Just arrived today from Sprue Bros.

The Beaufighter I.F can be built also as an early VI.F, as well as a I.C and a VI.C. I think I am going to do a Coastal Command IC.

The TF.X kit defeated me when the slightly-too-big-for-their-wheel-wells landing gear literally exploded from tension, destroying the landing gear and wrecking the rest of the model when I dropped it in surprise. I think the way around is to assemble the landing gear into the wheel well so it fits nice, then sand down the outer edges of the wheel well pieces to fit inside the nacelle. We shall see. I really hope this works because otherwise this is a far better kit than the Tamiya kit as regards detail, though the Tamiya is definitely far less-fiddly than this kit.

Found some pix of Coastal Command early Beaufighters on the net for inspiration.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

For sure this will be a beauty when finished, Tom.
A wonderful plane it is.
Those color images will be very helpful, any idea in which year those were taken?

according to the titles, the first one was 1941/42, and the other two were mid 1942, right around the time the insignia changed, which was May 42.

So, I managed to assemble the landing gear without things exploding, but in the process I finally figured it out. I decided to open the TF.X kit and do that gear, just to prove to myself that my idea was right. It is!

So, for those who may do either of these kits, here is the "secret":

First and foremost; DO NOT FOLLOW THE KIT ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE. If you do, it will lead to disaster.

1. Assemble the entire gear well "box," including part E-99, the front wall that the gear attaches to. Set this aside and allow it to set up. When this is set up, paint it British Interior Green. Also paint the insides of the gear wells in the lower wing part inside the nacelles. Also paint parts E-101 and 102, the gear door attachment parts (there are two sets) in BIG. DO NOT attach Part F-35, the forward gear well bulkhead at this point. It will go on last.

2. You have to pre-paint the gear before assembly. My research has found that the gear legs are painted semi-gloss black. I used Tamiya X-18, Semi-Gloss Black. You also need to assemble and paint the main wheels.

3. Assemble the main gear legs per the instructions, including the main wheel. The rear gear legs (part E-97) need to be scraped down on the outside of the area of the part that is inserted into the gear well. Test fit until you get it where it can slide in easily (this is the part that is just slightly too big and screws up assembly if you don't do this).

4. Attach the gear to the gear wells. Before proceeding with putting in Part E-97, cut off the little tabs at the end that attach to the gear leg, since they were molded reversed. Then take E-97 with parts E-91 and 92 and F-90 assembled and attached to E-97, get this assembly in postion and attach to the gear legs and then glue in position inside the gear well.

5. Attach part F-35 and glue it firmly to all parts of the main gear leg that touch it.

6. Attach parts E-101 and 102 in their position.

Now that you have the entire gear and well assembled, slip them into the lower wing and glue into position. Voila! Everything fits.

The pix attached should be able to guide you with this. Don't get confused jumping around in the instruction book so you do all of this as one process. Whoever came up with the assembly sequence in the instructions needs their brain (assuming they actually have one) re-examined.

10 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Here is the model painted.

The Beaufighter IC is painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme (early) of Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey uppers, and Sky lower surfaces. To do this, I used Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey for the EDSG, lightened for fading with some XF-54 Dark Sea Grey, a lighter grey. The Dark Slate Grey is Tamiya XF-51 Khaki Drab and Tamiya RLM Grey, mixed 4 parts Khaki Drab and 1 part RLM Grey; Tamiya XF-66 Light Grey is added to it for post shading/fading. Tamiya XF-21 Sky is lightened with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey to get the correct shade of Sky (the Sky out of the bottle being way too dark), in a mixture 4 parts Sky to 1 part Sky Grey. The exhaust collector ring and the "porcupine" exhaust is painted with Tamiya "Gunmetal"

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Looking good, Tom (@tcinla). Thanks for the paint formulas. I always seem to run out of these colors when I need them, so it is nice to have an alternative.

Calling this one finished.

Kit decals and decals from the dungeon to do a 252 Squadron Beaufighter IC in North Africa, summer 1942. 252 was the first Coastal Command squadron to get the Beaufighter in 1941, and the first to bring the airplane to the Mediterranean. They operated in Egypt and had a detachment at Malta. the airplanes were used for anti-shipping strikes and long range strikes over the Western Desert.

From the photo I used, the props had been "sand blasted" nearly half their length, while the C1 insignia had been overpainted over the A1 when the insignia changed in May 1942.

The Tamiya kit is a lot easier to assemble, but this Revell kit creates a more detailed model, with open crew hatches on the belly and separate control surfaces, and the option of open or closed cooling gills on the cowling, not to mention the early horizontal stab, and I think it's worth the extra effort involved to finish it. Figuring out the secret of the landing gear was the Big Thing in this project.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

This is a nice one, Tom.
The painting is really great.
Maybe I missed it, but are those shackles (not sure how to call them) on the tail photo etched parts?