FineScale Modeler – October 2019

54 FineScale Modeler October 2019

T

he Blenheim first flew in 1935

and entered service as a light

bomber that was as fast or faster

than contemporary biplane fight-

ers. The Mk.IF was a fighter conversion

primarily used at night, establishing the

intercept and interdiction tactics mastered

by its offspring, the Beaufighter.

Options include open or closed cowl

flaps, raised or low-

ered landing gear,

and posable flaps.

Crisp recessed

panel lines and

rivets detail the

airframe and raised

instruments detail

the cockpit. Bombs,

racks and what looks

like a strike camera indicate that a

bomber version is on the way. Decals

are provided for a plane in dark

earth and dark green over black,

and a night fighter in overall black.

The 20-pages of instructions

start with the cockpit, although

you may want to skip ahead to

Page 19 (more on this later). The

tube framework is well repre-

sented and goes together quickly. I

had to thin Part D7 to allow room to cor-

rectly mount the jump-seat (A28). The

instrument panel faces are provided with

two decals, a center panel, and the sur-

rounding details. I split the latter into four

parts to ease alignment over the raised

detail. Once applied they look fantastic.

While it looks complicated, the engi-

neering of the landing-gear struts made

construction and installation easy.

The wing spars make setting the correct

dihedral simple, and the horizontal tail sur-

faces join without any seams to fill.

However, you may want to add wire pins

to the rudder to help secure what is essen-

tially a butt join and may be a bit weak

otherwise.

Pay close attention to the draw-

ings in Step 66. I didn’t and had to

tear apart the engines. The two slots

for the air intakes are on the left side

as you face the front of the engines (as

clearly shown in the drawing), not the

top! (The intakes will be on the star-

board side of the completed power egg.) I

could have used an extra pair of hands to

get the multi-piece cowls lined up cor-

rectly.

Airfix provides a jig to aid construction

of the multi-piece turret, and I loved it!

Place the parts in the jig, add a touch of

super glue, and everything lined up per-

fectly.

Now about Page 19: I decided not to

install the pilot as it would’ve been a tight

fit. The assembled fuse-

lage was narrower than

the clear parts that

make up the nose and

canopy. So, I used a

piece of tubing dis-

Airfix Bristol Blenheim Mk.IF

WORKBENCH REVIEWS

FSM experts build and evaluate new kits