Special Hobby Model 339-23 Buffalo 'In RAAF and USAAF Colors' - 1:72 Special Hobby

[Paul A H]

Model 339-23 Buffalo 'In RAAF and USAAF Colors'

1:72 Special Hobby

 

 

The Buffalo was designed by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation in 1935 to a US Navy requirement for a carrier based fighter to replace the Grumman F3F Biplane. The prototype first flew in 1937, with deliveries commencing in 1939. The type won orders from a number of overseas customers such as Belgium, who had ordered the aircraft but received only one before the country fell to the advancing Wehrmacht. That order was subsequently transferred to the British, who sent them to Australia and New Zealand, as well as using them for the RAF in the Far East. The aircraft were plagued with reliability problems in the hot climate. Performance was poor and the pilots did not have adequate training on the aircraft.

 

This kit is a re-pop over the original Special Hobby Buffalo, first released in 2006. The box states that the kit is a combination of Sword plastic parts, Special Hobby clear parts and a host of resin extras. I don't recall Sword ever producing a Buffalo of their own, so I can only presume that they tooled the kit for Special Hobby. In any case, the clear parts appear to be completely different to those included with the original boxing, which is hopefully a promising sign. Think of this, then, as a turbocharged version of the original Special Hobby kit.  The parts are spread across a single sprue of grey plastic, a single clear sprue and the aforementioned bag of resin. The mouldings look fairly crisp, and feature reasonably fine sprue attachment points and refined, engraved surface detail.

 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit. This is comprised mainly of resin parts, with just a few structural parts such as the firewall and rear cockpit decking rendered in plastic. The sidewalls, floor, instrument panel, control column, seat and rudder pedals are all cast from crisp, grey resin. The main landing gear bay and engine are also resin and also have to be fitted at this point. The overall effect should be a very well-detailed interior, and the only think I would really want to add would be some harnesses for the seat, either from spare photo etch or tape. Before joining the fuselage halves, you will need to cut away the very rearmost part of the fusealge and replace it with the parts appropriate for this version. Once this has been done and the fuselage halves joined, the tail planes and wing can be fixed in place. The elevators and ailerons are all moulded in place.

 

 

The front part of the cowling is moulded as a seperate part, while the propeller is moulded in four piececs, with a resin hub. This is a bit of a faff if you're building one of the versions with a propellor spinner, as it will take longer to assemble, be fragile due to needing to use superglue rather than poly cement and you won't benefit from the extra detail offered by the resin part. The landing gear itself looks reasonably good, with the landing gear legs each made up of three parts and the wheels cast from resin.  The canopy looks very good indeed, although the instructions only show it fitted in the closed position, which is a slight shame if you want to show off all that lovely cockpit detail to best effect.

 

Four decal options are provided:

• Brewster Model 339-23 Buffalo, A-51-13 (310), RAAF;
• Brewster Model 339-23 Buffalo, A-51-10 (307), RAAF;
• Brewster Model 339-23 Buffalo, A-51-15 (312), 5th Air Force, USAAF, Essendon, Australia, June 1942; and
• Brewster Model 339-23 Buffalo, 313, 5th Air Force, USAAF, Essendon, Australia, 1942.

The first three aircraft are finished in a medium green over olive drab, while the latter machine is a combination of aluminium and natural metal. The decal sheet is both comprehensive and nicely printed. 

 

Conclusion

 

Although this kit is less sophisticated than the very latest offerings from Special Hobby stable, that is more a reflection of the recent advances made by that manufacturer rather than any lack of quality with this particular kit. As always with kits of this nature, a little care and attention may be required, but I reckon this kit should build into a pleasing replica of an attractive aircraft with relatively little effort. Recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of