Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VIC / Mk.X and Mk.XI in North-Western Europe

Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VIC, Mk.X and Mk.XI in north-western Europe

A photographic publication, volume 14 of the numbered Wingleader Photo Archive series from the British publisher Wingleader. These are the coastal versions of the Beaufighter in north-western Europe, not the early and night fighter Mk.I, Mk.II and Mk.VIF, which have a separate volume 10 of the same series. The distinguishing mark is therefore the versions and their task.

With RAF Coastal Command the Beaufighter was given quite different work from what it did over Britain. The Mk.X carried a torpedo under the fuselage and its engines were tuned for low altitude, where the attacks on convoys were made. Alongside the torpedo, unguided rockets and cannon were used, and the anti-shipping formations worked in mixed wings over the North Sea and the Norwegian coast. The Mk.XI had no torpedo equipment and the Mk.VIC was the coastal counterpart of the fighter Mk.VI. For a modeler the difference between these versions is fundamental: they differ in the nose and the radar radome, in the equipment under the fuselage and in the colors, which on coastal machines had light lower surfaces.

What the book contains

• Period photographs of coastal Beaufighter Mk.VICs, Mk.Xs and Mk.XIs.
• Color profiles drawn for the individual volumes of the series.
• The equipment for anti-shipping attacks: torpedo, rockets, cannon.
• The scope of the volume: north-western Europe, the coastal versions.

Who it is for

For modelers who build a torpedo or rocket Beaufighter and need evidence for the equipment and for the coastal colors, and for anyone interested in anti-shipping operations. It is a book, not a kit.

Check the extent, the arrangement and the language version on the box.