[MOC] Bristol Beaufighter

[Hod Carrier]

I’ve been a big fan of the Bristol Beaufighter since boyhood and have made several attempts down the years to build one in LEGO. The big Bristol fighter was a compromised design from the beginning and for a long time lived in the shadow of the faster de Havilland Mosquito, but it still managed to carve out its own niche as a potent strike fighter, which endears it to me enormously.

In my opinion, the Beaufighter is one of the great unsung heroes of WW2. It was not a fast or pretty aircraft, and most of its exploits were carried out away from the public’s gaze, either in the night skies over Britain, far out over the sea in the North Atlantic or over the dense jungles of the Far East. However, its ruggedness and its ability to land a mighty punch made it an indispensable weapon. Its design may have been compromised from the beginning, but it more than made up for its shortcomings with its abilities.

Annoyingly, the Beaufighter is a difficult shape full of LEGO-unfriendly curves and every design I came up with looked wrong or out of proportion, in particular around the nose. In the end I decided to shrink the design down to approximately Microfig scale which seems to have worked relatively well, although I have had to use one or two illegal techniques. It requires a couple of tabs of double-sided tape and some modified parts, in particular around the landing gear and the obvious 2x6 wedge tile on the rear fuselage sides to allow for stickers which would be difficult to apply to a 2x6 wedge plate.

So here is my design for the Bristol Beaufighter. I have done some test builds to prove that it is buildable but I am presenting it here as a digital design. I have gone a bit mad and varied the design to depict not only the first prototype but also all five major production marks, although colour availability would mean that only four of these models are actually possible to build.

The origins of the Beaufighter go back to the Munich Crisis of 1938 which highlighted the RAF’s need for a heavy long-range fighter. Development of the Westland Whirlwind was delayed, and so Bristol submitted a proposal for a twin-engined cannon fighter based on the Beaufort torpedo bomber that would use some of the same assemblies to speed the production of the type. The result was the Bristol Type 156 “Beaufort Fighter”, a name that was shortened to Beaufighter.

The unarmed, unpainted first prototype flew in July 1939 and achieved 335mph, although this came down to 309mph with the second prototype which had operational equipment fitted. Changes were made to help improve aerodynamic efficiency, but concerns remained about performance due to the engines used. The intention had been to use Bristol Hercules VI 14-cylinder radial engines rated at around 1,500hp, but these were still being developed and priority for them was given to the Short Stirling heavy bomber.

The model design depicts the first prototype, R2052, in its original configuration with the oil coolers under the engine nacelles (later moved to the wing leading edge) and short landing gear doors that did not fully enclose the main wheels when retracted.

The Beaufighter Mk.I went into production using a less powerful version of the Hercules engine than originally intended, but it still packed a mighty punch. Armed with four 20mm cannon in the fuselage and six 0.303in machine guns in the wings, the Beaufighter had the heaviest fixed armament of any aircraft of the time. It was originally intended to be used by RAF Fighter Command as a day fighter, but it’s large size and low speed made it less than ideal in the role.

Combined with airborne interception (AI) Mk.III radar the Beaufighter was an ideal night fighter, having the speed to intercept enemy aircraft and the weight of armament to deal a lethal blow. Night fighter squadrons who had been saddled with less effective aircraft, such as the Bristol Blenheim, and were frustrated at being on the sidelines of the Battle of Britain eagerly took to the Beaufighter. Very soon, a number of night fighter pilots had become aces flying the type, including John “Cats Eyes” Cunningham, and night fighter squadrons were soon accounting for more enemy raiders destroyed than ground defences. In addition to its success as a night fighter, the Beaufighter (or “Beau” as it became known to its crews) continued to operate by day against air and ground targets, particularly in the Mediterranean and North Africa where it was used to provide air support to ground troops.

