KG Wings - Airfix 1:72 scale Beagle B.206 Basset

Beagle Aviation
Basset B.206/CC1
Liaison and Communication Aircraft

207sqn
Royal Air Force Transport Command
Northolt 1970

Airfix Models

This model added to kgwings.com on February 6, 2009

The B.206 Basset was a British twin-engine liaison and communication aircraft built in the 1960s by Beagle Aircraft Limited at Shoreham Airport and Rearsby Aerodrome.

It was powered by two Rolls Royce/Continental GIO-470 six cylinder horizontally-opposed engines giving it a maximum speed of 220 mph and a range of 1,645 miles.

The Basset carried as much radio equipment as a large airliner in order to fulfil the requirement of positioning V-bomber crews.

Up to eight persons could be carried in the relatively large cabin compartment.

Airfix did a fair job of representing the Beagle. It looks accurate when comparing to photos although either the nose strut should be longer or the main gear shorter so it sits on the ground at a slight tail-down angle. I didn't feel like messing with it although I don't think it would be difficult to fix.

Raised panel detail and extra thick transparent parts are typical for a kit produced in the 1960s. I replaced the side windows with crystal clear tape and coated the windscreen with Future floor wax to make it appear thinner.

Using 40 year old decals was nerve racking, I was surprised they worked at all. I ended up using diluted lacquer thinner to soften them up once they were in place.

This was a very fun build, if for no other reason than being able to take a rare kit out it's box and build it - rendering it valuable to no one but myself.

Kit: Airfix # 255

Scale: 1/72

Value:

To my knowledge this is the only Basset kit in any scale and it has been out of production for decades which gives it a very high collector value. I was fortunate to purchase this kit on eBay for around $15.00 (US).

Assembly:

The kit consists of 47 parts molded in silver/gray and clear, one decal sheet and single page instruction sheet.

All panel and rivet detail is raised and relatively fine for a kit molded in 1968. Cockpit detail is sparse and a couple of infamous Airfix "statue pilots" are included. The transparent parts are clear but extremely thick, making your own replacement parts would be a huge improvement.

The landing gear detail is simplified but adequate but there is no wheel bay detail at all. I used the main struts but replaced the main wheels with spares from my parts box.

I added a few lead fishing weights in the nose so it wouldn't be a tail sitter.

Assembly is easy and although the detailing is a bit soft, it's really not that bad considering when it was produced.

Decals:

Decals are provided for XS766, XS768 or XS769 of the Royal Air Force Transport Command. My decals had yellowed so I tried the suggestion of placing them in direct sunlight for a month, the theory is that ultra-violet light would whiten them. It appears to have helped a bit but not completely.

Customizations:

I used strips of masking tape to create seat harnesses. Crystal-Clear Packaging Tape was used for the side windows since the provided parts would be nearly a scale foot thick.

Recommendation:

Easy to build, fun to display and talk about, if you can get one for a reasonable price do it.

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