[JETFAN]

Looking through some old photos I acquired about 40 years ago, I came across these two of MB-T which might be of help to William.Is there any chance that the tooling could also accomodate the Merlin-powered Mk II which usually operated as a night-fighter in an all black scheme with red codes?

[JETFAN]

As an addendum to the photos of MB-T, it would be incorrect to fit a torpedo to this model. 236 Sqdn operated as part of the North Coates Strike Wing its main armament being the 40 x 20mm cannon in the nose plus the R/Ps under the wings. The wing mounted .303 machine guns were removed to allow installation of additional fuel tanks. 236's sister unit, 254 Squadron, operated the Torbeau which carried an 18 inch torpedo plus it retained the 4 - 20 mm nose cannons and eliminated the wing mounted guns.Another reason that torpedoes and rockets were not carried at the same time was simply weight related. Additional weight and drag would have reduced the fuel carrying capacity which was critical and led to the removal of wing mounted guns on all Coastal Command operated Beaufighters.The two units always flew shipping strikes as a team; the R/P equipped aircraft were used to supress the flak ships while the Torbeaus went for the cargo ships in the convoy.MB-T was used on several different airframes due to attrition. Earlier versions had very large red code letters on the rear fuselage. I'm sure that the one in my photo will be the one that everyone wants. Some artwork published show the fueslage codes in a light orange; this doesn't seem right to me as red was the standard color and it looks quite close to the roundel red in the photo. Does anyone have a color photos of this aircraft to settle it?

[William]

Originally Posted by JETFAN

As an addendum to the photos of MB-T, it would be incorrect to fit a torpedo to this model. 236 Sqdn operated as part of the North Coates Strike Wing its main armament being the 40 x 20mm cannon in the nose plus the R/Ps under the wings. The wing mounted .303 machine guns were removed to allow installation of additional fuel tanks. 236's sister unit, 254 Squadron, operated the Torbeau which carried an 18 inch torpedo plus it retained the 4 - 20 mm nose cannons and eliminated the wing mounted guns.Another reason that torpedoes and rockets were not carried at the same time was simply weight related. Additional weight and drag would have reduced the fuel carrying capacity which was critical and led to the removal of wing mounted guns on all Coastal Command operated Beaufighters.The two units always flew shipping strikes as a team; the R/P equipped aircraft were used to supress the flak ships while the Torbeaus went for the cargo ships in the convoy.MB-T was used on several different airframes due to attrition. Earlier versions had very large red code letters on the rear fuselage. I'm sure that the one in my photo will be the one that everyone wants. Some artwork published show the fueslage codes in a light orange; this doesn't seem right to me as red was the standard color and it looks quite close to the roundel red in the photo. Does anyone have a color photos of this aircraft to settle it?

Hi,

Thank you very much for the photos indeed.

Concerning the big color code we have confirmed with UK side earlier that it should be red. So we will change the information accordingly.

About the rockets and torpedo, this is some new information to us indeed. I am not sure whether clients will still prefer to have them but I will communicate this with UK. Perhaps we can just leave it as optional parts so people can attach them if they want.

Thanks again.
William

[Hornchurch]

Originally Posted by JETFAN

Looking through some old photos I acquired about 40 years ago, I came across these two of MB-T which might be of help to William.Is there any chance that the tooling could also accomodate the Merlin-powered Mk II which usually operated as a night-fighter in an all black scheme with red codes?

Jetfan, that top picture is SUPERB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Made my day, you posting that shot !!!!!!!!!!!


Fully agree with you, on the Dark-Red codes, as per the B.1 upper-roundels (inside)


I doubt you'll ever likely come across any colour shots of 'NT.950' herself, in colour ?


This will have to be my most anticipated 'H.M' model (ever !)

Glad to see you taking all the info' on board, William !!!!!!!!!!!

I reckon this model will sell by the Container-load

[Bluenosed Bastard]

Thanks for sharing the photos JETFAN!!!!! It's always fun to see old photos!!!

[Cruver Collecter]

Have to ask the question though. Are those torpedo mounts under the fuselage in the previous pictures? They sure do look similar to the close up shot of the mounts I found of a Beaufighter equipped with a torpedo. Almost looks like the previous picture shows that aircraft was dual configured for both rockets and had mounts to carry a torpedo as well.

[JETFAN]

Cuver, I think that you are correct. MB-T does seem to have the torpedo crutches fitted, though I doubt that they were ever used in anger since that wasn't 236's primary role. I think I covered all the reasons why in my previous signal. Its much clearer on the "going away" photo. Sadly, neither photo shows the different types of flaps/air brakes used by the Beaufighters. The R/P version had standard flaps where as the Torbeau version had bellows flaps which opened both above and below the wing. The Torbeau came in high, dived steeply using the bellows, levelled out at about 25 feet above the sea, retracted the bellows are bored in to drop its tin fish.Similar two squadron Strike Wings werre also operated in Cornwall and Northern Scotland using the same techniques.I have attached a photo of an earlier MB-T (serial number LZ293) for comparison.

[Cruver Collecter]

Originally Posted by JETFAN

Cuver, I think that you are correct. MB-T does seem to have the torpedo crutches fitted, though I doubt that they were ever used in anger since that wasn't 236's primary role. I think I covered all the reasons why in my previous signal. Its much clearer on the "going away" photo. Sadly, neither photo shows the different types of flaps/air brakes used by the Beaufighters. The R/P version had standard flaps where as the Torbeau version had bellows flaps which opened both above and below the wing. The Torbeau came in high, dived steeply using the bellows, levelled out at about 25 feet above the sea, retracted the bellows are bored in to drop its tin fish.Similar two squadron Strike Wings werre also operated in Cornwall and Northern Scotland using the same techniques.I have attached a photo of an earlier MB-T (serial number LZ293) for comparison.

I guess it couldn't hurt if the folks at HM put this one out with the option of displaying with at torpedo or rockets.

[JETFAN]

I mentioned in the original comment that I'd like to see a model of the Merlin-powered Beaufighter IIf. Attached is a photo of one of 255 Squadron's aircraft based at West Malling in 1941. The squadron initially had a high accident rate and a number were destroyed in a German raid on their base. Subsequently, they converted to Mk VIs and moved to North Africa and Italy where it was a very successful unit.

[Aeolus]

II.F would be a great choice-it has never been done neither in kit form nor in diecast