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Peter's Planes 1/144 Beaufighter Mk.X

By Matt Bittner

Introduction

There are even fewer references on Dominican Republic Beaufighters than there are on Thai Spitfires.  The only information I can glean is the Dominican Republic ended up with ten Mk.Xs that were rebuilt back to VIF standards.  They were first acquired in 1948 and flew until 1952.

The Kit

Peter's Planes 1/144 Beaufighter Mk.X consists of 18 pieces of white resin, two white-metal propellors and vacuformed canopies.  Like their Spitfire, when you order the Beaufighter you tell the owner which scheme you want - out of thirty possible, this time - and he sends the decals for that scheme to you.

Casting on the Beaufighter is extremely nice.  You attach the wings to the one-piece fuselage, along with the horizontal tail pieces.  This time, though, there is nothing extra for the cockpit.  You'll need to provide everything yourself, if you so desire.  I suspect the only item you'll be able to see will be a seat, and maybe a control column.

You'll want to use a slower-drying epoxy to be sure everything is lined up right.  Once the main pieces are added to the fuselage, and the cockpit (and gunner's opening) are masked in some way, then painting can commence.

Also like their Spitfire, there are no instructions with the Beaufighter.  References are a must when building.

Conclusion

Although there is more to the Beaufighter than the Spitfire, it still won't be a difficult kit to build.  Peter's Planes has really done a great job on their Beaufighter Mk.X and if you have any desire for a Beaufighter in 1/144, then you'll do yourself a disservice by not picking one up.

My thanks to Peter's Planes for supplying their Beaufighter for review.