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Bedford MK
Tactical Aircraft Refueler


British Army Air Corps

British Army Air Corps
1970 era


Airfix

This model added to kgwings.com on March 1, 2015

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

The Bedford MK series truck, commonly known as the "4 tonner", was a militarized version of the Bedford TK which began production in 1959. The MK was produced at Bedford's Dunstable factory until 1986 when it was sold to AWD and kept in production until 1992.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

The bulk of MK's were produced as general purpose load carriers for the British Army, however MK's were also the basis for many specialist military vehicles including the Tactical Aircraft Refueler.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

The Tactical Aircraft Refueler was developed in the late 1970's for the British Army Air Corps and Royal Air Force to refuel helicopters and Harriers under operational conditions.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

Taymech Aviation Equipment constructed the refuelers by fitting an aluminum equipment compartment behind the cab and a 4500 Liter light alloy tank to the rear of a standard MK chassis.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
MK series trucks were originally fitted with the Bedford 330-93 6-cylinder multi-fuel engine until 1981 when a more powerful diesel engine was fitted designating the truck as the MJ series.
Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

About the kit: Originally released by JB Models, Airfix has produced this kit in large numbers so it's readily available and affordably priced.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
Typical of JB/Airfix kits, the overall look and shape of the kit is good but many details are simplified and too thick for scale. Careful thinning of the front bumper, firewall, and equipment box really help the appearance of the kit.
Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

The tire tread pattern is actually a good representation of one of the common styles used on MKs. I used a dab of clear epoxy over the tail lights to give them a lens-like appearance.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model

The decals were very well printed. The carrier was nice and thin and the inks were completely opaque. I didn't experience any silvering at all.

Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
The cab roof hatch cover included in the kit is devoid of any detail which may be ok if it's supposed to represent the soft cover version. I wanted mine to represent the more common solid hatch so I cut appropriate shapes out of cardstock and applied them in layers, the effect worked well.
Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
One very convenient feature of the kit is the entire upper cab is molded as one transparent part which means all you have to do is mask over the windows and paint. This really speeds up the process and is much easier then fitting and gluing half a dozen small windows into place.
Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
The kit doesn't include side mirrors or turn signal fixtures, I made some out of copper wire and spare parts.
Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
The pumping controls are very soft on detail but after painting they don't look too bad.
Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model
I used sheet styrene to fabricate the missing headlamp guards. The kit doesn't include the roof platform prominent on most MKs so I built one using scrap parts. I realized too late that my platform was a bit undersized.

Overall I'm happy with how the kit turned out, despite the scale difference it will be a nice accessory for my British helicopters and Harriers.



Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Aircraft Refueller 1:76 scale model A02329
Airifx
Kit: Airfix #A02329
(originally released as JB Models #JB1008)
1:76 Scale Model
Scale: 1/76
Value:

This is a small scale bargain at an online price as low as $8.00 (US) at time of writing (2015).

The Kit:

The kit consists of approximately 35 plastic parts molded in light gray with a one-piece transparent cab that has all windows molded in place, one small decal sheet and a six page letter-sized black and white instruction sheet.

The exploded views provided for assembly are easy enough to follow, however the painting and decal instructions are very poor due to 12 languages provided for each description and no view of the left or top side of the vehicle is shown.

Very little flash is present and no ejector pin holes in visible areas. Some details are soft and simplified while others are good. The fenders, bumpers and ladder are way too thick for scale but are easy to correct with sanding and trimming. Fit was very good overall with only a few spots requiring filler.

Each tire and wheel are one-piece with good outer wheel detail, no inner wheel detail and only fair tread detail.

I really like how the cab is molded in one transparent piece with all the windows in place, It's far easier to mask and paint with no chance of fit problems. I hope to see more manufactures take this approach.

No roof platform is provided in the kit which is disappointing since it appears on the vast majority of vehicles in military service.

Assembly:

Assembly starts with the cab which has simplified details but adequate considering how well they can be seen after assembly. The windows are molded into the one-piece transparent cab which really simplifies assembly. After some quick masking it's ready to be painted.

I thinned down the front grill so it fits flush with the cab as it should. I built the cab roof platform out of scrap styrene and a piece of grating from an old Roco bridge. My platform is a bit undersized but I think it looks much better than no platform at all. I used copper wire and stryene to create the missing side mirrors. Missing turn signals were made from extra ICM Zil-157 side mirrors.

I sanded and thinned the fenders, firewall, and bumpers to a reasonable scale thickness. The front bumper is missing the prominent headlight guards so I fabricated them using strips of stryene. I thinned down the tank's access ladder and roof platform to be closer to scale.

The large pump equipment box has no bottom which is fairly simple to box in with sheet styrene if you wish. The rolled-up tarp cover for the pump equipment box is simple looking so I replaced it with a tarp from Value Gear Details 1/72 Universal Tent, Tarp & Crates Set #2.

I painted and weathered using Tamiya Acrylic XF-67 NATO Green, XF-69 NATO as my base colors, then weathered with AK Interactive AK-076 Filter for NATO Tanks, AK-075 Enamel Wash for NATO camouflage vehicles, and AK-074 Rainmarks for NATO Tanks.
Decals:

Decals and instructions are provided for three options of early 1970's Army Air Corps/Royal Air Force vehicles. The decals are very good, printed in register on a nice thin carrier. Instructions for placement are not ideal, 12 languages to sort through, one side of the vehicle is not shown and some images are too small to make out proper positioning.
Conclusion:

This kit is a bargain. It's well suited for a beginner to build right out of the box, and a great kit for an experienced builder to enhance.
Visually a 76th scale vehicle usually looks fine next to a 72nd scale aircraft so I would recommend this kit highly for use with a 1960 to 1990 British aviation diorama.


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