Revell 1/72 Bristol Blenheim Mk.I/IF

REVELL 1:72 BRISTOL BLENHEIM MK.I/IF
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Myself (rec.models.scale)

Kit Details: Revell (Frog) #04102 - Bristol Blenheim Mk.I/IF

Aircraft History: The Blenheim has the distinction of being one of the first monoplane bombers in RAF service, and first flew in 1936. The Blenheim in various Marks served with the RAF as a reconnaissance aircraft, light bomber, trainer and coastal command aircraft in all theatres of the Second World War. Finland was the first overseas customer of the Blenheim and operated 63 in service, of which 45 were built under licence, in similar roles to the RAF. Finland continued to use the Blenheim until the 50's.

Kit Parts: This is the old Frog kit, which is not just something I was aware of before getting the kit, but which is also confirmed by way of a small note included in the kit in which Revell apologises for any shortcomings of the kit, due to the age of the tooling. Interestingly the note also includes another kit number as 80182, perhaps this is the Frog catalogued number? So essentially, the molds are pretty old, dating back to the early 60's and in spite of Revell's genuinely nice little note, there is virtually no flash to speak of. There are about 32 parts molded in a light grey plastic that is a little on the brittle side, contained on three main sprues with a smaller sprue and wings also included in the plastic bag. The rather basic and subtle surface detail is raised. A small sprue contains the three clear parts which are a bit thick and although clearish, have a magnifying look about them.

Instructions: An 8 page A4 sized booklet forms the instruction which contains the usual information on these 80's releases of Revell kits. There is a model photo and aircraft overview on the front page with information for the modeller, symbols explanation and alphabetic labeled painting colours (keyed from the Revell range of course, but including mixes of Revell paints for certain shades) on the next two pages. A sprue diagram is laid out next followed by the straight forward 15 step assembly process and concluding with four view diagrams of the two versions the kit produces.

Colour Options: The kit allows for either a RAF or Finnish version to be reproduced. The Finnish Mk.I Blenheim PLeLv 41 was based at Luonnetjarvi, Finland 1947 and wears a camouflage scheme of Dark Green Grey and Tar Black over a Light Greenish Blue undersides. I think some research will probably be needed here to establish the correct colour match. If it is the same as that warn in WW2 I'd probably go for FS 34096 olive green and black over FS 35414 undersides but I am not sure if they still wore this then. The RAF Mk.IF Blenheim appears to be a night fighter example, from No.25 Sqn based at Hawkinge, wearing standard Dark Green and Earth camouflage over half white, half black undersides.

Decals: The decal sheet is rather small and only includes the fuselage codes, serials, wing walks, unit badges and the roundels of the respective air forces. The "R" on one of the RAF fuselage codes is split to allow, I assume, the decal to be split through the training part of the wing root. Another interesting point to note (and I had to look twice - you can probably just make it out in the image below of the "188" part) is that the Finnish fuselage code is 'camouflaged' - that is, coloured in black and green, so you will need to obviously paint the aircraft exactly so the code can be placed against the demarcation of the black and green. This also means that the demarcation line through the decal has to be straight. The decals look okay on paper, thin and quite reasonable in register.

Cockpit/Wheel Bay Detail: Being an old frog kit there is as you would expect very little in the way detail, with nothing in the wheel wells and a cockpit that is a floor, seat, control wheel and front bulkhead separating nose from cockpit - all rather simplistic in detail. You get a couple of pilot figures, and a gunner to fill up these spaces more. But obviously the cockpit area is one that is a long way from being accurate, the starboard sidewall should in fact have a couple of padded seats for the bomb aimer and navigator, the pilot's seat should have a folding armrest on his right. There is no representation of detail on the instrument panel or anything else.

Optional components: The undercarriage is assembled in such a way that allows for the wheels to be moveable, as well as the propellers and upper fuselage gun turret. The kit allows for either wheels up or wheels down to be built and provides an underfuselage machine gun pod for the RAF version and underwing bombs on racks for the Finnish example.

On the Sprue Impressions: For an old Frog kit the molds are quite clean although surface detail is not a high point of the kit, as you would expect. The engine consists of a cylinder block trapped between the nacelles affixed to the front of the wings, which are split into lower and upper halves. The main upper turret includes the gunner simply sitting inside with his legs hanging out the bottom - there is no seat or anything like that, and this is trapped between the fuselage halves when they are brought together to allow it to move - a small machine gun is also apparently moveable.

The breakdown of the components is pretty standard as you can see from the above images and while I have not pulled bits of the sprue to test fit, there are some minor fit problems in the kit that have been advised by other modellers. These include the engine nacelles, wing roots and of course the glazing areas. For the most part fit isn't too bad although a bit of filler will be needed in the 'usual areas' to fix up gaps. Test fit the cockpit and turret prior to fixing the fuselage halves together, and ensure you have clamps.

Accuracy: Again, mainly on the advise of other modellers you get a reasonable representation of the Blenheim but one which is basically accurate in profile and measurements. There are some flaws though, which include the fact that is straight on the model whereas in real life it tapers ever so slightly upward, resulting in a difference of about 2 mm in fuselage cross section near the cockpit. The gun turret is about the same distance too far aft. The tailplanes are incorrect in shape and the wings are oversized (meaning span is out by a centremetre or two) as well as being a little wrong in shape, and do not come back sharply at the trailing edge root as they should.

Conclusion: I think the fact that it is an old Frog kit should probably speak for itself and if you are after a bit of nostalgia, can put up with the accuracy flaws noted above as well as few fit problems, then it is probably quite reasonable enough to add to your collection.

Addendum supplied by Sten Ekedahl:

Nice to see Blenheim kits at SMAKR. A few additions tho; all older Blenheim kits have now been rendered obsolete, especially the Airfix Mk.IV, with the recent release of the three very good kits from MPM of the Mk.I, the Mk.IV and the Mk.V. If you want to persist with the old Frog/Revell kit however, I recommend adding the photo etched details for this kit made by Airwaves. It adds some credible detail to the otherwise bare cockpit. And if you have taken the trouble to add all this detailing I would also recommend substituting the clear parts with those wonderful (both in terms of clarity and fit) vacfomed items from Falcon made for this kit.

Related Reviews:-

Airfix 1/72 Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV

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