[rockpaperscissor]

After a fairly long lapse I decided to recolor and build another vintage Rigby airplane. Rigby's simple and colorful paper model kits were featured in Sunday newspapers across the country during WWII. The Defiant's publication date was Sunday April 27, 1941.

The Defiant was an odd aircraft armed with four 7.7mm Browning machine guns in a rotating turret aft of the cockpit. It was effective in its intended role as a bomber interceptor, attacking its target from below. The lack of independent forward firing guns proved to be a fatal flaw when challenged by enemy bomber escort fighters however, and the Defiant was soon relegated to night fighter duties where it again found success.

When recoloring these vintage kits I try to add realism to the model while preserving the charm of the original. I maintained the incorrect camouflage pattern but replaced its garish coloring. The inaccurate markings were changed to reflect an actual aircraft. This one, N3333 flew with the RAF No.12 fighter group, No.255 squadron stationed at Kirton in Lindsey airfield, Lincolnshire in 1940.

Quite a few fitment issues came to light during the build, and I had to make corrections and reprint/reassemble most of the parts more than once, but everything should fit together well now. The recolored parts page has some additional pieces including a choice of two different turret tops, and optional filler pieces to hide the folded down wing tabs. Printing at 100% will yield a 1/60 scale model in line with the other Rigby recolors in the collection.

File awaiting approval in download section.

Enjoy!