Beaufighters were also supplied to RAF Coastal Command for use as long-range strike fighters. Mk.I aircraft were initially built to a common standard and then adapted, but the differing requirements of the two commands meant that they eventually had to be built separately. Coastal Command’s Mk.1C differed from Fighter Command’s Mk.1F by trading the wing-mounted machine guns for additional fuel capacity for increased range, different radio and radio-navigation equipment and no radar. These aircraft performed a variety of operations including long-range fighter patrols as well as strikes against enemy shipping and ground targets. Patrols over the Bay of Biscay and success in destroying long-range bombers operating against allied shipping, such as the Focke-Wulf FW 200 Condor, effectively removed the aerial threat from the Battle of the Atlantic.

A single Coastal Command Beaufighter Mk.IC, flown by Flt Lt Ken Gatward and his observer/navigator Sgt George Fern, took part in a daring one aircraft daylight raid on Paris. Codenamed Operation Squabble, Gatward and Fern flew at extremely low level to cross occupied France unopposed. They overflew the Arc de Triomphe and dropped a French Tricolour, continued at rooftop height along the Champs Elysee to strafe the Kreigsmarine headquarters on the Place de la Concorde and drop another Tricolour before escaping again. It was later described as “perhaps the most impudent raid of the war”.

Although the Mk.I wore a multitude of different colours, including day fighter and desert camouflage, I have modelled a Mk.IF night fighter in matt black camouflage. I have attempted to include the AI Mk.III radar antennae on the nose and wings of the aircraft.

Following the slightly disappointing performance of the Mk.I, the quest to unlock the potential of the Beaufighter continued. The original specification stated that the aircraft should be capable of using either the air-cooled Bristol Hercules radial engine or the liquid-cooled Rolls Royce Griffon vee engine interchangeably. Although a Griffon-engined prototype was flown, this engine, like the Hercules VI, was prioritised for another aircraft and so was unavailable for the Beaufighter. A potential solution came in the form of the Rolls Royce Merlin XX which was being offered in a self-contained “power plant” installation that would be seen again later in the war on the Avro Lancaster. The result was the Beaufighter Mk.IIF.

The Beaufighter Mk.IIF was used primarily by Fighter Command as a night fighter. A small number were also delivered to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm for use in a variety of secondary roles such as operational training and convoy escort. Although the change in engine did give the Mk.IIF slightly better performance at high altitude compared to the Hercules-powered Mk.I, the Merlins were still insufficiently powerful to improve the overall performance.

As well as a lack of power, something about the installation and characteristics of the Merlin XXs on the Mk.IIF exacerbated a problem inherent in the Beaufighter design. Right from the start it was observed that the Beaufighter had a directional instability at low airspeeds. The Mk.IIF in particular could swing violently to port (left) during take-off runs, potentially causing the aircraft to ground loop. This made the Mk.IIF unpopular with crews. Wing Commander Pearson, commanding 600 Squadron, who were one of the first to receive the type, observed that it was “an unnatural and dangerous aeroplane … No matter how the aircraft is trimmed, it will not fly straight and level hands off”, concluding that “the Beaufighter is a great aeroplane; the Merlin a great engine. Together they are a great disaster”. Various solutions were tried, including a taller tail fin and a dorsal fillet, but the designers settled on enlarged tailplanes set at 12 degrees of dihedral for all marks, but only the last Mk.IIFs built received this design of tailplane. Of around 450 Mk.IIFs built, around one third would be lost in accidents, and by mid-1942 the Mk.IIF was withdrawn from frontline service and relegated to secondary duties.

My model of the Mk.IIF is in night fighter matt black, which is the role that the majority of these aircraft undertook. The big difference is in the shape of the engine nacelles.

A change by RAF Bomber Command in aircraft procurement meant that the Short Stirling was no longer in demand and the Hercules VI engine could now be made available. At last, the Beaufighter would receive the power that it was always intended to have. The Beaufighter Mk.VI was, like the Mk.I, built to two different specifications as the Mk.VIF for Fighter Command and Mk.VIC for Coastal Command. As before, Fighter Command would initially use the Mk.VIF as a night fighter, although they would eventually transition to the de Havilland Mosquito for home defence. However, it would continue in the role in other theatres of operation, including with the USAAF in the Mediterranean and Italy.

