Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA2304 Bristol Beaufighter Mk. VIF “ND220”, Sqn Ldr J. H. Etherton, No. 176 Sqn., Minneriya, Ceylon, March - April 1945

Die-cast metal. Superb detailing in 1/72 scale. Pre-painted with pad applied markings. Fully assembled. Weapons that are not permanently attached. Comes with crew figures Display stand included. Option to display model with wheels up or down. Movable propellers. Minimum use of plastic. Hobby Master doesn’t flood the market with huge numbers of each model and with the pre-production interest shown world wide this definitely will be a very rare bird and extremely sought after.

The Beaufighter Mk. VIF was a night-fighter version of the Mk. VI that was equipped with AI Mark VIII radar. The Mk. VI had the improved Hercules engines with over 1,000 aircraft of this variant being made. Most of the Beau night-fighters were eventually replaced in this role by the faster Mosquito but the Beau continued to fight on performing anti- shipping duty as well as ground attack and long range interdiction. The Beaufighter was produced in 14 variants and operated by 11 countries.

Beaufighter Mk. VIF ND220 belonged to Sqn Ldr J.H. Etherton of the 176th Sqn stationed at Minneriya Ceylon from late 1944 until April 1945. Etherton was a Beaufighter Ace with 6 kills in North Africa before joining the 176th. He used the aircraft to visit remote units of the squadron and was painted in full South-East Asia Command markings but lacked aircraft letters. On June 28 1945 the aircraft swung on take-off collapsing the undercarriage and writing the aircraft off.

Specifications Bristol Beaufighter Mk. VIF Aircraft Type - Night Fighter Crew - 2 Performance Engine - (2) Bristol Hercules VI, 14 cylinder radial, 1,670 hp each turning (3) bladed propellers Speed - 333 mph (536kph) @ 15,600 ft (4,755 m) Time To Climb to 15,000 ft (4,572 m) - 7.8 minutes Service Ceiling - 26,500 ft (8,077 m) Range - 1,540 miles (2,478 km)

Dimensions Wingspan - 57 ft 10 in (17.64 m) Length - 41 ft 8 in (12.7 m) Height - 15 ft 10 in (4.82 m) Wing Area - 503 ft sq (46.73 m sq)

Weight Empty - 14,600 lbs (6,623 kg) Loaded - 21,600 lbs (9,798 kg)

Armament Nose - (4) 20 mm Port Wing - (2) 7.7 mm Machine guns Starboard Wing - (4) 7.7 mm Machine guns

176th squadron motto Nocte custodimus (We keep the night watch)