Page 12 - Model Airplane International - Issue 175 (February 2020)

KIT BOX

1:72

AIRFIX

www.airfi x.com

BRISTOL BLENHEIM MK.I
Airfi x/Materials: IM/Kit No. A04016/Availability: All Good Model Shops/Price: £18.99
reviously released in 2014, a nicely rendered cockpit, engines, and ensures a solid join. All control The decal sheet also remains
Airfix’s 1:72 Bristol Blenhe- weighted wheels and bomb bay. surfaces are fully positional, along with unchanged from the original
im Mk.I is back. I originally Surface detail is comprised of fi nely the trailing edge fl aps. release. Allowing you to build either
built this kit upon its initial engraved panel lines over the airframe, The only diffi cult part of this kit is a Romanian aircraft of Escadilla
P release and recall it to be whilst the control surfaces feature the way the nose/cockpit section is 4 Recunoastere, Forcele Aeriene
a really enjoyable model. The short- raised details to refl ect the fabric separate from the main fuselage, along Romane (Romanian Air Force)
nosed Mk. I Blenheim is probably nature of their construction. As with with the expansive cockpit glazing, operating from Brasov, Transylvania
the lesser known variant with most most of Airfi x’s newer releases there making fi tment tricky, especially with in 1939, or the aircraft of Squadron
people being more acquainted with is no rivet detail to speak of, but if the tight tolerances regarding fi tment Leader Stewart King Scarf, in which he
the longer nosed Mk.III & IV. Which you are that way inclined it wouldn’t of parts. But if you take a careful, won the Victoria Cross whilst serving in
is odd seeing as this variant also be a diffi cult task to add it, using your pragmatic approach to it, you will be Malaysia in December 1941. As with all
participated in the Battle of Britain. preferred method. rewarded with a very neat join. The new Airfi x releases, they are perfectly
For a 1:72 scale kit the parts count The engines are depicted well, dorsal turret glazing, like the cockpit in register and of high quality. Likewise
is quite high at 142 parts, spread over with the option to display the cooling glazing is wonderfully thin and clear, with the instructions, being of the new
six sprues. The plastic used in this fl aps in either the open or closed complete with the option to display the format, easy to follow and featuring
release seems to superior to that used position. The complex nature of the turret fully raised or retracted. full-colour profi les for each aircraft.
in the initial release I built, being much undercarriage has also been well- If I were to criticise anything it would As an added bonus, Airfi x have also
harder with fi ne details much sharper captured. With single-piece upper and be the ordnance provided, as the supplied with this release a small tube
than before. lower wing pieces the issue of getting details are really soft compared to the of glue, four pots of acrylic paint and a
Detail throughout is quite high with the correct dihedral is easily solved rest of the kit. paint brush.

12 MODEL AIRPLANE INTERNATIONAL - February 2020