Tom-M R.A.F. BE12a
1/72 Resin kit

by Michal Beran

History

In the first half of 1915 the BE2c variant of the ubiquitous Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 design served with the operational squadrons in France. But it was obvious that a more powerful engine would be needed to improve the operational characteristics for the future. One other need forseen was for single-seat scout aircraft.

At Farnborough the new 140-hp RAF4 engine was installed into the BE2c airframe, which had been modified to acommodate the larger engine and converted to single seat configuration. Also a V-strut undercarriage was fitted in place of the original twin-skid one. The resulting aircraft was known as the BE12.

The BE12s served as multirole aircraft in France, Macedonia, Mesopotamia and of course by the RFC Home defence squadrons. Later in the war they served with many training squadrons.

The BE 12a had the same fuselage and tail unit as the standard BE 12, but used the sesquiplane mainplanes of the BE2e.

It is doubtfull whether the sesquiplane wings could improve the overall performance too much and in fact the Hispano-Suiza powered variant BE12b returned to the original two bay wings of BE12. Only two contracts for the BE12a variant were given and the aeroplanes saw very limited operational use.

The kit

The Tom-M kit effort on the BE12a is fine. The kit contains 33 polyurethane resin parts, one small decal sheet and instruction sheet. The kit parts are nicely detailed and especially the wing rib representation looks very good. The kit parts reveal some minor differences when compared with Ian Stair drawings in the Datafile No.66, but overall they are well to scale and nicely detailed. I do not think that the drawings must always be right and the toolmaker wrong, so the photos have to make justice. The modellers should pay attention to the engine and the engine compartment which could be detailed according to the photos. The centre section of the upper wing is too wide, but it is not very difficult to rectify it. The trailing edges should be thinned and ailerons repositioned. The lower wing should be cutted in three pieces separating the left and right wing panels from the centre section. The wing panels should be attached to the fuselage according to the photos. The fabric lacing on the fuselage sides should go to the engine compartment metal panels. The air scoop should not be rectangular in cross section. You could try to work on the kit part or to make new one.

The wing and undercarriage struts are not bad, although could be further thinned and enhanced. Other small details include wheels (accurate according to the Datafile drawings), machine guns, exhaust pipes, propeller and tail skid.

The decal sheet offers markings for the BE 12a A597. Photos and colour plate of this aeroplane could be found in the above mentioned Datafile, which is recommended. BE12a AŽ597 served with the home defence squadrons and when building this particular aeroplane the kit could be further superdetailed according to the photos.

The BE12as served in many roles, so everyone should refer to photos of a particular aeroplane when adding armament and equipment. The kit includes the Vickers and Lewis guns, but you should add the elevated mounting structure and the bomb carriers.

I have always wanted to build a BE12 model. The Cramercraft and Formaplane vacforms were not available to me, so I am looking to build this one. And I would recommend this kit to anyone who wants to add the BE12a into his collection. Tom-M kits are available from VAMPS online hobbyshop, or for more information contact me.