Airfix WWII RAF Bomber Re-Supply Set Build in 1/72 Scale

The Airfix RAF Bomber Re-Supply Set might best be described as a “diorama in a box”.  Inside is a broad sampling of vehicles and equipment used by the RAF for ground support of its heavy bomber aircraft.  Just add the bomber of your choice, some figures, and a base and you’re in business.  The kit was first released in 2013 and was roundly acclaimed by modelers for its utility and versatility.  I bought two.

The sprues are molded in Airfix standard light blue soft plastic.  The level of detail is good.  There was no flash on my examples, but there are mold lines to be removed and a few ejector pin marks in unfortunate locations.  These three sprues contain various ordinance loads and miscellaneous equipment, along with a David Brown tractor and fuel trailer.  This will be the subject of this build post.

Additional sprues contain parts for the two vehicles in the kit – a Bedford truck with an option to build one of two variants, and a Standard Light Utility Vehicle.  I will show the construction of these kits in future posts.

I also purchased two sets of Brengun’s photoetch to dress up the models.  However, as I got to each opportunity to replace the kit parts with items from this set I became painfully aware that I would be substituting effectively two-dimensional PE parts for three-dimensional kit parts.  In most cases the Airfix part was the better representation, so I ended up using very little from this set.

These are the assembled fuel trailers.  There was some shrinking along the locating pin locations which I filled with Mr. Surfacer.  The lack of locator pins is a common criticism of limited-run kits, but their presence cuts both ways.  The door handles were cut off and replaced with wire, a quick improvement which improves the detail substantially.

The underside of the fuel trailer shows some seams and ejector marks which I didn’t bother to fill on my examples.  There is some nice brake line detail molded in.

The sets each have three bomb trollies which are a useful item and can be displayed loaded or empty.  Here are two loaded with 8,000 pound and 4,000 pound “cookies”.  I have replaced the lifting eyes on mine with wire loops.

Additional trollies are loaded with conventional 1,000 pound and 500 bound bombs.  I thinned the tail fins and made wire lifting eyes here as well.  If you purchase an Airfix Lancaster kit it does not provide any of these standard bomb types, so you’ll need to get a re-supply set if you want to load up your Lanc.

The David Brown tractor builds up quickly, having only eighteen parts.  This would be right at home on a farm if you wanted to model a more peaceful scene.

The underside shows several ejector marks and does require some quality time with an exacto knife to remove mold seams from the frame.

Here the camouflage of Dark Earth and scale black is applied using poster putty for masks.  The models were then shot with GlossCoat, decaled, and washed with Tamiya black panel line wash.

Here are the finished models.  The kit decals performed well, even the bands on the bombs which I was a little apprehensive about.  Airfix has released a similar set for U.S. subjects, and I hope they were successful enough to warrant issuing additional sets in the future as they are quite nice.

Bedford trucks construction here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/airfix-bedford-truck-builds-in-1-72-scale/