Hasegawa 1/72 Spitfire Mk IXc & Beaufighter Mk X "Operation Overlord"
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
Operation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of Western Europe by the Allies that began on June 6, 1944. A primary concern during this huge effort was to minimize the Allied ground forces shooting down their own aircraft. To help alleviate that problem, the aircraft participating in the invasion all had black and white stripes painted on their wings and fuselage. With well over a thousand aircraft from British and US air forces taking part, these kind of high visibility markings were essential to reduce losses and ensure that the Allied forces maintained their air superiority over the beachhead. As the war continued on, these invasion stripes were slowly removed, first from the upper surfaces, then entirely.
The Kits
Hasegawa's latest double kit release provides a couple classic subjects that are finished with those classic invasion stripes. In a slightly different move from their traditional stance, this box includes two different subjects, rather than two of the same kit. This time around, you get a Spitfire Mk IXc and a Beaufighter Mk X. Both of these kits have appeared in the pages of Internet Modeler before, with the Beaufighter definitely getting the lion's share of builds.
For the Spitfire, I built up the same basic kit as a Spitfire VIII of the RAAF, although more recent research suggests that the colors are almost entirely wrong (it was finished in the standard gray/green camouflage, the spinner should be light blue, not green, and the elephant should be gray, not pink). Still, the build notes apply to the kit found in this dual release.
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Moving on to the Beaufighter, this has proved to be quite a popular kit, and we have had three build articles on the kit over the years. Stephen Tontoni built one up as a Beaufighter TF X in Israeli markings, Drewe Manton built his as an RAAF Beaufighter Mk XXI, and Chris Bucholtz finished his as a Coastal Command Beaufighter Mk X. In fact, the markings Chris chose for his build are the same as those included in this kit as one of the options. All three articles go into nice detail as to how the kit goes together. One of the items to be aware of, though, is that not all of the releases of the Beaufighter are the same. Initially Hasegawa only released the Beaufighter with the metal hedgehog exhausts in Japan. This release, though, includes them, so if you were thinking of holding off based on that, don't worry, they're in the box.
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As a general overview, both kits are molded in the standard Hasegawa dark gray plastic, with excellent recessed panel lines throughout, simple interiors, and a comprehensive decal sheet that provides markings for two Spitfires and two Beaufighters. As the above referenced articles document the kits thoroughly, I will let you peruse those and focus mainly on the decal sheet.
The decal sheet overall is large and impressive in the amount of material presented. There are complete sets of invasion stripes for both aircraft, which makes up the majority of the decal sheet. Other markings include propeller tips, wing leading edge markings, stencils, and cockpit instrument panels and side consoles. While the decals are extensive, there's surprisingly little that would require careful alignment, but in those cases (such as the roundels), alignment is spot on.
Starting with the Spitfire options, both of these are camouflaged in Dark Green and Ocean Gray over Medium Sea Gray. The first is FU-Z from No 453 Squadron, and it has carefully applied invasion stripes around the code letters and fuselage roundel. The Sky band around the rear fuselage is also partially covered by the invasion stripes. The second choice is DU-L from No 312 Squadron, and like the previous option, it too has a thin outline around the codes and roundels. This is the only real downside on these decals, in that these fuselage markings are done as a single decal per side that include the invasion stripes, code letters, and roundels. I would have liked to have had the roundels and letters separate, in case I wanted to paint the invasion stripes on.
For the Beaufighter, both options are finished in extra dark sea gray over sky. The first is MB-T from No 236 Squadron, which features red code letters, while the second option is UB-E from No 455 Squadron, with code letters in Sky. It is the latter scheme that Mr Bucholtz chose for his build referenced above. Like the Spitfire, the decal sheet provides complete invasion stripes for both the wings and fuselage, although in this case the fuselage roundel is separate. This is good because it would be much better to paint these invasion stripes on due to the complexities of shape on the wing. Also, in past experience I have found that the white is ever so slightly translucent, and in applying invasion stripes to a Hasegawa Mustang kit I ended up with a brighter white strip down the top of the fuselage where there was a slight overlap. Painting these on would eliminate that risk.
Conclusion
This is a great combo boxing from Hasegawa, with colorful markings and a nice pairing of subjects. While the Spitfire might not be the most accurate Mk IX out there, the Beaufighter is superb and the inclusion of the white metal hedgehog exhausts are a definite plus here. My thanks to Hasegawa USA for the review sample.