Doc72

Hi, can anyone help me with the colour of the u/c bay or wheel well and covers on the Canberra. The 1/72 S&M kit gives no hints (if I haven't overlooked anything). I am referring specifically to a mid-1960s B.15 with Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/Silver paint scheme. Thanks in advance.

I will post the question regarding the color of the u/c bays in the Cold War forum. The four pylons really add some interest because it's not something you see often on Canberras. Basically only the AS.30 capable late B.15 plus some export models maybe. I think I saw a photo of a Peruvian Canberra with AS.30s fitted, but maybe this was a former B.15 and certainly the picture was taken in the UK. So probable it was just an option that BAC proposed to export customers.

Ok, some modest progress here. I can't even blame Corona. It was just a lot of filling and sanding and decision-making. Those stripes in the canopy took me a long time. Finally, I glued thin, tapering plastic strips to the inside of the canopy. Glueing something on clear parts is normally a no-go for me, but in this case and with a lot of polishing to keep everything transparent it worked somehow. Maybe the stripes are too prominent. We'll see. She is now standing on her own feet and - rejoice - she is no tail-sitter. Before I glued the canopy in place I also had to decide whether she is a B.15 or a B.16. For the latter I should have removed the rear starboard ejection seat, add some black boxes instead and foldable seat next to the pilot. And later, of course, the sidewards-looking radar antenna. So it's now a B.15 as I left all three bang-seats in place. My favorite option is WH954 with drop tanks, four pylons and two rocket pods. The disadvantage is that I need to find a decal for the emblem of the Akrotiri Strike Wing on the tail. The alternative would be WH947, an earlier machine with the old style large white serials and the blue-white markings of 32 Sqn on the fin. It should be possible to do these squadron markings with airbrush and masking tape. On the downside, the typical Canberra drop tanks are missing (of course, there were likely fitted to this plane on the day before or after the photo-shot, but I like to stick to a particular photo). Furthermore, the rocket pods are lacking the nose caps. This means, 37 finely aligned launch tubes should be visible from ahead. Not simple to scratch built in 1/72. BTW, does anyone know what is the color of the landing gear and the wheel wells? The kit's instructions don't say. I guess, silver is correct for a British aircraft of this period (undersides in High Speed Silver), but I don' t know.

Brilliant as always!

Very nice work! One might even say the original aircraft did not deserve to be represented as such a fine model. Just kidding... I am also often attracted by aircraft that are not remembered as brilliant designs.

Looks great!

Well done model! And thanks for your opinion on the kit. This is also a kit I'd like to build one day. It's a fascinating aircraft with a kind of steam-punk look: a mixture of old and new.

Looks great! Very clean built. Some day I'd like to build an Israeli Vautour. I read somewhere that this is a tricky kit, so good to hear that you don't agree with that.

Very nice work! How did you paint/weather the invasion stripes on top of the wings?

Nice work! Especially the exhaust stains are a nice touch. You don't see Huma kits very often these days, but I guess the RS kit might be inspired by Huma.

Looks great! The Cheyenne was a fascinating helo (and probably far too complex and difficult to maintain in the field).

I am fascinated, too, by this lateral pylon on the belly tank of XN275. This looks like a logical idea. I wonder why this wasn't adopted on the F.53. Looks easier than putting a rocket launcher on top of the wing. But getting back to the mysterious F.6 pylons: as you said, using the access panels for fixing fake pylons sounds reasonable.

A very nice built with fine weathering. The Quickboost engine looks amazing.

Interesting! If I understand this correctly, it says that both versions had different wings.

Looks great despite the antique kit!