The Boulton Paul Defiant was a result of an Air Ministry specification (F.9/35) issued before the onset of WWII. It was a low-wing, cantilever monoplane, two-seat fighter of all-metal construction, with retractable landing gear, looking not unlike the Hurricane. Like the Hurricane, it was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The Defiant was also equipped with an effective four-gun powered turret of their own design which proved its undoing.

The first Defiant prototype flew on August 11th, 1937, with the first production Defiant taking wing on July 30th, 1939. Deliveries to the first operational RAF unit, 264 squadron, began in December of that year. Unfortunately, heavy losses were incurred in the Battle of France due to the fact that the weight of the gun turret deteriorated overall performance. As a result, the RAF used the Defiant as a night fighter for some time before being employed as a target tug.

Shown here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RAAF Boulton Paul Defiant Mk. II night fighter that was attached to No.151 Squadron, then deployed to RAF Wittering, England, during January 1941. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 6-inches
Length: 5-inches

Release Date: June 2011

Historical Account: "Unto the Night" - Built by Bolton Paul at their Wolverhampton factory, Defiant Mk.I N3328 was first taken on charge by No.10 M.U. on November 13th, 1940 and allocated to No.151 Squadron at RAF Wittering as a night fighter on December 12th, 1940, where it remained until August 1941.

The aircraft was lost on October 24th, 1942, when it stalled and crashed in a hailstorm during a routine ferry flight from RAF Manby, in Lincolnshire, to Number 10 Air Gunners School at Barrow-in-Furness. Flight Sgt. J. L. Goulter of the RAAF, the sole occupant, was sadly killed.