Bristol Brigand TF.Mk.1

Valom, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Peter Mitchell

Valom's 1/72 scale Bristol Brigand will be available online from Squadron.com

Conceived as a replacement for the highly successful Beaufighter, the Bristol Brigand was the final step in ten years of evolution of piston driven twin engined aircraft developed by Bristol aircraft.

Starting from the Blenheim, powered by two nine cylinder Bristol Mercury engines, through to the Beaufort and Beaufighter, the transformation to the Brigand resulted in a radically different aircraft. Powered by twin Bristol Centaurus engines, (that’s the equivalent of two Sea furies) this was a powerful beast.

Too late to see service in the Second World War, the Brigand found a role as a ground attack aircraft capable of delivering a significant quantity of weaponry.

It is best know for it role in the Malayan Emergency of the 1950’s, but also served in the Middle East and Ceylon.

Finally an injection moulded kit of the Bristol Brigand in 1/72 scale!

No longer does the modeller wishing to add a 1/72 Bristol Brigand to their collection need to resort to a vac-form kit now that Valom have produced a rather fine kit of the Brigand. This, the second boxing from Valom allows the modeller to make the Brigand in the role it was originally intended to fill, that of the torpedo bomber or Bristol Brigand TF.Mk.1. A total; of twelve test airframes were built in this configuration before the role was made redundant and they were converted to the bomber version.

Packed in Valoms standard top opening box, the kit contains separately bagged, plastic, photo-etched and resin parts.

The instructions come on three folded and double sided A4 sheets. These feature a short history of the Brigand in both Czech and English, a comprehensive parts map, detailed construction sequence over 25 steps, a full colour paint and decal guide for the two versions offered and three helpful b/w photos of the brigand cockpit and Centaurus engines. The colour call outs are provided for Humbrol, Agama, Modelmaster, Gunze and F.S. colour ranges.

While the instructions are fairly detailed, they are not completely clear in the placement of some of the smaller parts, most notably the position of some of the undercarriage details and the exact location of the rocket rails on the wings.

The plastic parts are moulded in a light grey styrene, there is minimal flash, surface detail is beautifully rendered as engraved panel lines and flush rivets, there are no shrinkage marks or nasty mould ejection marks and the parts have thin sprue attachments.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

As this is a short run kit, there are no locating pins for the parts and the bond between larger construction elements such as the wing to fuselage assemblies is via a butt-joint.

Two types of canopy are provided, an early test version with provision for a rear facing machine gun and the production type. The transparencies are thin and clear, but with slight distortions.

The photo-etch fret is well done and contains parts for the seat belts, torpedo props and fins, cockpit controls and an optional replacement instrument panel and film for the instrument faces.

The resin parts are magnificent. Cast from a cream resin, mine were flawless and proved the model with a torpedo, torpedo cradle, rear gun (a Browning 0.5?), engine intakes and two complete Bristol Centaurus engines.

A quick dry fit of the main parts reveals that the main assemblies of this kit go to together quite well. The trailing edge on the wings and tailplane are a little thick and perhaps could be improved by giving the inner surfaces a quick sanding before joining them together.

Valom have not provided the prominent cooling fans at the front of the engines. Once the modeller sources some, the cowlings and the massive propellers will hide the beautifully cast Bristol Centaurus engines and it might be tempting to use something else in their place and put the kit parts away for another project. Another oversight is the use of diamond tread tyres. The Brigand used either smooth or square treads. (Thank you Graham Carter for this bit of info).

The Bristol Brigand used a large set of blast channels for the under fuselage weaponry. This is well represented on this kit. However, I have a suspicion that early Brigands, the subject of this kit, had blast tubes for the under fuselage 20mm cannons similar to those found on the Beaufighter. Since I am yet to see a decent front on photo of an early type I cannot confirm this (the massive Centaurus engines get in the way). Perhaps someone out there has some references that can shed some light on this.

The decals are glossy and well printed by BOA. The register on my sample was spot on although the red of the roundels appears to be a little too bright.

The modeller is provided with the choice of two options, both fairly simple schemes:

1. Bristol Brigand TF.Mk.1, RH742. Test aircraft, Filton, 1948. Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky type S, early test canopy equipped with a rear facing machine gun.

2. Bristol Brigand TF.Mk.1, RH742. Test aircraft, Coastal Command, Filton, 1948. Extra Dark Sea Grey over White, all white fuselage, cowlings and tailfins, the white extends over the leading edge of the wings and tail plane. Black anti-glare panel. Late style canopy.

Valom has done a great job with the release of another neglected subject. In spite of the short-run nature of this kit, I expect that it produce a well detailed, pleasing model from a generally hassle free build.

References

Squadron Signal Aircraft in action 153. Bristol Beaufighter.
This has a section at the back on the Bristol Brigand and includes some decent photos.

Warpaint No.68 Bristol Brigand by Richard Caruana

Thanks to Valom for this review sample.

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2009 by Peter Mitchell
Page Created 28 October, 2009
Last updated 29 October, 2009

Back to HyperScale Main Page

Back to Reviews Page