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RAF Blackburn Buccaneer S.Mk.2B


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In February 1978 I turned 13 years and 9 months. I remember that day, the 17th February, extremely well as it was at that exact age that I was allowed to join the Air Training Corps, or, perhaps more commonly known as, the ATC or the Air Cadets. My dream was always to join the Royal Air Force; I cannot ever remember wanting to do anything else other than to become a pilot and it was a natural first step for me to join the ATC.

 

I started with 1039 (Gillingham) Squadron and became more and more convinced, if that was at all possible, that my future would be in an aircraft cockpit. One evening, in May 1978, we all sat down and were given a briefing by a Flight Lieutenant from the local RAF Careers Office. He had brought with him an RAF training film, which, we were told, was classified but he had been given permission to show it to us that evening. We were enthralled. Not only was he a 'real' RAF Officer, but he was going to share state secrets with us as well!

 

The movie he showed us had an incredible influence on my 14 year old mind. The film was riveting, exciting and captured everything I felt at that time, for all I wanted to be was a Buccaneer pilot.

 

Some of you of 'a certain age' may very well remember this movie. If you have not got the time to sit and watch all 30 minutes of it, then just go to 27:00 and watch the last three.

 

I never did get to fly the Buccaneer, or anything else in the Royal Air Force for that matter, but that is another story.

 

 

 

 

 

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Happy Birthday Her Majesty's Royal Air Force; 100 years today!

 

So the GB has started I guess and so I'll just post what I am going to be working on over the next few weeks. As you know from the above, this tribute will be in the form of the aircraft that most influenced me whilst growing up, the Blackburn Buccaneer.

 

The kit is the slightly 'awkward' 1/48 Airfix kit that certainly needs some work, but I hope to manipulate the plastic enough to get a decent result out of the 24 year old kit, but there is some help by way of some after-market sets from NeoMega, Paragon, Heritage Aviation, Flightpath, Eduard and a few others as well. I really have decided to throw everything at this kit and will be using the Master Casters resin Martels as well as Xtradecals to represent a 12 Squadron aircraft. Building starts in the morning, but in the meantime, here are the 'ingredients.'

 

 

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DSC_0396_zpselduqnmm.jpg

 

 

 

 

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will watch keenly as I have the kit and have read so many forums about how to bash it into shape, have decals for the Gulf War, its swansong. Good luck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm still here... It's not beaten me yet!

 

So, having now received all the aftermarket that was ordered (in addition to the photos above I have the Master Caster TV Martels, Master pitot tube and turned air to air refuelling probe plus the Xtradecal  History of 12 Sqn decals) and I've started to bash a few bits together.

 

The scheme that I am going to do is XX895, a 12 Sqn aircraft armed with two TV Martels plus datalink pod and a single AR Martel, the latter coming from the Flightpath detail set. The missiles have been cleaned up and primed, the datalink pod will be shaped from an Airfix Sea Harrier fuel tank. This was first filled with Miliput and then the two halves stuck together, before giving it a good carving up to something that resembles the D-Link pod.

 

The engine 'bullets' were added from the noses of two of the small bombs that were included in a Tamiya A-1J Skyraider kit. The nose wheel leg was given a complete re-work, it's fairly exposed on the finished model and so I wanted to dress it up a bit. I may or may not do the same for the main gear, I'll see how time goes.

 

Enough chat, here's a few photos. 

 

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