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Ok. This is my first work in progress post and , after a lot of thinking about it and putting it aside for another day, my first Canberra build. I have a cupboard full of Airfix Canberras acquired cheap when Modelzone passed away. They seem to be nice kits, basically accurate but to my eyes let down by deep trench lines and simplified detail. No worries, that what’s modelling is all about. The beauty of these Airfix kits is that they have nice thick basic shells that can take a lot of butchery. Top of my list for a long time has been WH793. This was a PR7 that was converted into the aerodynamic prototype of the PR9 - essentially a PR7 with PR9 wings. Following early trials it was converted into a high altitude research aircraft with a long tapered pitot boom and a great silver and dayglo finish. It is featured in Adrian Balch’s book ‘Testing Colours’ and it was those images that finally spurred me to make a start. It is a subject that has already been covered on this site by Canberra Kid, here is my take on it. I have been researching this as much as I can and have identified a lot of unique features which hopefully will make for an interesting build. I will also attempt to add detail where I think it will make a difference. I do not aim for perfect accuracy, I am more interested in adding ‘realism’, the types of details that add interest that maybe the injection process can’t quite capture. So on top of the conversion features I intend to remodel the wheel wells, flaps, vortex generators and the moving tail. I did say I had been planning this for a while. So fine words, let’s see how I get on……. First steps. Here is the PR9 fuselage with the B2 nose added. The vertical mark shows the join line. Bits of B2 fuselage have been used to close the upper fuselage. The join was reasonable but needed a good rub down. Halfords Heavy build primer is great at filling up the bits that weren’t too smooth. I have also filled all the panel lines. You will also see that I have amended the wheel bay where it meets the fuselage, again using a spare piece of the B2. On the real thing the inside face of the bay is the side of the fuselage. More on this later. I have also opened up the flare bay. I might regret this later. I am using the Alley Cat replacement canopy. This is a nice add on and does a lot to sort out the mangled Airfix effort. It is a little jam jar like but responds well to a gentle rubdown and a dip in Future. I have also filled the rough panel lines around the nav’s roof windows with Mr Surfacer. Came up nice… These are very clear and give a good view into the interior, so a bit more effort needed here. WH973 was a one off and the interior was obviously an adaptation. There does not seem to be any photographs available so after a lot of head scratching I asked for help on the Canberra Sig website. The redoubtable John Sheehan, aka Canberra Kid, quickly came to the rescue. What you see here is the result. As said previously I don’t pretend that this is 100% accurate but I am trying to recreate what it might have looked like (and if no one has any pictures no one can say it is wrong!). Key points: Big black box at the rear of the Cabin with cables emerging beneath. A weather radar to the right of the pilot, this was cannibalized from a Flightpath Buccaneer etched sheet that was never completed several years ago General cockpit details adapted from the Eduard set. A Pavla pilot’s seat with added wire pull handles. The interior of the Alley cat canopy needs painting on the inside before fixing , very dark grey over a black undercoat. Silver decal strip to represent the canopy supports ( if that is what they are) . After painting the inside of the canopy I discovered that the light into the interior was drastically reduced and much of the detail inside disappeared. Lesson for next time. I did brighten up the interior to add a bit of interest. Cables under the ‘black box’ were painted silver and green. Bits of detail such as red and yellow spots livened up what could be seen and the radar screen was painted with an orange glaze. No idea if it was really like that but it did add a bit of focus to what was an important bit of kit on this aircraft. Not fictitious I prefer ‘alternative facts’. The Pavla seat was worth every penny, the wire handles worth the effort. The Nav seat was the Airfix offering with wire handles, these are all that can be seen once it is all closed up.

