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RAAF Beaufighter Mk IC


kkarlsen

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Diorama: Bristol Beaufighter Mk 1C - No. 30 Squadron RAAF ( A19-15 'O') - Australia

 

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I tried to Catch the Atmosphere of Ward's Airstrip, Port Moresby 1942, in the Diorama.
 
Model Kit: 1/32 Revell Bristol Beaufighter with a lot of scratchbuilding. 
 
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My good old Revell 1/32 (1975?) was taken apart and had a complete overhaul, inside and out. The project took around a year or so, reworking all of the model until i was happy with it: Complete interior rebuild, wheelbays, gunbays & removeable panels. Sanding and rescribing of panel lines & rivetting.
 
Diorama: British built Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC undergoing maintenance at Port Moresby, Ward's Airfield,
during the Kokoda Trail Campaign, Papua New Guinea, November-December 1942.
 
From early 1941 the roles of the Beaufighter diversified as it was adapted to carry out anti-shipping strikes and ground-attack missions, and in these capacities gained its fearsome reputation. In the Asia-Pacific theatre the Beaufighter was nicknamed "Whispering Death" because of its quiet engines and heavy firepower. The origin of this nickname is generally attributed to Japanese troops, but there are also accounts that it began with British pilots in Burma.
 
Royal Australian Air Force 30. Squadron Beaufighters attacked Japanese boats, airstrips, and supply dumps in Lae, on Goodenough Island, Buna, and Gona. The unit also played a major part in supporting army operations between Buna, Kokoda, and Sanananda by regularly attacking supply and communication lines. By November 30. Squadron had begun a series of strafing missions against Japanese infantry retreating from Kokoda towards the north coast. The squadron's Beaufighters maintained an armed reconnaissance searching for troops escaping the bombing offensives on Buna, Soputa, and Gona.
 
They also made a series of successful strafing attack on grounded aircraft at the Lae aerodrome.
The Kokoda Trail fighting was some of the most desperate and vicious encountered by Australian troops in the Second World War. Victory on the Kokoda Trail ensured that Allied bases in Northern Australia, vital in the coming counter-offensive against the Japanese, would not be seriously threatened by Japanese air attacks.

 

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This Photo from AWM, Inspired me to do the Project: "Ward's Airstrip, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 1942"

 

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Had to try another one... enjoy

 

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Diorama: 1/32 Revell Beaufighter + Ford 3000s Converted. Airfix Multipose Figures converted with Ultracast Heads...

Edited by kkarlsen
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Wow!

Great subject .. I thought it was a real photo in the beginning (for a few seconds...)

My Dad was at Wards strip at that time (could even be in B/W photo?) as he told me a lot of Beaufighter pilot stories.

Fantastic diorama!

Phil 

Edited by Piprm
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