Eduard 1/48 Bristol F2.B Fighter

Overview

This is another in Eduard's series of simplified "Weekend Edition" kits (#8488), and is perfect for modelers new to the genre who want to try their hand at a WWI subject or for old hands who want a nice project for a few days while the weather keeps them at home, perhaps.

The Bristol F2.B fighter was one of the most successful fighter aircraft of WWI, and although it is a two-seater was able to hold its own against enemy single seat fighters. All in all over 5,000 were produced and they served with numerous air forces throughout the world well into the 1930s.

Today there are three airworthy survivors, one of which is owned by "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson, who also funds the Wingnuts Wings company. There are also many static displays in museums the world over.

It was quite a big aircraft with a length of 25 ft 10 in (7.87 m) and a wingspan of 39 ft 3 in (11.96 m) and you really get a feel for that size when you open the box! It can be a complicated aircraft to rig, but Eduard have provided a simplified rigging diagram which will enable the modeler to achieve a realistic look without it being too overwhelming.

The Kit

The kit itself comes in the same 4 sprues that other, more expensive, boxings of the type come in and it really fills the box. There is a simple instructions sheet and a single decal sheet. The sprues are the usual tan colour and are crisply molded with a lot of detail. I couldn't find any sink marks on visible areas. The few that are inside the fuselage would be well out of site on a finished model.

Sprue A

Sprue A mostly covers the wings and struts. The struts are molded to the sprue at the center, and some care in sanding will be required to achieve a smooth finish once they have been removed. The two engine halves are also here, and once the sink pins are removed could be pre-painted on the sprue.

Sprue B contains the fuselage halves and flying surfaces. The interior of the fuselage is extremely well detailed and will be fun to paint!

Sprue C contains 2 propellers, a twin blade and a 4 blade. Also, long and short exhausts are provided as well as alternate landing gear struts. Since this is the single option kit, the unused parts are marked on the instructions sheet and can be consigned to the spares box.

Sprue D contains a host of details ranging from quite small to tiny. Extreme care will need to be taken on removing these from the sprues and trimming them. Luckily a lot of them deal with bombs, bomb parts and racks, possibly wouldn't be used by depicted aircraft anyway.

Instructions

The first two pages of the instructions take the modeler through the interior build up to closing up the fuselage. Note here that there is a need for "FOIL". This is not metal foil, but clear plastic, such as clear styrene, for an observation window. The engine, as such, consists of 2 molded panels with cylinders on them. The engine on the F2.B was almost entirely enclosed.

The next two pages deal with the radiator and cowling assembly and addition of the wings, tail and flying surfaces. Two holes of 0.6mm (0.024" or drill size #73) have to be drilled in specific locations in the bottom of the fuselage. However the part that requires them could easily have the locating pins removed and be glued on in place nonetheless. The instructions also call for a further two holes of 1.2mm (0.47", drill size #56 or 3/64") to be drilled through the lower wings for the fuselage struts, however these holes appear to be there already. If they aren't, then be careful. They should be drilled at about a 45º angle rear to front, not vertically through the wing.

Interior Detail

Adding the wings to the fuselage looks like it'll be a challenge, as the lower wing doesn't actually join directly to the fuselage. Pre-painting will be a necessity here! The lower wing is joined to the fuselage with 3 thin struts on each side, and this whole assembly process will need to be carefully planned.  I have consulted fellow WWI modeller and Bristol afficionado Paul Thomson, for his comments on this, and I'll describe the process he recommended in the build article to follow.

The last two pages deal with the landing gear and armament, as well as including a simple rigging diagram.

Markings

Decal Sheet

A single marking option is given, and at first glance this appears to be just another RFC aircraft. It is true that RFC aircraft were far less flamboyantly marked than their German counterparts, but this aircraft is quite a historically important one. C-4619 "R" was flown by the team of Lts Stanton and Merrit of 62 Sqn RFC, who scored 25 ½ victories between them in this aircraft. Interestingly this aircraft with the two men on board took part in the famous fight near Cambrai on the Somme on March 13th 1918 which saw the 2 von Richtofen brothers fly together for the last time. C-4619 claimed 2 aircraft that day, one each for the pilot and the observer, and during the dogfight the younger von Richtofen crash landed after his Fokker Triplane suffered an upper wing failure. He was injured and didn't fly again until after the death of his more famous brother, a month later. There's a beautiful painting of the engagement by Mark Postlethwaite on the cover of the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series book Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of WWI.

The instructions call for PC-10 upper and side surfaces, and you should choose the flavour of that pigment that suits you best. I'll be choosing a brownier, more weathered version than is usually depicted, as the aircraft was first taken to France in January 1918. By March the paint would have darkened down a bit due to weathering effects, in my opinion. It is also possible that the metal parts forward of the cockpit were a more common battleship gray rather that the green of the instructions.

Conclusion

This is an excellent and very complete kit for a much reduced price. The instructions are simplified as is the rigging diagram, to bring the build within the weekend series level of complexity. The single option given is a good choice, but if you'd rather do something completely different see if you can find the wonderful Bristol Fighters decal sheet from Pheon models. With over a dozen options available you should find at least one you like.  With Eduard's MSRP of US$19.95 for the kit you could easily buy more than one to take greater advantage of Pheon's options.

Thanks to Eduard for the review sample. I'm off to build it now!