The main issue with the newer Airfix 1:72 and 1:48th Canberra kits tailplane really needs to be understood for it to be corrected properly. The real Canberra tailplane has a 10 degree dihedral which it maintains across each half span from the fuselage joint. Airfix have made the fixed stub part molded on the fuselage level (ie no dihedral), this in effect raises the upper tailplane surface join position too high on the fuselage, even though the main mounting slots and the tailplane are pretty much in the right position. The stub also looks completely wrong when compared to an actual Canberra as it lacks the leading edge sweep back, by removing the stubs you eradicate these issues. Why Airfix did this is a mystery as no other Canberra kit, including their old classic B(I).6 kit features this. To the eye the actual tailplanes appear to simply butt up to the fuselage tail assembly, in reality, it's a bit more involved than that though. The tailplane assembly is hinged at it's forward spar and has an electrically actuated drive at the rear to allow it to travel up and down to adjust trim of the aircraft in pitch. The rear fuselage has a cutout to allow for this movement which is why you can see a clear gap under the tailplane when it is in neutral - to trim up position, usually when the aircraft is parked. The small section of fuselage above the tailplane is mounted to it, and moves with it, but has a slot in the top to avoid the fin rudder assembly. There is a tailplane leading edge root fairing fixed to the fuselage. Hopefully these pictures illustrate what I mean, you can see how a small section of the aft upper fuselage section moves with the tailplane, from the hinge point just ahead of the national markings on the fin - to the break point with a white painted aft face. The fuselage tailcone assembly adjacent to the elevators is fixed. Canberra T.4 WJ874 by James Thomas, on Flickr Canberra T.4 WJ874 by James Thomas, on Flickr Canberra PR.9 XH135 by James Thomas, on Flickr Canberra PR.9 XH135 by James Thomas, on Flickr As said, the Airfix tailplane/fuselage junction stub is molded into the fuselage, this can be completely removed as it is solid plastic, and the remaining area shaped to conform with the correct fuselage contours. At this stage, an easier fix would be to butt join the tailplane halves into the existing slots. The tailplanes themselves will then need plasticard adding at the join area to compensate for the loss of span with the removed fuselage plastic. The slightly more involved, but ultimately more satisfying and correct, route is to make the whole tailplane assembly as English Electric did. The tailplane can be made into a single assembly by making up a new box structure between the two halves (the included kit tailplane tabs will help you here), and between the tailplane front spar (the tailplane hinge point) and the elevator hinge line. Cutting out the corresponding section in the fuselage is the next step. This will allow for both a more life like appearance and to be able to mount the tailplane at a desired incidence. Back of envelope sketch, 030 (2) by James Thomas, on Flickr

OK, I've been building this for a few weeks now, and taking a few snaps as I go, and I'm making some progress. So I'll try my hand at making a thread here. I didn't want to start too soon, and then crash n burn. Not even sure I can paste pictures on here, but there's only one way to find out...

This is my first WIP and it is going to be pic-heavy. The subject isn't a modern hightech model kit. In fact, it is almost as old as some of the real Canberras. I am going to build it for the most part OOB, except for a few details. A short in-box review can be found here: The assembly of the wings and the fuselage had been a pretty straightforward affair. The slit for the display stand was closed with a piece of styrene. And the intake cones were cut off and saved for later. The rest of the parts were simply glued together - without any nasty surprises. The tailplanes, however, were angled in a Beechcraft Bonanza-style. So while I thought that I can get away with some careful bending of the tabs in hot water, I was rewarded with a vicious *Crack!*. Twice. Well done, Trencher! I finally managed to get the tailplanes in the right angle by drilling and pinning them with silver wire. After that, I've sanded off the fool marks and gave it a first shot of primer to see, where some further filling and sanding was required. Unfortunately, the rattle can was a little bit too cold and the result was unsatisfactory. But that's nothing what some careful wet sanding can't remedy. Apparently, the amount of filler needed didn't seem to be much. The bomb bay door has to be engraved. So on to the cockpit. I opened the upper half by drilling, cutting and sanding. A first dry-fit with the canopy showed that the canopy was very brittle. So it has to be handled with care. The missing window needs to be engraved, too. Despite the odd look, the visibility of the canopy is quite good. Well I couldn't resist... I think, this will turn out into a nice little beauty. When completed.

I've bought this little jet on e(vil)bay. A cold warrior from Hong Kong. Scalewise, it should make a nice companion for a contemporary 1/96 Vulcan or Victor and a competitor for my 1/97 Martin XB-51. The model kit seems to be a typical product of its era: raised fool markings (for a prototype version?) and only a few details. A rather unusual fuselage layout. Perhaps a scratch-built cockpit would improve the look dramatically, since the transparency of the canopy isn't that bad - after some polishing. Those rings are for the engines. Yep, the gear's up. Display time! And again: a rather unusual part layout. The instruction sheet. The canopy looks a bit odd ...like a tarpaulin perhaps? "Super Quality ARMOUR-SKIN Decal"? Well, not after 50+ years... Apparently, it seems to be a B. 2, but I may be wrong there. A good reference would be helpful to check the dimensions. I've got a feeling about this one... Now, can someone point me to a good book with detailed line drawings, especially for early Canberras?

Newly finished, here is my Airfix Canberra PR9. Not my usual subject as I don't normally build jets, or RAF for that matter, but I wanted something straightforward that I could try pre-shading on for the first time. With hindsight I think I under did it but looking at pictures of the real thing they do seem to be a bit clean so I'll go with that excuse. To be honest i'm glad it's finished as it's a big brute with too many stencils and, annoyingly, despite 3 tonnes of weight in the nose it's still a tail sitter! Anyway, I hope you like it. Cheers,

Excellent, well researched, deep enough but not too intense to be enjoyable. A very good book about aeroplanes. And who doesn't like a good book about aeroplanes?

