Bristol Bulldog MKIIA (Airfix' secret release for 2025)

This Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA is a secret release that will inspire aviation model-makers. This legendary aircraft has three scheme options to choose from, so you can decorate your 1:48 scale model kit in a variety of ways.

We’re delighted to unveil the 1:48 scale Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA. Making its debut as a new mould in 2024, this release includes extra parts allowing modellers to build the ‘A’ variant. Featuring three scheme options and 138 parts, this kit offers plenty of detail and build options.

The kit includes an array of extra parts, listed below:

• Wide-track undercarriage with metal wheels and tailwheel
• Later type tail fin and rudder
• Optional exhausts with cabin heater and spent cartridge collection bins
• New parts for external oil cooler
• New cylinder heads to represent the type fitted to the Bristol Jupiter VIIF engine of the Bulldog Mk.IIa"

A gleaming silver steed to be flown by the most capable and intrepid young men Britain could call upon, the Bristol Bulldog was one of the most important British aircraft of the inter-war period, when powerful biplane fighters unquestionably ruled the skies. 

Initially developed as a private venture by Bristol Aeroplane Company, the Bulldog was the brainchild of accomplished aircraft designer Frank Barnwell, the man behind the successful Bristol F.2B Fighter of the Great War. It was a light, all-metal, fabric-covered fighter, powered by a 440hp Bristol Jupiter engine.

The Bulldog was armed with a pair of forward-firing Vickers 0.303 in machine guns mounted either side of the cockpit, but ultimately never fired its guns in anger during a relatively short seven-year period serving with Fighter Command. 

Although it was the most capable fighter of the day, the Bulldog was more closely associated with challenging formation flying and spectacular aerobatics, with the Royal Air Force thrilling huge crowds at airshows and pageants around the country, as they demonstrated the effectiveness of a modernising air force.

Flying so low that the wingtip of his fighter struck the ground during a manoeuvre, the Bulldog cartwheeled across the airfield, inflicting catastrophic injuries on the pilot - that pilot was future Second World War RAF ace and inspirational national hero Douglas

His Bulldog. K1676 is among the options in this kit