What is/was this plane?

[Dr_Death8]

I was looking through the May issue of FlyPast magazine which I just happened to pick up at a local bookstore and there was an ad in there for a model company.  One of the models caught my eye but unfortunately was not identified. It looked like maybe a Hawker Hurri / IL2 cross breed, but it had a turrent behind the cockpit with 4 machine guns sticking out. It was in RAF camo pattern and logo. Any ideas as to what plane this may be?  Sorry no pics that I have found.

[Karnak]

Bolton-Paul Defiant.

[DEECONX]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulton_Paul_Defiant

[Dr_Death8]

Bolton-Paul Defiant.

That's it, thank you sir. 

[whiteman]

i think ugly would have been a better name. I never knew it didn't have forward firing guns, not sure you could pay me enough to fly one.

[Ack-Ack]

i think ugly would have been a better name. I never knew it didn't have forward firing guns, not sure you could pay me enough to fly one.

Surprisingly, there was a squadron (264 Sqn) that enjoyed a small measure of success in the Defiant but sadly, other squadrons didn't follow suit and were slaughtered.

At first when the Luftwaffe encountered the Defiant it was mistaken for a Hurricane so the German fighter would saddle up on the six only to be fired on by the Defiant's defensive turret.  German pilots quickly adapted and started to attack from below or the front where the Defiant's turret couldn't return fire.  The 264 Squadron then developed the tactic of using a slowly descending Luftberry that prevented attacks from below while presenting a 360 degree field of fire for the Defiants.  I think the 264 Squadron had the most kills of the Defiant squadrons.


ack-ack

[uptown]

If that thing had hispanos in the wings it'd be pretty bad arse I suspect.

[Guppy35]

Surprisingly, there was a squadron (264 Sqn) that enjoyed a small measure of success in the Defiant but sadly, other squadrons didn't follow suit and were slaughtered.

At first when the Luftwaffe encountered the Defiant it was mistaken for a Hurricane so the German fighter would saddle up on the six only to be fired on by the Defiant's defensive turret.  German pilots quickly adapted and started to attack from below or the front where the Defiant's turret couldn't return fire.  The 264 Squadron then developed the tactic of using a slowly descending Luftberry that prevented attacks from below while presenting a 360 degree field of fire for the Defiants.  I think the 264 Squadron had the most kills of the Defiant squadrons.


ack-ack

They still got wiped out for the most part in the B of B.  Some truly brave pilots and crew sent into combat in a death trap.

[Puck]

If that thing had hispanos in the wings it'd be pretty bad arse I suspect.

Very, VERY bad...as in it might be able to taxi about but I'm not so sure about taking off.  They were underpowered to begin with (all that turret hardware); adding hizookas with their ammo belts might have grounded it.

[PJ_Godzilla]

They still got wiped out for the most part in the B of B.  Some truly brave pilots and crew sent into combat in a death trap.

Indeed, yet, wouldn't it be cool to have a squad of them for our next BoB event? I mean, if the early LW pilots were surprised...

Yessir, serve 'em up - along with some Blenheims, Gladiators, Rocs, Skuas, Fulmars, and Battles. There's something I really like about the hopelessness and unorthodoxy of the EW British set.

OTOH, this is one a/c you'd never want to fly without a GIB.