Bristol Beaufort and Beaufreighter

[Weaver]

Thinking aloud (not aimed at Harold's project necessarily), I feel the Beaufort would suit Swedish markings and the single colour uppers would look a little different.  Maybe as a licence built alternative to the delayed Saab B18.

Maybe the Swedes got a licence to build it, but the outbreak of war cut the supply of Bristol engines off, so they negotiated a deal to fit it with Pratt and Whitney engines instead, which subsequently inspired the Aussies. Get the right High-Planes conversion set, (as linked to by Zenrat) and you could do a turretless Beaufreighter conversion with electronic listening gear, keeping tabs on naval activity in the Baltic.

[Weaver]

High Planes Models (now based in Singapore) make a range of Beaufort stuff.

https://www.hpmhobbies.com/search.php?search_query=beaufort&section=product

I have a couple of the conversion sets.  They look very good in their bags.

I'm tempted by the ASV radar antenna set, since that would go well with my Herc-engines missile carrier. However the postagw would effectively double the price. I'll keep sniffing however...

[Weaver]

Aaaand right on cue:

Here's another thought: how about a lend-lease Beaufort in Russian colours? Maybe with a different turret with a single 12.7mm gun?

[Old Wombat]

What if the British (&, later, the Americans) had not pledged to support the Soviet Union after the German invasion, but had rather continued to support (obviously with extreme difficulty) Finland?

A Beaufort in Finnish colours would look nice!

[Mossie]

Greece is one I can easily see too, since they operated Blenheims.

[NARSES2]

Here's another thought: how about a lend-lease Beaufort in Russian colours? Maybe with a different turret with a single 12.7mm gun?

I swear I've seen one in Soviet colours, even have memories of a story about their use in the Baltic. May even have been in a "Boy'sOwn" style comic many, many moons ago 

[NARSES2]

True, however CMK's own website lists more parts than Special Hobby's does under CMK. Something that I only discovered as a result of this conversation.

As someone once said to me "the Czech modelling industry can be incredibly incestuous".

[jcf]

What if the British (&, later, the Americans) had not pledged to support the Soviet Union after the German invasion, but had rather continued to support (obviously with extreme difficulty) Finland?

A Beaufort in Finnish colours would look nice!

Canadian built Beauforts flown up to Alaska to be turned over to the Soviet pilots ala the
P-39, P-63, B-25 and A-20. Which were delivered via the Northwest Staging Route. Where
to build them is the question. Boeing Vancouver had already built various type and were a
Canso producer. Interestingly enough the preliminary work had been done in regards to
expanding the size of the operation as a potential site for production of the Boeing PBB-1
Sea Ranger, of course its cancellation put paid to that notion. So, what if the expansion of
the physical plant had proceeded before the decision was made, thus Boeing Vancouver
finding themselves with unexpected production capacity enter into a deal to build Beauforts
for the USSR?

You cannot view this attachment.

[PR19_Kit]

As someone once said to me "the Czech modelling industry can be incredibly incestuous".

Actually that seems a good thing with hindsight, it's given us so many more options for Whiffing their lovely kits. 

[Weaver]

Okay, you convinced me. I had a Hannants cart that was slowly increasing towards the free postage level, and this pushed it over the edge. 

All part of the evil plot to push every modeller into insolvency!    

Hope it works out, it'l be an interesting one.

The CMK set rolled up today: looks lovely quality in the bag.

The conversion's a bit involved because you have to cut the Hercules/Taurus oil filters out of the kit's outer wing, whether it's a Beaufighter or a Beaufort. Perfectly doable though.

[Weaver]

What if the British (&, later, the Americans) had not pledged to support the Soviet Union after the German invasion, but had rather continued to support (obviously with extreme difficulty) Finland?

A Beaufort in Finnish colours would look nice!

