First flown in July 1937, the Beardmore W.B. XLII was the first monoplane fighter aircraft designed and built by Beardmore. Incorporating some lessons learned from the continuing development of the Supermarine Spitfire, the Beardmore fighter was intended to be similar to the Spitfire in speed, but with a longer range. Armament was relatively light: four .303 Beardmore-Farquhar gas-operated machine guns in the outer wings. The new fighter was intended to operate from Scottish bases to engage in combat in southern Britain, Ireland, Scandanavia or the low countries. Named Galloglaigh, the fighter entered service with the Scottish Air Force in early 1940, just in time for the Scottish declaration of war against Germany and Italy.
The Galloglaigh did not fair particularly well in combat: though its speed allowed it to escape trouble, its light armament kept it from being a truly effective fighter. Design features such as the landing gear and radiator bath prevented adaptation of additional internal or external armament. After 1940, many Galloglaigh were converted to photo reconnaissance aircraft in which role they excelled.
The model is the result of a kitbash of a Hobby Boss1/72 Mig 3 (forward fuselage, engine and wings) with a Spitfire V rear fuselage (also Hobby Boss). The horizontal stabilizers are from the Spitfire, but reshaped. The vertical stabilizer is the horizontal tail of a P-47D reshaped slightly. The wingtip tanks (a Beardmore innovation!) are made from 1/72 bombs from the spares box. This is my first complete model in several years, and I was dismayed at how poor my painting skills have gotten, but I had fun anyway!!