Boulton Paul Defiant PRVI

[andrewj]

With the end of the Battle of Britain and the withdrawal of the Defiant from frontline service ,the AM and Boulton Paul looked around for an alternative use for what were in the main , perfectly serviceable aircraft.
An early use of some of the Defiants were as night- fighters and they gave creditable service during the earl parts of the night blitz. However Boulton Paul had more ambitious plans as the had aircraft new off the production line awaiting delivery at their factories. What could be done with them .
Perhaps the turret could be removed and new forward firing armament fitted , possibly an increase in engine power , one suggestion was to fit a camera bay in the space vacated by the turret, plenty of room there now.
So was developed the Defiant PRVI, gone was the turret , replaced by a generous camera bay , the Merlin engine was also gone replaced by the Sabre power  egg lifted directly from the new Hawker Typhoon. Also influenced by the Typhoon was the new bubble canopy. Finally two 20mm Hispano cannons in the wings gave the punch.
And so evolved what became the finest low-level PR aircraft of the war, with oblique and downward facing cameras in the fuselage and a forward facing camera in the port wing. Combined with a generous internal fuel capacity ,two underwing droptanks gave an impressive range and the "new" aircraft were in great demand, especially in the days before and after the D-Day landings.

The model is in 1/48 scale and represents an aircraft of 541Sqd in August 1944, the model carries the low flying scheme of Extra dark sea grey / Dark sea green over PRU Mauve.









Andrew

[TomZ]

Looks.....different 

Wonderful model.

TomZ

[The Rat]

Now that's inspired! Very nice, both the idea and the execution. 

[NARSES2]

Now that I like 

Another model in what is fast becoming the "Year of the Defiant"

[zenrat]

i'd have been hard pushed to identify it as a Defiant.

Good job.

[Old Wombat]

Now that is significantly different!

[Librarian]

A stunning finish on a fascinating conversion . Its the tail that betrays the heritage but you still have to stand on one leg, close an eye and squint. Very nice!

[NARSES2]

Its the tail that betrays the heritage

Very much so