Canadian built Beauforts flown up to Alaska to be turned over to the Soviet pilots ala the
P-39, P-63, B-25 and A-20. Which were delivered via the Northwest Staging Route. Where
to build them is the question. Boeing Vancouver had already built various type and were a
Canso producer. Interestingly enough the preliminary work had been done in regards to
expanding the size of the operation as a potential site for production of the Boeing PBB-1
Sea Ranger, of course its cancellation put paid to that notion. So, what if the expansion of
the physical plant had proceeded before the decision was made, thus Boeing Vancouver
finding themselves with unexpected production capacity enter into a deal to build Beauforts
for the USSR?

You cannot view this attachment.

That sounds good - it'd be another excuse to make some with Pratt and Whitney engines as well. 

[Weaver]

Just got my ASV radar aerials, and without getting them sent from Singapore either. Picked up an Academy Catalina in the LHS, which I've looked at a dozen times before, but this time, because of this discussion, I recognised the ASV radar aerials on the sprue. Checking the instructions, they're not even used in this boxing, so instead of spending £10+ to get PE ones sent from Singapore, I've just spent £20 to get injection ones, and I've got a whole Catalina as "gravy". Chuffed? You betcha!   

Thanks guys!

Had another idea too. I was looking at the Congo B-26K Counter-Invader set I've just got, and this occured to me:

With these various engine mods, presumably the Beaufort would be used for longer, perhaps right up to the end of the war, meaning there'd be surplus aircraft knocking around in the late 1940s. So What If either some ex-RAF Hercules-engined ones (Beaufighter wing swap), or ex-RAAF P&W-engined Beaufreighters (High Planes conversion set) got sold off to various commerical concerns, passed through various, increasingly dodgy, hands, and eventually ended up being re-armed for use by mercenaries fighting in the Congo, or some other nasty-little war?

Gentlemen and Gentlemen, I give you, the Beaucounter/Beaustraffer/BeauCOIN: turret removed (if it hasn't been already), pylons under the wings for modern bombs/rocket pods (interestingly, the B-26Ks never used bombs in the Congo), and a pack of either .50 cals or 20mm cannons under the bomb bay.

So now I can see three schemes for all three Beauforts I've got:

Taurus-engined - Russian lend-lease
Merlin-engined - Coastal Command with torpedo
Hercules-engined - Coastal Command with ASV radar and missile

OR

Taurus-engined - Russian lend-lease
Merlin-engined -  Coastal Command with ASV radar and missile
Hercules-engined - Congo with COIN weapons

OR

Merlin-engined - Coastal Command with torpedo
Hercules-engined - Coastal Command with ASV radar and missile
P&W-engined - Congo with COIN weapons (would mean buying a High Planes conversion set though)

[PR19_Kit]

You may even have to buy some MORE Beauforts! 

[Weaver]

You may even have to buy some MORE Beauforts! 

Buy? BUY? You don't "buy" Beauforts, they just arrive with other things automatically! 

Nah, three is seriously enough. Having calculated the price of getting a High Planes Beaufreighter conversion, I think I'll leave that idea for somebody closer to Singapore and go for option 2:

Taurus-engined - Russian lend-lease (easiest & get a feel for the kit)
Hercules-engined - Congo with COIN weapons (easiest engine swap)
Merlin-engined - Coastal Command with ASV radar and missile (most work)

[Weaver]

Just realised that the Divefiant won't work. The wheel wells literally meet on the centreline: even if you moved the radiator and oil cooler, you still couldn't get a centreline store in there.

It might be possible to graft the spare Sabre from a Matchbox Tempest onto it, thus making one of the "super Defiant" proposals. Some of those had turrets, but some didn't, instead having wing guns (6 x 20mm) and a radar operator under a long canopy. Now interestingly, the Airfix Defiant comes with a LOT of glass: a one-piece closed canopy with the turret fairing up, a one-piece closed canopy with the turret fairing down, and a three-piece canopy with the hood slid open. It might be possible to cobble something convincing together from all of those.