Now I originally made a 1/72 version of this but did so many things wrong that I wanted to try again and picked up this kit for the same price as the 1/72 version would you believe! The first thing I wanted to get right was the nose weight, but I still managed not to put enough in, so it sits precariously on a rod at the rear of the aircraft. Some of the decals aren't in the right place, and almost all of them have white edges, but I'm pretty proud of my build. Let me know what you think. Cheers Joe,

Hello again fellow Britmodellers, I'm back with my second WIP. This time it's an Airfix Canberra. I have been working on the cockpit so far, and IMHO it is looking alright. Hope this one goes well, and should have my F-16 double RFI in a minute or so. Rob

Hello all, I'm just finishing a Meteor and inspired partly by John's (canberrakid) luscious B1, have decided I want to acquire a PR variant of the Canberra as a future build. Question is, what kit options currently available do people think are worthwhile? I'm thinking both in terms of kits themselves, and any AM options that are currently in circulation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated Tony

Only the second build to cross the finish line this year, the Canberra is now done. Not one of my best builds, probably trying to rush to get it off the bench having stared at it for so long, but the paintwork is surprisingly complicated, not only with stripes, but with cut outs in the stripes for the codes, damn inconsiderate of the RAF to do this! At some point, I'd like to do a silver one as the Canberra has such graceful lines that are lost somewhat on this scheme. Built using the Airfix PR.9 (Edit: B(1).8!!!), CMK gear bay and flap sets, Aeroclub wheels and B.2 conversion and scratch built bomb bay with thanks to John (Canberra Kid) and his excellent website (http://ipmscanberrasig.webs.com/) for some great references. The decals were a mix of Airfix and Model decal for WH640. Despite my best efforts, there is still evidence of silvering on them.The intake FOD covers were Flightpath ones, although slightly too big they were filed down until they fitted in to the intakes as they should. You can see the build HERE The B.2 conversion comes with a resin canopy, but I used the Aeroclub vac form one instead. Despite sticking a ruddy great bolt up front, it is still a tail sitter, so had to use the supplied tail stand in the Airfix kit which I've photoshopped out of most of the photo's. Thanks for looking Cheers Neil

Started to play around with the Canberra this week, so I guess that means its started! Got some goodies, not included in the photo below are some seats kindly donated by John (Canberra Kid) that I need to dig out of the aftermarket box too. I've already chopped the nose off the Airfix kit and dry fitted the Aeroclub nose conversion, so far so good. I'd planned to build as WH640 in PR blue, MSG and DG with stripes, but fancy doing a silver scheme too that shows off the graceful lines of the Canberra better. I'll reserve the decision for now, but open to thoughts and suggestions. Here's the resin flaps, u/c bays and B.2 main wheels, some nice resin to bling the build up a bit Cheers Neil

I know it has been asked several times but from a quick search there's nothing recent... So, being that still no modelling company did a mainstream kit of the early Canberra variants, which are the options as of now? I know there have been several conversions but none seems currently in production. The only choice I saw is a (very) short run kit from High Planes. I welcome any contribution Fabio

English Electric Canberra PR.9 No.39 Squadron - Royal Air Force - RAF Marham 2006 1/48 Airfix This is the result of a very long break from the hobby, around 2 years. This break was during my A-Levels and 1st year of University. Now in my second year of uni, I wanted to get back into the hobby. So with the money I earned working over the summer I finally purchased a respectable airbrush a H&S Evolution 2in1 and ditched the cheap Chinese imitation badger airbrush that looking back really gave me trouble! To get back into modelling I went for a relatively simple build the 1/48 Airfix EE Canberra PR.9 that I'd picked up very cheaply a few years back. I am aware of the long list of issues regarding accuracy of the kit but being a come back build it's all OOB, with the addition of my first ever stretch sprue antenna. The model was painted using predominately using Tamiya paints except the underside which made use of Humbrol's acrylic 166. The model was finished as XH135, in it's 2006 scheme prior to retirement. From references XH135 wasn't too grubby as had was repainted on return from it's final deployment to the Middle East earlier in the year, this colour remained behind the cockpit, something I've attempted to capture. Weathering was carried out using my own pastel washes. Onto the images; Thanks for looking, Nick

English Electric Canberra PR.7 WH791 at Newark Air Museum, pics mine.

English Electric Canberra - T.19 WH904. This aircraft was built as a B.2 and then converted to a T.11 to train Javelin Radar operators (hence the nose), it was later re-designated T.19 Pictures mine taken at Newark Air Museum.

