Here we take a look at the first of what I am sure will be a line of 1/48th scale Bristol Beaufort Mk.1 from ICM.

Introduction

The following introduction is taken from the ICM website:

The geographical location of Great Britain led to increased attention of the Royal Air Force

to land-based seaplanes. The Bristol Beaufort, which began to enter service with the Coastal Command at the end of 1939, was a twin-engine naval torpedo bomber with a combat load

of up to 908 kg, and it could also perform reconnaissance operations. In the first modification – Mk I – were produced 1014 aircraft. These aircraft began combat operations in April 1940 – they carried out aerial mining of seaports, carried out day and night torpedo attacks, hit coastal targets with bombs. Among the most famous episodes of their combat use is the torpedoing of the German battleship “Gneisenau” in April 1941. From March 1942, Bristol Beaufort’s began to be used in the Mediterranean Sea, where their main base was Malta. Service on them was difficult and dangerous, and in some periods of the war losses among the crews of torpedo boats were the highest in the entire Royal Air Force. However, despite all the difficulties and combat losses, these aircraft had a significant number of successful attacks on enemy convoys and warships.

Review

We are all aware of the packaging style of ICM models and so I will not bore you with the details, as it uses the same style. The mouldings are clean as regards flash and other moulding issues, but I have noted a push out mark on the interior of the front fuselage halves both sides. It is not excessively deep or large, but may need attention during the build process. Access to the various models parts, is very good except for one area which is the torpedo mounting frame, which is very close to the sprue itself and being one of the very fine mouldings included in the release could be easily broken during removal. The only other thing I have observed with regards to moulding, is flow marks in the larger elements, but these do not look or feel to have caused any detriment to the finished parts. I do like that the decals are protected inside the instruction booklet, and so will arrive safe unless damp. 

The fuselage halves have internal rib detail, along a high percentage of each side including the tail wheel bay. The interior detail is substantial including two integrated wing spars to support the wings of the model. Interior detail as regards the instrument panels looks to be good when compared to online images, but it is by no means a complete cockpit interior - with scratch or after market work paying dividends due to the large glazed areas. The pilot seat is well detailed as regards having the recess for the parachute under the bum of the pilot, and as best as I can tell what I think is an armoured plate behind this seat is present. Please note, that a number of on line photographs and also some period photographs do not show the armoured plate in place. The rib work inside the fuselage would appear to be accurate with regards to placement, but the vertical spars should be far heavier than the detail provided. There is a lot of detail that the modeller can add, as regards instruments for all crew stations although you have a good starting point. 

Working backwards along the fuselage, defensive weapons stations armed with Vickers K machine guns appear to be accurately replicated and located. The machine guns themselves are ok but not exceptional, and could be lifted by the modeller who would like to add brass barrels etc. Looking at the exterior of the fuselage, you have good recessed panel lines with my only concern being the risk of flooding the locations with paint. Checking the panel lines against on line aircraft profiles, does indicate some differences but as I am basically comparing an artist work against a model companies work I cannot vouch for what is wrong or right, but I do like what is there. The flight surfaces of the model are provided with separate flight controls, and the wheel bays in the main wing are moulded as a part of the wing. All of the flight surfaces have the same nice finely engraved panel lines, and again I have the same concerns about flooding if you are not careful when painting. A side mounted Vickers K gun emplacement is provided with the option of being open or closed. The wings have slide grooves inside them to enable a positive location for the integrated spars to home in on. With care you should be able to obtain a good fit. The wheels bays to which we referred to earlier have no detail in the recesses, but detail IS provided on the inner walls of the engine nacelles, including a back plate to enclose the area correctly. I believe this is another area of the model where the scratch builder could add a nice level of detail in order to make his build his own. The undercarriage legs themselves are assembled away from the model, as they are quite complex and would be difficult to assemble in situ. This also gives the modeller easy access for detailing the legs themselves, such as brake cables etc. The wheel bay doors have good detail on both faces, and should not require further work in that regard. However, the actuator arms are missing for opening and closing the doors. There are some very good on line reference photographs for the modeller wishing to super detail the areas I have mentioned thus far. 

The offensive weapon provided in this release are the World War II British Torpedo, released by ICM a short while back, detail wise I believe it will make the requirements for most modellers and the transport sledge is also provided which is a nice bonus for someone, showing the model on the ground with the weapon being loaded or positioned for loading. In typical ICM style a nice representation of the Bristol Taurus engines, which if not opened up and displayed are acceptable as is. But I am fairly confident that a photo etch set will be made available for dressing the engines up. Finally I am pleased to see, that ICM has continued their latest habit of including mask templates to save the modeller some pennies. ICM has also gone to the trouble to provide instructions for accurate placement for each mask. 

ICM has provided five finishing options for this release which are as follows:

Bristol Beaufort Mk 1, L4449, Persumabley late 1939

Bristol Beaufort Mk 1 again L4449 OA-H, No 22 Squadron, Northcoates, Lincolnshire, Summer 1940

Bristol Beaufort Mk 1 L4516 OA-W, No 22 Squadron, Northcoates, Lincolnshire, December 1940

Bristol Beaufort Mk1 N1016 OA-X, No 22 Squadron, RAF Saint Eval, April 1941

Bristol Beaufort Mk 1 L9878 MW-R, No217 Squadron, RAF Saint Eval, Autumn 1941

Conclusion

This offering from ICM of the Bristol Beaufort is a nice kit offering, with a good level of detail built in. With that said, there is plenty of room for the super detailer or even the modeller that wants to add their own details to make the kit their own. The cockpit is an area that will need some help, with at least the addition of harness detail for the seats being needed. I do not see any major hiccups with the construction as everything appears to be logically addressed. It is my belief, that there will be several other kits released of this aircraft as during my research to write this review I found that several areas of the aircraft had minor detail changes depending on what the aircraft was being used for, and the time period.

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