December 15, 2025

Preview: Airfix' Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA in 1/48th scale

Airfix has released news of their 1/48th scale Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA. New parts & decals make this an "A" model. Art & details in our preview...


Preview: Airfix' Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA in 1/48th scale

Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA
From Airfix
1/48th Scale
Product No. #A05145 
138 parts
155mm long & 215mm wingspan
Three colour scheme options ,
Price: £
 Expected Winter 2025-26
With their latest announcement, Airfix is bringing to market the Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA in 1/48th scale.

With the Mk.II variant having its debut release as a new mould in the 2024 Airfix range, they have supplied the extra parts allowing modellers to build the ‘A’ variant, whilst also providing three schemes to accompany the kit. Once built, the kit measures in at 155mm in length and 215mm in wingspan, totalling 138 parts.
The subject: The Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA
A gleaming silver steed to be flown by the most capable and intrepid young men Britain could call. Upon its release, the Bristol Bulldog was one of the most important British aircraft of the inter-war period.

Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIa, K2863.
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 and fabric-covered fighter, powered by a 440 hp Bristol Jupiter engine.
The Bulldog was armed with a pair of forward-firing Vickers 0.303 in machine guns mounted on either side of the cockpit but would ultimately never fire its guns in anger during a relatively short seven-year period serving with Fighter Command. 

Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K-2227, the same type of aeroplane flown by Pilot Officer Bader when he crashed on 14 December 1931. K-2227 is in the collection of the Royal Air Force Museum.
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 theydemonstrated the effectiveness of a modernising air force.

A restored Bristol Bulldog preserved at the RAF Museum, Hendon

The kit contains an array of extra parts, listed below:
New Parts (specific to A05145):
• 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 cylinder heads to represent the type fitted to the Bristol Jupiter VIIF engine of the Bulldog Mk IIa
• New parts for external oil cooler
Features (as featured in the original release):
• Subtly rendered fabric skin effect
• The multi-part cockpit includes fuselage framework, ammo bins and machine gun breeches
• Designed based on exclusive access to 1000+ original Bristol drawings
• Details include a camera gun, wing-mounted generators, bomb rack and landing flare.

The kit has already been made up by testers into the three schemes that are presented in the box, so we get to see them in a little more detail.

There are three schemes presented in this boxing:
Scheme A: Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA, No.23 Squadron, Royal Air Force Kenley, England, 1931.
Scheme B: Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA, 'C' Flight Commander, No.3 Squadron, Royal Air Force,
Abyssinian Crisis, East Africa, 1935.
Scheme C: Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA, No.32 Squadron, Royal Air Force Kenley, England, 1935.
You can see more about this kit or pre-order directly from the Airfix website.