Once again, it would be Coastal Command who would put the Mk.VIC to best use. The additional power meant that the aircraft could now lift external weapons including bombs, rockets and even air-dropped torpedoes. Squadrons would be formed into Wings operating out of strategically located airfields so that they could operate in large formations of rocket or torpedo armed aircraft to harass enemy shipping from the Bay of Biscay to the Norwegian Fjords.

I have adapted the design to show a Coastal Command Mk.VIC in the short-lived white and grey scheme with rocket rails under each wing. The tailplanes have the now standard 12 degrees of dihedral.

Eventually, with Fighter Command’s interest in the Beaufighter waning, Bristol would offer Coastal Command a bespoke low-altitude strike fighter specifically suited for low-level attacks on shipping and land targets, the TF Mk.X. With the Hercules engines now producing 1,750hp each at 500 feet, the TF Mk.X was equipped with ASV radar to search for shipping and could carry an air-dropped torpedo. The “Torbeau”, as it became known, also provided rear defence in the shape of a Vickers K gun at the observer’s position. Initial versions looked similar to the preceding Mk.VI, but the TF Mk.X was later equipped with updated ASV radar in a thimble radome and the dorsal fillet first trialled on the Mk.IIF to aid directional stability. Alongside the TF Mk.X, Coastal Command received the Mk.XIC, which was identical to the TF Mk.X but was armed with rockets instead of a torpedo, which became known as “Rockbeaus”. These would be the definitive versions of the Beaufighter.

This model shows the final iteration of the TF Mk.X with thimble radome, dorsal fillet and Vickers K gun for the observer. Air-dropped torpedoes had a plywood aerodynamic tail to ensure that they entered the water in the correct attitude. This would break off when they hit the surface of the water.

The abilities of the Beaufighter as a strike fighter meant that, as well as serving in the war against Germany and Italy, it also served in the Far East and Pacific against the Japanese. The RAF were using the type over the jungles of Burma and South-East Asia while the Australian RAAF were operating Beaufighters in defence of New Guinea and other territories adjacent to their northern borders. One of the most notable actions in this theatre of operation was the Battle of the Bismark Sea, in which Australian Beaufighters flew in support of Australian and American bombers and torpedo bombers against a large Japanese troop convoy.

The RAAF received British-built Beaufighters of various marks (all of which appear to have been confusingly classified as Mk.IC irrespective of their specification) but soon the type was being built under licence in Australia. This version was classified as Mk.21 and was broadly equivalent to the Mk.VIC, although local operating conditions meant that the precise nature of the equipment and armaments carried could vary. These Australian-built aircraft became known as DAP Beaufighters, after the Department of Aircraft Production in Melbourne that built them.

This model of a Mk.21 DAP Beaufighter is in overall dark green as used by the RAAF with SEAC roundels to aid identification of friendly and hostile aircraft.

Edited Saturday at 11:45 PM by Hod Carrier

[Max_Lego]

Looks great, but I do believe it belongs in the Military Section 

[idlemarvel]

Excellent micro scale model. You've really captured the shape and proportions. And what a history lesson. It makes me want to see one IRL. Are there any left in museums in the UK?

[Hod Carrier]

9 hours ago, Max_Lego said:

Looks great, but I do believe it belongs in the Military Section 

Oops!! My bad. I have flagged the post and asked if it can be moved.

In my defence, the descriptor for this board on the forum index does still mention "military" and probably was what stopped me scrolling any further down to find a better home for this thread.

46 minutes ago, idlemarvel said:

Excellent micro scale model. You've really captured the shape and proportions. And what a history lesson. It makes me want to see one IRL. Are there any left in museums in the UK?

Thanks, Dave. Wikipedia are pretty good at listing surviving aircraft, so they may have a better list than me. The only two I am aware of are a complete Mk.X at the RAF Museum in Hendon (free entry) and an Australian Beau that has been under restoration to flying condition for more years than I can recall at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford (admission charges apply).

[idlemarvel]

Front-paging well deserved!

[Feuer Zug]

Outstanding work on the models and the history of the Beaufighter. The attention to each change is amazing.

[jan_12]

Those look lovely!