Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I, Airfix 1/48 (A05128)
The Boulton Paul Defiant was a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any forward-firing guns. The concept of a turret fighter related directly to the successful First World War-era Bristol F.2 Fighter.
In combat, the Defiant was found to be reasonably effective at its intended task of destroying bombers, but was vulnerable to the Luftwaffe's more maneuverable, Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters. The lack of forward-firing armament proved to be a great weakness in daylight combat and its potential was realized only when it was converted to night fighting. It was supplanted in the night fighter role by the Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito. Later in the war the Defiant found use in gunnery training, target towing, electronic countermeasures and air-sea rescue.
The Defiant was first flown in 1937, introduced in combat in December 1939, and represented an interesting “experiment” on the single-engine fighter. The Defiant had two seats, a pilot and a rear-facing gunner within a turret with four 0,303 in (7,7mm) Brownings. It was believed that enemy bomber formations would be able to attack England unescorted, so a normal forward firing fighter plane wouldn’t be needed. Defiant crews would be able to attack the bombers from angles out of the reach of their defensive guns, hitting their unprotected bottoms or sides.
In retrospect, this approach seems flawed, but at the time it wasn’t. The British knew that another large war might come and that large scale bombing was likely. The RAF had done extensive testing with their bombers, and it was clear that a well organized and tight enemy bomber formation could defend itself against a conventional fighter attack. The Defiant was designed to remove this advantage and the first RAF Squadron (No.264) equipped with the type undertook extensive air combat exercises.
So it was only natural when No. 264 Squadron saw initial success: their first combat came on 12th May 1940 when they shot down a Ju-88 over Holland. For the next 17 days, the squadron acted offensively, running sorties against the advancing german bomber and fighter formations. Then they saw their most successful day of the war:
On 29th May, 1940, Defiants from No. 264 Squadron, were supporting the british retreat from Dunkirk. Employing tested tactics they were able to shoot down 37 aircraft: 19 Ju-87, 9 Bf-110s, 8 Bf109s and one Ju88A. This high victory score has been questioned though, as there were often multiple claims on the same aircraft.
Unfortunately, these developments were ignored by the RAF as a whole, and all subsequent squadrons operating Defiants suffered severe casualties. That was the time the Boulton Paul fighter was considered (and still remains even today) as a “failure” - but only in the daylight interception role. At the same time Germans were increasingly using fighter escorts and worked out Defiant’s lack of forward firing guns by attacking head-on. The RAF decided that the Defiant would be better used as a night fighter. It was in this role that these planes proved deadly against the German bomber raids during the London blitz of 1940-1941. Finally using radar, black painted Defiant became the most successful night fighter of the Blitz, with more victories than any other type.
The Airfix kit in 1/48 scale
The Airfix kit is not the first 1/48 scale Boulton Paul Defiant. Classic Airframes released two kits, the first in 1995 (with many shape issues) and a second, much better kit in 2004 (both out of production today, as the company is inactive since 2009, although they have licensed copyrights to other manufacturers, like Special Hobby). These early CA releases included primitive injection limited run parts. The new Airfix kit features latest moulding technology and a lot more detail. It comprises 99 parts in light grey plastic, 14 parts in clear and markings for two aircraft, both in Dark Earth and Dark Green upper surfaces with Sky below:
- PS-V (L7026) of No. 264 Sqn RAF (BoB 1940)
- KO-I (N1572) of No. II Army Cooperation Sqn-RAF
The instructions manual contain 71 illustrated steps in 16 pages. The camouflage painting guide is in colour and suggests Humbrol enamel paint numbers and names.
Moulding quality is excellent and the plastic is matt in texture. Surface detail on the wings and fuselage is by way of crisply recessed panel lines, tiny raised rivets and fasteners, and really fine fabric texture (ailerons, elevators and rudder).
The cockpit is well detailed with separate control column, sidewall frames with instruments and levers, suspended footrests, rudder pedals, side and floor structural tubing and nice seats, although harness straps are not included. The instrument panel has raised circles for the dials and a decal is offered as an option for the instruments.
The gun turret is extremely well detailed. Optional parts are supplied to display the turret's rear access panels open or closed. The clear parts are thin enough, perfectly moulded and have crisply defined raised framework. Both open and closed position canopy parts are included, together with separate and poseable rear canopy and dorsal ramps, offering a lot of options in this area. Ailerons, elevators and the rudder (but not the flaps) are separate parts and may be cemented in any desired position. The radiator flap may be posed open or closed, and the crew foot step positioned either up or down too. Wheel wells are deep enough with satisfactory detail and realistically weighted and treaded wheels with separate hubs.
The sprues include a second set of exhausts and radar aerials, so a night fighter boxing is expected to be released in the future. So if you find the appropriate decals, you can build a night fighter version straight from the box.
Both landing lights are included in wings leading edges, with the headlamps and their covers as four separate clear parts. All decals are well printed and include stencils.
All in all the best Defiant kit today in any scale, very detailed, easy to build, reasonably priced and fully recommended.
Useful links, historical information and more:
https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/8/1/9/956819-79-instructions.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwBBuYsU0Vk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulton_Paul_Defiant
