Phone Phixer

I don't have any info on specific dates for the butt strap mod. But it was fatigue related. Often referred to as the 100 FI butt strap. Airframes were getting it done during the mid to late 80's. It was done by BAe, not at St Athan. We on 19(F) sent one jet for the mod and it was rejected and returned because it leaked too much. Not a bad achievement for a Phantom!! Rob.

Fantastic. Your friend should be well pleased with that on display.

Looks perfect to me. Nice one. As others have said, the finish is excellent, not overdone.

Not really for any model scale. They were approximately 3 inches in diameter and 2 inches in height. Made from an umbilical wafer that was a medium green colour and then the wiring was sealed in a PRC disk that was brown. It's shown in this AP diagram, to give you an idea against the size of the launcher. Hope that helps. Rob.

Lovely build, and a very different finish.

Anything loaded to the rear stations would only usually be for air display static shows. For day to day training purposes, "sim plugs" were fitted to the rear station missile umbilical connectors. These were basically shorting plugs to trick the MCS system into believing missiles were loaded. The crew could then carry out missile tuning and simulated firing at targets. The plugs protruded into the recessed well preventing anything from being loaded.

Hmmm. Has there been some "visitors" to XX741? 🤨😎

Hello and welcome to the forum. I am currently on the exact project you show in the picture, a HAF F4E AUP. I am using the Meng kit as the base. The kit itself is fantastic. The parts fit together very well, and the bonus is the fuselage is one piece so you don't have to fight a seam down the spine. It is not as detailed as the Z-M kit, but most of that is in areas you are not going to see much. If you want to do a Greek Phantom, out of the box, the kit will do for the upper aircraft in the picture. For a fully equipped AUP version like the lower aircraft you need to add all the extra fairings. Fin tip, intake's, under the gun fairing, chute door and bird slicers. Plus the new cockpit displays. I have the Zeus conversion set, but it is meant for the Z-M kit, so there is a little adjustment to be made. Good luck in your choice. Rob.

Lovely build and finish. The weathering looks spot on for a well used Phantom. Not overdone and ready for the scrap heap.

Another great build, nice work. It's good to see a different part of the Buccaneer's history done. It often gets overlooked.

It needs to be the one with the MDC.

Exactly as Pappy says. Two different blues for two different roles. Deep Saxe Blue=practice. Oxford blue=drill.

Yes, that bomb in the picture is HES practice. The ones on Pulsator were live HE items. Green with a yellow ring painted just behind the nose adapter.

There are a series of photo's in the BM walkaround section on bombs. Ignore the conduit running along the bomb and the GPS disks on the guidance unit. This is actually an enhanced PW II, the Bucc never used it. All the coloured parts to the tail and guidance unit are the same. There are a whole list of issues with the 1,000lb bombs in that kit. Like they should have 117 retard tails for low level dropping. But meh, they are tucked away in the bomb bay underneath the model!

Nice. That extra screen, low centre, in the rear cockpit is a TV screen. It was initially introduced on the S2D & S2B for the picture sent back from the TV guided Martel missile. It was then used for the video feed from the Pavespike pod. Due to the nav having to get his knees either side of the screen without breaking his thigh bones, the seat was modified. The thigh guards were splayed out to give more room. You can see that on the seat in your picture of the cockpit bits, That is why there are 3 ejection seats in the kit. One rear seat has straight thigh guards, the other is splayed.

I've found a bit of an error on this kit around the arrestor hook. From the information in @Lord Riotcurrent WIP and having viewed one of the kit reviews on YouTube. It seems Airfix have only provided the panel with flare dispensers aft of the hook. This was a modification along with the chaff dispensers on the outboard pylons that appeared mid to late 80's. So it is only applicable to options A & D. If you want to build options B,C or any other airframe, pre mid 80's a bit of sanding is required. Those flare dispensers that look like 2 prominent square grills need sanding off. The area needs contouring to the surrounding skin. It really needed the plain panel that is included in the S2C/D boxing, giving the choice of correct mod state.

Yes, they are all good for the 1983 Pulsator period. I was going to say the chaff dispensers need to be removed from the ECM pylon, but you have done that. I wonder if the tail hook fairing is on one of the sprues from the S2C/D boxing. I should hope it's in there, or Airfix has cocked up with the correct fit for the early XV Sqn and 208 Sqn Red Flag options in the kit!

Nice, and a not often modelled period of the Buccaneer. A couple of hints for a 208 Sqn jet of the time. You may already be aware! The N band receiver pods on the wing leading edge should not be fitted. Use the panel around the arrestor hook without the flare dispensers. I don't think the kit includes AN/ALE 40 dispensers for the exhaust nacelles. You will have to adapt the ones for the outboard pylons, looks like parts 20 & 21 on the sprue. Remove the larger lower triangular fairing and plate. Just use the smaller triangular dispenser unit and magazine. The end plate of the stbd magazine should be red, for the flare end caps. The port magazine is a silver/dirty white colour for the chaff end caps. Flares were never loaded on the port dispenser as that would involve them being ejected past the fuel dump mast!!! Are you seeing a reason why this mod wasn't carried on past the 12 Pulsator aircraft?!! Following with interest. Rob.

Ooohh, what a fantastic, detailed critique of the GWH kit. Thanks @bushande. I have a couple of questions. You don't mention the 1/48 Hasegawa F-14B, is that kit any good? I have a long term plan (very long term, with the speed of my building). I am going to build a recent history of Jolly Rogers jets. F-4J, F-14A, F-14B & F/A-18F. The VF84 F-14A will be a Final Countdown movie star. I plan to build the Tamiya kit with wings swept. The VF103 F-14B is to be the "Final Tomcat Cruise" CAG bird. To make it different from the A, I am having the wings out with everything dropped. My choice is either the GWH kit or Hasegawa. What do you recommend? Thanks Rob.

Very nice, great work.

Phantastic. Love it.

Lovely job. I know how much work goes into getting the decals to line up perfectly. The paint demarcation lines are super sharp too.

The standard bombs for Op Pulsator were 1,000lb Paveway II LGB's. 4 x 1,000lb retarded bombs in the bomb bay were the backup option. The perceived targets, were artillery guns within built up areas firing on the British troops. So accurate bombing was the name of the game. The Pulsator sorties were planned as 2 ships. With a "designator" and a "bomber" being paired up. The bomber would be loaded (L to R) AIM-9, LGB, LGB, AN/ALQ101 ECM pod. The designator was AIM-9, Pavespike pod, LGB, AN/ALQ101 ECM pod. The initial 6 deployed Buccaneers were as quoted by Gondor. These were however rotated with others from Lossie over the 6 months of the Op. A total of 12 airframes received the Pulsator mods, including the AN/ALE 40 dispensers under the exhaust nacelles and able to carry newer model AIM-9's. I can't find a list anywhere of the 12 airframe serial numbers, just immediately to hand I have pictures of XZ431, XV361 and XX901. Before the mods the Sidewinders were AIM-9B's, after they could carry AIM-9L's. Hope that helps. Rob.

Nice work on the decals. You got them to fit together perfectly. Here's the real one, just to keep you going. Taken at the Springbank airshow, West of Calgary.

Looking sharp. Lovely job. Painting the white areas is definitely the way to go, rather than relying on those decals for coverage.