The Bristol Bulldog has made a welcome return to the modelling limelight with the release of a generally excellent new-tool 1:48 kit from Airfix, and this has provided the opportunity for Valiant Wings to turn their attention away from their usual WWII subjects to this classic aircraft of the "golden age" of Inter-War aviation.
This new title in the Airframe Detail series follows the established and very successful formula. In the 90-page softbound book, Richard Franks presents an excellent combination of historical and modelling-related material in an easily accessible form that will appeal equally to aviation enthusiasts and anyone building a kit of the Bulldog.
The book is printed on high quality stock and is richly illustrated with a plethora of vintage photos and diagrams, plus modern colour photos of a surviving Bulldog, along with excellent colour profiles.
Introduction - Brief History
Things kick off on a purely historical note that traces the design, development and service of the Bulldog. The concise 23-page chapter also provides an interesting overview of the prevailing aviation situation in the years following WWI, when a cash-starved RAF had to make do with fighter designs that offered little advance over their wartime predecessors. This changed with the arrival of the Fairey Fox light bomber that rendered all the current fighters obsolete at a stroke and created a hitherto lacking sense of urgency to introduce a much higher performance fighter to re-equip the RAF.
The chapter covers the competition between Bristol and a number of designs from rival manufacturers, ending with an assessment of the Bulldog and Hawker Hawfinch in service trials conducted by RAF squadrons in 1928. The result was essentially a tie, but the Bulldog proved easier to service and maintain and was therefore chosen for production.
Each of the RAF's Bulldog variants is described, outlining the steady development of the type into the 1930s, and the chapter goes on to cover the Bulldog's extensive service overseas that culminated in it finally seeing combat in the Spanish Civil War and Finnish/Soviet Winter War. It says much for the soundness of the Bulldog that, years after being declared obsolete by the RAF, it was still scored victories over the far more advanced Soviet monoplane I-16 fighter and SB-3 bomber.
The Bulldog's story ends with accounts of the two surviving original airframes in the UK and Finland, the former tragically being heavily damaged during an airshow in 1960s, before a decades-long saga that went on to see it finally exhibited at the RAF Museum in Hendon where it remains to this day.
Lastly, the author provides a list of Bulldog serial numbers allocated to each production batch and variant, before giving specifications for each of them, along with a description of the equipment and ordnance carried. The list of serial numbers will be particularly useful for modellers in identifying an aircraft in period photos in order to correctly include the details specific to the variant.
Technical Description
This 28-pages section will be essential reading for anyone looking to super-detail or otherwise improve a Bulldog kit-build. As usual with Valiant Wings' titles, it represents for me the ideal combination of modern walk-around shots of a restored airframe with vintage photos, technical illustrations and servicing diagrams.
The result is a truly comprehensive study of the Bulldog in a way that avoids the pitfalls of relying purely on a museum exhibit that may or may not be 100% accurate to the original specs.
The chapter breaks the coverage down into eight logical sections, most of them further subdivided to detail specific aspects of the aircraft.
1. Engine, Cowlings & Propeller
2. Cockpit Interior & Fuselage
3. Tail
4. Wings & Controls
5. Undercarriage
6. Fuel, Oil & Oxygen Systems
7. Armament & Ordnance
8. Miscellaneous
The result really is a goldmine of useful information - and quite honestly, something I didn't ever expect to see for the Bulldog, so it is especially welcome. The cockpit section immediately underlined my feeling that the interior framework of the recent 1:48 Airfix kit is far too heavily moulded (although, to be fair, it's probably as delicate as they could safely include in a kit intended for modellers of all ages and experience). What's great here is that complete original scale-diagrams are provided, so you could scratch-build a much truer to scale replacement if you wish. It's debateable whether it's worth it, though, because I discovered that very little of the interior is visible through the kit's small cockpit opening once the fuselage halves are joined.
Camouflage & Markings
One thing you can pretty much guarantee with "golden age" aircraft is some attractive colour schemes - particularly with the RAF and it's use of flamboyant squadron colours. The Bulldog was no exception and Camouflage & Markings does a great job illustrating them over the course of 24 pages with excellent colour profiles by Richard Caruana. The variety of squadron finishes is wonderful, so there's every opportunity to go for some eye-catching liveries when building a Bulldog.
Of course, as noted above, the Bulldog served widely with overseas air forces, and these are also shown in this chapter, offering some excellent alternatives - especially if you fancy a bit of modification work, adding an engine cowling where needed. Most foreign schemes aren't as colourful as the RAF ones, but the slightly speculative Spanish Republican machine shown is certainly a head-turner.
In addition to illustrating the various colour schemes, there's also a very useful page showing the various servicing stencils applied to RAF Bulldogs, along with the style and position of national markings.
Bulldog Build
There's only one build featured - but it is an excellent one as Steve Evans tackles Airfix's fine new-tool 1:48 kit. I think it's something of a shame that the classic Airfix 1:72 model wasn't included too, but you can't have everything.
Steve does a great job with the new Bulldog and the finished model is a real beauty. Over the course of five pages he covers the build in a way that will be a real help to anyone tackling the kit. Like me when I reviewed it (HERE), Steve found the wings' trailing edges very thick and overscale. Sadly, he doesn't describe how he thinned them for a better appearance, and I think this is a bit of a missed opportunity because it would really have been useful for less-experienced modellers.
Nevertheless, this is an inspiring build - and an encouragement not to be daunted by the kit's complex rigging, because the results really are worth it!
The Bristol Bulldog In Scale
There then follows a one page overview of the various Bulldog kits that have been released or announced over the years (not all of which appeared). Many of these have been re-boxings of the same few kits (Airfix in 1:72, and Inpact and Merit in 1:48) but there also some interesting sounding kits from smaller manufacturers listed that could be worth looking out for - especially the impressive 1:32 resin kit from Silver Wings.
The book rounds things off with a set of Appendices and a last-page gallery of vintage photos of the Bulldog. The appendices cover Bulldog Kits, Accessories, Masks and Decals, followed by a useful Bibliography that lists the Bulldog's appearances in print - both books or magazine articles.
Conclusion
This is an excellent reference for anyone interested in the Bristol Bulldog, whether purely as an aviation enthusiast or a scale modeller. For the latter, it's really essential reading if you're planning to super-detail or modify any Bulldog kit and, obviously the build chapter is perfect for anyone tackling the recent Airfix 1:48 model.
Personally, I think it's great to see Valiant Wings cover a "golden age" aircraft, and I'd love to see them feature more similar subjects in their Airframe Detail series. I guess that's can only be justified, though, if there are some modern mainstream kits available. So, come on Airfix! - how about a new-tool 1:48 Hawker Fury and a family of Hart variants to keep your Bulldog company?
Bristol Bulldog - Airframe Detail No. 12 (ISBN: 978-1-912932-42-9) is available now from Valiant Wings - Price: £19.45
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