Airfix 1/72 Bristol Fighter F2B (Type 14)

AIRFIX 1:72 BRISTOL F2B (TYPE 14)

Reviewer: Richard Stracey (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 31 October 2002

Kit Details:

Airfix 1/72 # 9 61005; Bristol Fighter F2 B (Type 14)

Aircraft History:

The F2 B was a development of the F2 A that was a competitor to the RE8 to replace the BE2. The most obvious feature of the aircraft was the placing of the fuselage mid way between the wings thus bringing the pilot’s eyes level with the upper wing to improve his view. The F2’s career nearly ended prematurely due to the way that they tried to use it. The pilot was considered a driver to convey the observer, who was to do the fighting, around the sky. Luckily they soon figured it out by turning the driver into a fighter pilot using the fixed foreword firing .303 Vickers machine gun. The observer's only job was to protect their tail with his Scarfe ring mounted .303 Lewis. The F2 B proved to be the best two seat fighter of its era with a first rate engine in its twelve cylinder, water cooled RR Falcon. It gave stirling service well into the 1930’s in the Middle East and Indian sub continent. Its reputation was so great that it was resurrected in WWII in the form of the Boulton Paul Defiant. Unfortunately the powers that be didn’t learn from history and expected the passenger in the back to do all the fighting.

The Kit:

It’s hard to believe that this kit first hit the shops back in 1957! The kit that I used was the 1981 issue, made in New Zealand by Toltoys for General Mills who, at the time, owned Airfix. It has been re released many times over the years, the only change being the decal options. The kit consists of thirty three parts and, in earlier offerings, a stand.

Construction:

Airfix had certainly not wasted any money on maintaining the dies as the wings had some of the deepest injector pinholes that I have ever experienced! They, actually, proved no problem to fill and sand. If one chose to use the crew figures they would, presumably, fill the cockpit openings otherwise something must be done with the interior. I removed the ledges for the crew and added a simple dashboard and an Aeroclub WWI seat (VO 54) for the pilot. The observer had a flat stool made from plascard.

I felt that the four small struts on the lower wing (19) were overscale so cut them off and replaced them with finer Contrail rod. The under surface of the fuselage needed quite a bit of work what with the stand slot and various sink marks. As the fuselage was a bit shallow I simply skimmed the bottom with plascard that solved both problems.

In other respects the model matched the plans very well and all parts were a good fit. There is a “V” strut from the tailskid foreword that needs adding and I found a wind generator in my spares box to glue to the undercarriage leg. The propeller boss (30) also needs a bit of detailing. One must not forget the “hoop” wingtip skids that can be easily added by drilling through the outer strut holes and inserting a length of nylon bristle or wire. All in all quite a quick, simple kit for a two bay bi plane.

But Wait! The work has just begun! To me a bi plane looks unrealistic without rigging and control runs of which the “Brisfit” had many. I recon that it took twice as long to rig the model as to make it but the result was very worthwhile. I used a combination of hemming nylon for the control runs and fine wire for the rigging. Las but not least, the Scarfe ring and gun (7&8). Get rid of them! Fill in the mounting holes and install an Aeroclub VO 52 Scarfe Ring and Lewis gun. Do it, even if you have a completed model, and you will have achieved a 100% improvement.

Painting Scheme/Decals:

Were normally painted PC10 or doped Aluminium. In this case, the latter for which I used my usual mixture of Tamiya XF16 Aluminium and XF2 Matt White with (Airfix M2) Humbrol 27 / Testors 1723 Matt Sea Grey engine nacelle. The NZ made decals were off register so all the roundels were replaced. The markings were for an “A” Flight machine from No.5 Army Co operation Sqn. In NW India in 1925.

Conclusion:

I noticed that Roden intend to release a Brisfit soon and being a Roden fan will, no doubt, purchase one, or even two, depending on how many versions they produce. I therefore decided to make this ancient Airfix kit as a sort of farewell and nostalgia trip having made (at least) one many years ago. Not expecting too much I was happily surprised and indeed amazed that such an old kit turned out so well. If you do nothing else to the basic kit at least replace that gun and ring. Good plans can be found in Scale Aircraft Modelling of June ’98 and Scale Models of September ’70. --- RHS / 52

Related Reviews:-

Airfix 1/72 Bristol F2B Fighter (Tim Beales)

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