turret ring and machine gun assembly to part F2-5 and part F2‑9 to the base of the machine gun assembly. Once the glue has set attach F2-9 to the interior floor and F2-5 to the fuselage.

If you chose torpedo bomber version (options 1 and 4) then leave the rear bomb bay doors (Parts C31 and C32) off. Otherwise the torpedo will not fit properly into bomb bay.

Final Assembly

If fiddly bits are your thing then Steps 81 to 83 is for you. The attachment of the radar antenna to the supports is a barely there pin. Follow the instructions here and attach the antenna to supports first. Then attach assembly to the aircraft.

In addition, the antennas (Part E9 and E17 in Step 80 and Part E10 in Step 85) are simple but joints, and should be added at the end of the build to avoid knocking them off.

After painting the aircraft I completed assembly by installing the landing gear, engines and cowls, bomb bay doors, and radar antenna. The smaller antenna noted above were brush painted after attaching them to the aircraft.

Torpedo and trailer

Assembly of the torpedo was uneventful.

Assembly of the torpedo trailer requires care as many of the parts are fragile and easily broken. Also many of the attachment points are small. I assembled the trailer through Step 07, then primed and painted the trailer before attaching the wheels in Step 08.

RAF Pilots and Torpedo Handlers

Assembly of the figures is straight forward. However, because the part callouts are combine with the painting callouts one must use care to make sure the right parts are attached to the right figure. I suggest building one figure at time to help keep parts straight.

The minor mold seams are easily removed with a few scraps of a sharp knife blade. The arms, legs, and torsos fit very well and required minimal gap filling.

Painting and Finish

After assembling all the interior parts that are to be US Dark Green in Steps 1 through 25 I primed the interior assembly with Krylon Fusion All-In-One paint and primer Matte Glacier Gray. I allowed this to cure for 48-hours before spraying with Model Master 1910 Dark Green (FS 34079) from a rattle can. None green parts were primed the Matte Glacier Gray while on the sprue. The parts that are black were painted with Tamiya Semi-gloss Black (X-18) or Tamiya Flat Brown (XF-10).

The landing lights (Part D5) was painted silver and the lights were picked out with Molotow Liquid Chrome.

First I completed assembly through Step 41. The next step was to temporarily attach the engine cowl flaps, engine cowls, and turret insert (Part F2-5). I also used soft foam inserted into the cockpit and rear turret opening to seal them and also masked the clear round windows with painters tape punched out with a hole punch. Then whole aircraft was primed with Krylon Fusion All-In-One paint and primer Matte Glacier Gray. This was allowed for cure for 48-hours.

Following priming I masked the bottom of the fuselage around the bomb bay and wheel well openings, and sprayed the interior of the bomb bay and wheel wells with Model Master 1910 Dark Green (FS 34079) from a rattle can. This was allowed to dry for 24‑hours before using more soft foam to mask the wheel wells. The bomb bay was masked using the close bomb bay doors, Parts C4, C5 and C16.

The bottom of the fuselage, wings, engine nacelles, and elevators were airbrushed Mission Models Azure Blue RAF (MMP-092). This was allowed to dry for 24-hours before masking the demarcation line with Tamiya masking tape and filling in the larger areas with 3M blue painters tape.

I had decided to model option 1, with the Dark Slate Gray/Extra Dark Sea Gray/Azure Blue color scheme. Unfortunately the four view image in the instructions is extremely dark and made it very difficult to determine the camouflage pattern. I eventually determined that a mirrored A scheme was closest. Option 4 had the same scheme so I used it to create paper masks by resizing the image on a copier until it approximately fit the model.

The paper masks for the dark gray were cut slightly small and were attached with poster putty to achieve a slightly soft edge. I then airbrushed the extra dark green using AK RAF Dark Slate Gray. This layer was allowed to set until it was dry to the touch. I then masked the extra dark green with paper masks that were cut to size. I then airbrushed the dark gray with AK Extra Dark Sea Gray. Again, when dry to the touch I removed the tape for the demarcation line and the window masks.