Hi folk,s, the next build for this one will be Airfix's B57G the background and title is explained in the link.When Modelzone closed my local store flogged off the three kit's at a tenner each so I bought all three,the B2 came to a sorry end when I dropped the damn thing right at the end of the build here on BM early last year,and the other two seemed destined to never get built but what better excuse than this GB. As soon as I finish "Run through the Jungle" I will make a start on this one and what better inspiration than John's(Canberra Kid) build which I have bookmarked for reference, box and sprue detail,s will arrive soon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Shed_Light

Hello and after a too long break away, this is my first very late entry to 2015. A none too accurate portrayal of Canberra XH134 in it's retirement scheme as I saw it back in 2006 at RIAT. A sad day thinking I'd never see a Canberra fly again (oh sooo wrong), and also a day when I was taking my first steps in photography with my brand new digital slr. So this is the Airfix Canberra we all know and 'love', sadly missing out on today's new jewel like Airfix toolings that have certainly spoiled me since my return to modelling. In the end I didn't go a bundle on fixing her up. I reshaped the root of the tail and replaced the rudder with a more suitable resin part. Resin wheels looked much nicer than the kit ones so they were added as well. A little bit of brass from the usual people was added to brighten up the cockpit. I spent some time filling in the deeper trenches on the fuselage, but I didn't bother with the wings as I didn't find the engraving there quite so offensive. Mild weathering was done with True Earth filters... which may have ended up being too subtle on the hemp upper surfaces, and a little artist oil on the undersides where it's a little dirtier. Oh, and after totally losing the ability to stretch sprue, I gave up and ordered some of that Uschi van der Rosten elastic rigging which made things considerably easier. The stencilling is a bit of a mish mash and not quite right, and I don't think I have all the correct aerials for this time, but I've been SO busy with other life stuff that I've had to shrug my shoulders and go 'close enough'. So here she is, the original followed by my 'interpretation'. Thank you once again for your attention. Jonathan RIAT2006_004 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr RIAT2006_017 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_01 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_02 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_04 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_05 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_06 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_07 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr Canberra_08 by Jonathan Macauley, on Flickr

English Electric Canberra T.4. Delivered in 1954 one of a batch of 12 T.4s built. On display at the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum, Flixton. Pics mine.

Airbase Coventry, Canberra B.2/6 WK163/ G-BVWC, pics thanks to Rich Ellis.

TT.18 WJ574. Originally built as a B.2 by Handley Page, Radlett, in 1953, converted to TT.18 by BAC and used by FRADU. sold to the US. Lay abandoned at Melbourne Florida for years, now being restored at The Valiant Air Command in Titusville Florida where Mike took these pictures.

With the 2015 show just around the corner I thought I better pull my finger out and post some of my 2014 shots! More of the wings can be found here: http://www.hanger51.org/airshows/2014/dunsfold-wings-and-wheels/ And all of the wheels here: http://www.hanger51.org/the-garage/dunsfold-wings-wheels-2014/ Hunter XL577 by tony_inkster, on Flickr Canberra PR.9 XH134 by tony_inkster, on Flickr P-51 Mustang by tony_inkster, on Flickr Spit & Stang by tony_inkster, on Flickr D-Day flypast by tony_inkster, on Flickr Great War Display Team by tony_inkster, on Flickr Royal Netherlands Air Force Historical Flight Foundation B-25 by tony_inkster, on Flickr Vera by tony_inkster, on Flickr Lancaster summer by tony_inkster, on Flickr Gnat G-RORI (XR538) by tony_inkster, on Flickr Dogfighting Vulcan style by tony_inkster, on Flickr Breitling Wing Walkers by tony_inkster, on Flickr

Hello folks, I'm about to embark on a little project involving the old Airfix Mk.6 Canberra and the Heritage T.17 conversion (a rather severe reaction to losing the original canopy of the kit). This is the first time I'll be using resin to this extent, I've never done anything more than the odd bang seat and some lumps and bumps before. Has anybody here done this mod before and are there any pitfalls to look out for? Any suggestions on how to properly use a vac canopy would be welcome also.

I am getting near the painting stage for my Airfix 1:48 Canberra B.2, which I am going to finish as 99+35 as used by the Luftwaffe. Unfortunately I can't make up my mind which paint is the closest to the Orange that these aircraft were finished in - photos from the interweb vary from red-orange to orange-yellow! Humbrol 18 seems to be too dull, whereas Humbrol 209 looks to be too bright! Any advice, suggestions, recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Martin

After the RB-57F (http://www.mach2.fr/rb57.htm and http://modelingmadness.com/scott/korean/preview/mach2/019preview.htm) Mach 2 (http://www.mach2.fr/avionsg.htm) is to release a 1/72nd General Dynamics WB57F Canberra (NASA) kit - ref.GP.063 Source: http://www.aviationmegastore.com/general-dynamics-wb57f-canberra-nasa-gp063-mach-2-gp063-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LM545799cb78d2964af7209c241a&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=129300 V.P.