Bristol Beaufighter 1/72 Scale Model

British Mk.IF - This is a model of a heavy fighter that flew against the Germans and Italians in North Africa, starting in 1941. The F was the fighter variant, equipped with six machine guns in the wings, and four cannons in the lower front fuselage. The C variant was the long range coastal patrol version, with the machine guns in the wings removed to make room for extra fuel cells. The Beaufighter was a redesign of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber, which was a redesign of the Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV medium bomber. It was hastily created in response to the need for a long range fighter, but entered service in 1940 as a night fighter over Britain because it could carry heavy armament and a radar unit in its large nose. Later versions, fitted with better engines, were widely used as low-level attack planes because they could carry a wide range of heavy armament, including rockets and torpedoes. Over 300 Beaufighters, designated as Mk 21s, were built under license in Australia from 1944 to 1945 and were used with great success against Japanese shipping in the South Pacific.

More Photos: Left, Right, Top, Front, Front Angle Right, Front Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Above Right, Above Left

Air War for Burma: The Concluding Volume of the Bloody Shambles Series; The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia, 1942-1945, Christopher Shores

Air War Over Italy, Andrew Brookes

Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, Christopher Shores

The Armed Rovers: Beauforts & Beaufighters over the Mediterranean, Roy Nesbit

Battle of the Bismarck Sea, Lex McAuley

The Battle of Britain, Richard Hough

Beaufighter Aces of World War 2, Andrew Thomas

Beaufighter in Action, Jerry Scutts

Beaufighter: The Photographic History, Simon Perry

Beaufighters Over Burma: 27 Squadron, RAF, 1942-45, David Innes

Beaufighters Over New Guineau: 30 Squadron, RAF, 1942-43, George Dick

Bristol Beaufighter, Jerry Scutts

Coastal Command at War, Chaz Bowyer

Concise Guide to British Aircraft of World War II, David Mondey

Coomalie Charlie's Commandos: 31 Squadron RAAF Beaufighters at Darwin 1942-43, Kenneth McDonald

Dust Clouds in the Middle East: The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940-42,  Christopher Shores

Fighters Over the Desert: The Air Battles in the Western Desert. June 1940 to December 1942, Christopher Shores

A Forgotten Offensive: RAF Coastal Command's Anti-Shipping Campaign, 1940-1945, Christina Goulter

Malta; The Hurricane Years 1940-1941, Christopher Shores

The Naval War in the Mediterranean 1940-1943, Jack Greene

RAF Coastal Command in Action 1939-1945, Roy Conyers Nesbit

The Strike Wings: Special Anti-Shipping Squadrons, 1942-1945, Roy Conyers Nesbit

Whispering Death: A History of the RAAF's Beaufighter Squadrons, N. M. Parnell