MPM 1/72 Fairey Barracuda Mk.II

MPM 1:72 FAIREY BARRACUDA MK. II

Reviewer: Geoff Goldfen (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: March 2000

Aircraft:
The Fairey Barracuda was an ungainly looking aircraft that served in the Atlantic and Far East campaigns of World War II as a dual-role torpedo and dive bomber. Despite its performance and handicapped by its weight and comparative lack of power the Barracuda enjoyed a successful operational career, that also included raids against Japanese home islands in 1944 & 1945. The Mk.II variant was the definitive type and this and the Mk.III variant were finally retired in 1950 after a post-war training career. Probably the claim to fame moment for this particular aircraft was its famous attack on the German battleship, Tirpitz, in which it struck many times but failed to sink it, in 1944.

The Kit:
This is marketed as MPM kit number 72078. It is injection molded in medium grey with about 85 parts of which 15 are resin, and injection molded clear glazing. The surface detail includes very fine recessed lines. The resin parts are mainly interior details, exhaust and propellers. As with most limited run kits produced by MPM it lacks alignment tabs or locating pins and looks to be a fairly challenging build. One thing I also noticed was a lack of stores, the Barracuda could be armed with torpedo, or bombs, mines and depth charges.

Instructions:
This is the usual MPM variety with being just a few small sheets showing sprue diagram, adequate but not very detailed assembly steps in one or two drawings and various profiles of the aircraft for colours and marking and decal placement. Since there are also some optional construction steps, you probably need to read through the instructions first and take note of the alternate parts for your build.

Construction:
First thing to do is give the parts a bit of a cleanup as this will help them to affix together in the absence of locating pins/alignment tabs etc. Then we went to work on the interior. Just the bare essentials are provided for the cockpit and with the huge canopy/glazing that sits over the cockpit you will need to also do a little scratchbuilding yourself to enhance the appearance, as a lot of the work will be seen. This is also where you should consult reference sources to assist in the project. The interior did not fit very well inside the fuselage halves and needed a process of trimming and test fitting before I was successful. A small window on each side of the fuselage beside the cockpit is also prominent in pictures of the aircraft but the kit does not have any clear parts. There is an outline on the fuselage halves to cut and fill as appropriate. I carved out the windows and then used some spare clear parts - carefully trimmed to size to slot into the holes.

The fuselage halves were joined and required clamps to hold together as well as the engine/propeller sub assembly being trapped in the nose. I used super glue for the resin parts and left to dry completely. The main wings were then attached to the fuselage which proved to be a bit problematic, since there are no locating pins they must be butt-joined to the aircraft. You will need to carefully position the project with appropriate aids to ensure the correct dihedral is attained when it is dry. According to my reference sources the wing is also slightly out of shape, especially the fairing just in front of the main gear well. I am not sure what the problem is or how to correct it, so I left it as is, you will probably need to do your own research in this regard to achieve a more accurate representation.

Wheel wells are devoid of any detail and need sprucing up by the modeller. The Horizontal tailplanes were also difficult to affix to the tail, especially given its awkward but distinctive high-set profile. The support struts provided in the kit are also too long and need to be trimmed. Since either end has bulges one would probably recommend removing a few millimetres from the middle. I took the easy option and trimmed a few mm off the end that affixes underneath the tailplane so it wasn't so noticeable, and then affixed with super glue for added strength. The struts meet underneath the tailplane about a third the way in and on the fuselage just in front of where the fin flash would go, right on shoulder of where the fin meets the fuselage. Again, best to consult references for precise positioning as the kit and its instructions do not assist very well in this regard.

Construction of the undercarriage was fiddly at best and needs careful attention when attaching to the aircraft. The instructions are a bit ambiguous in this whole assembly so again, reference sources will be called upon. The struts should be positioned on the outside of the main supports and best to use super glue for added strength (as I did) since there is again absence of alignment tabs etc to help parts grip onto each other.

Finally there is a lack of small external detailing for aircraft, for example, MPM suggests that you should add the upper wing antennae yourself. Also as stated there is no stores provided in the kit so you will need to raid the spares box for a torpedo or small 500lb bombs, depth charges or mines (if you have any of these) to depict an armed version.

Versions & Decals:
I think these are propagteam decals which look nice on paper but appear to be slightly off register, especially the yellow on the British roundels. The decals were a bit thin but conformed well with Microset and Sol. Versions cover a couple of examples from the German Battleship Tirpitz attack and Pacific theatre aboard HMS Vengeance, 1945. I followed the Humbrol call outs in the MPM instructions for painting.

Accuracy:
Not the most accurate kit of the Barracuda I think could be provided in this scale, with a few anomolies as pointed out above, plus the requirement of the modeller to scratchbuild external detail. Most notably I think the glazing might be just slightly out of shape, wings as pointed out above, the lack of the small windows (and notifying the modeller!) and tailplane struts. The model also is slightly overscale in measurements but having said all of that, it does look quite convincingly like a Barracuda.

Overall:
Not a model to be tackled by anyone under the 'experienced' category. Extra scratchbuilding required and generally the problematic fit of most of the components should be enough to scare anyone off that falls below this skill level. It was certainly a challenging build and took me longer than any recent project (including other offerings from the same manufacturer), and probably waiting for sub assemblies and components to dry is strongly recommended. I also used a fair bit of super glue for strengthening but the result is worth the effort. As stated a few small inaccuracy problems will need to be overcome but the end result will be a convincing replica so long as the time and effort is put into it.

Addendum supplied by Lars Opland:
I ordered an MPM Fairey Barracuda for a friend in Russia several years ago, to trade for Russian kits. He had previously sent me a bagged Frog/Novo Barracuda at my request. I was somewhat taken aback to see that MPM's offering was based on the old Frog kit with some resin & decals added. The biggest difference was the price...This is why the MPM kit has "fine raised panel lines", at variance with MPM's usual practice. It was always a decent kit, which is why I'd asked for one of the Novo copies originally.

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