The cockpit and clear nose pieces were painted separately. I really nice addition to this kit is in the instructions. Page 20 has masking templates and masking diagrams. The templates can be used to cut out any convenient adhesive tape and attached to the clear parts.

I made a copy of the templates and glued it to a full sheet adhesive label. I then cut out each mask and placed them following the masking diagrams on the clear parts. Once all the masks were on I sprayed all the parts the Matte Glacier Gray primer. I let this dry for 48-hours. Next I airbrushed the bottom of the nose glass pale blue (Mission Models Azure Blue RAF). This was allowed to dry for 24-hours. Next I airbrushed the cockpit dark gray (AK Extra Dark Sea Gray). When dry to the touch I masked off the cockpit and lower nose glass with painters tape then sprayed the rest of the clear nose with extra dark green (AK Dark Slate Gray). When dry to the touch remove all the masks.

As seen in the finished images the clear parts look a little rough. This was a result of the build being caught up in a move that delayed removal of the masks. As a result there was residual adhesive that needed extensive clean up to remove.

Torpedo and Trailer

The torpedo and trailer were also primed with Matte Glacier Gray primer. The torpedo body was brush painted oil steel using Mission Models Cold Rolled Steel. I masked the body at the front joint with blue painters tape, and sprayed the front Flat Black. When dry to the touch I removed the mask. The rear props were brush painted Tamiya Rubber Black (XF-84). The added tail (Parts 11, 12, and 17) were painted to look like wood. The final detail was painting the front propeller brass and attaching it to the completed torpedo.

After priming, the torpedo trailer was painted Model Master Dark Green. When dry the large wheels had their tires painted Tamiya Rubber Black.

Figures

Figures were painted following the painting guide. I used the following colors:

• White = Tamiya X-1 Flat white
• Black = Tamiya Semi-gloss Black (X-18) for boots
• Deep Yellow = Life Color Yellow (UA 140)
• Off White = Model Master Acryl Panzer Interior Buff (4805)
• Basic Skin Tone = see below
• Chocolate (Chipping) = Tamiya Hull Red
• Light Earth = Life Color Sand Yellow (UA 081)
• Middlestone = Vallejo Model Air Middle Stone (71.031)
• Grey Blue = Vallejo Model Air Grey Blue (71.005)
• Dark Blue = Tamiya Sea Blue (XF-17)
• Gold = Tamiya Gold Leaf (X-12)
• Blue Gray = Polly Scale USN Blue Gray

I painted the figures from the lightest color to the darkest. This meant starting with painting the flesh areas Model Master Acryl Skin Tone Warm Tint (4603). When dry to the touch I used a wash made from Model Master Acryl Skin Tone Shadow Tint (4604). The final step was to create highlights by dry brushing Tamiya Flat Flesh (XF-15).

Decals

The decals are well printed and opaque. They are however very thin, making them equally very fragile. I had more than one separate while placing them. I also had some of the “Trestle Here” decals fold over on themselves. Being thin and fragile unfolding them is impractical. I also found that they required more than the normal time in warm water before they could be slid off the backing paper, upwards of 20 to 30 seconds. The larger decals are easy to tell when they are ready as they will curl when placed in the water and then slowly flatten out.

Conclusion

I recommend this kit for advanced intermediate to experienced modelers. The build is straight forward but there are a number of very small and very fragile parts to deal with. In addition the tight tolerances require extra care to ensure that joints, such as the fuselage, wings, and wing roots fit tightly.

By carefully reviewing the assembly sequence laid out in the instructions it is easy to see where sub-assemblies can be created to help with painting. The inclusion of mask templates and masking diagrams is a great help in painting the extensive clear parts that make up the front of the aircraft. The thin and fragile decals also require careful handling.

I would like to thank ICM for providing this kit for review, and IPMS/USA for giving me the opportunity to build it.