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Lord Riot

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  1. Lord Riot
    Having just finished Airfix’s superb Royal Navy Buccaneer, I couldn’t wait to start an even newer kit, of the 1/48 RAF’s S.2B version. The sprues are pretty much the same but with a bulged bomb bay (that I won’t use as this one will be open too) and handily an ECM pod, AIM-9 and Paveway LGB as used in Operation Pulsator, the deployment of six RAF Buccaneers to Akrotiri in 1983 to support the British Army peacekeeping force based in Beirut. These jets flew at ultra low level through (rather than ‘over’!) the streets of Beirut to deter terrorist attacks on the UK contingent. There’s a fascinating account of this deployment here: http://www.naval8-208-association.com/NewsArticlesOpPULSATOR01.html This will be my chosen aircraft; XX901 of 208 Sqn: I’ll need some aftermarket decals for this one, plus an extra Paveway LGB from somewhere (only seems to be one in the kit that I can see). I’m also going to stick four 1,000lb bombs in the open bomb bay. I bought an Xtradecal sheet for the underwing serial. I need two yellow ‘0’s for the tail fin but I’ll worry about that later! This will come in handy, particularly for the Pulsator weapons loadout. Tally ho! …
  2. Lord Riot
    My first attempt at one of the new-tool Airfix 1/48 Buccaneers, and I thought I’d start with the Royal Navy version. I have to say it’s an absolutely superb kit, Airfix’s engineering is brilliant and required only a few areas of filler. The fit is excellent with many parts just dropping into place. I didn’t need to use any aftermarket as the cockpit, decals, undercarriage, etc are all great out of the box. XV340 was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm in April 1967, and served on board HMS Eagle and Ark Royal as well as at Lossiemouth. It was transferred to the RAF in May 1973 but was grounded following the Buccaneer fleet inspection in 1980 and allocated the maintenance serial 8659M, seeing out its days on Pendine Ranges. The model shows XV340 in its heyday as a front line Royal Navy strike jet based at Lossiemouth in 1970. All comments, constructive or otherwise very welcome!
  3. Lord Riot
    It’s easier to get the outer wings done before slotting them over the attachments.
  4. Lord Riot
    I’d love to see some squadrons of Buccaneers fitted with the latest software. I bet they’d be incredibly capable.
  5. Lord Riot
    I think the paint is designed for car parts rather than bodywork, it says it’s heat resistant so I’m assuming it’s for engine bits. One downside to this is it takes geological timescales to dry. Three days after spraying it was still very slightly sticky to touch.
  6. Lord Riot
    Thanks! At the risk of possibly horrifying some of the purists, it’s just this auto paint aerosol I found on eBay. Seems to do the job, I used it on my Sea Vixen too, though a different can - strangely though that came out slightly darker than the Bucc!
  7. Lord Riot
    I’ve started adding the decals to the fuselage now. The outer wings need a bit of touching up after spraying the silver leading edges so I’m waiting for a pot of EDSG to turn up in the post for that, and finishing off the various aerials, arrestor gear, etc. I had to place the code number decal on the nose at this stage as some of the stencils go above it.
  8. Lord Riot
    There’s a Wessex in the later scheme on the Xtradecal sheet, looks like they state the colours are: Matt dark green BS381C-241 Matt medium (lichen) green BS4800 12B-25 https://www.scalemates.com/colors/hataka-hobby-red-line--997/a216-bs-lichen-green-bs4800-12b25-acrylic-matt--13952 Matt black undersides.
  9. Lord Riot
    Undercarriage fitted and thankfully not a tailsitter, even once the airbrakes are added it’ll be fine. A few more details added too, including the characteristic refuelling probe and the shiny intake rims. Very good of Airfix to make those separate parts, much easier to paint them. I’m now considering adding the decals next, it’ll be easier without the wings folded up and airbrakes sticking out the back.
  10. Lord Riot
    Alignment of the wings. Just a dry fit for now to check how they sit. They seem to be ok. Airfix’s new tooling is so good I didn’t need to glue the hinges in either halves of both wings, so it’s easier to jiggle them around for checking the fit.
  11. Lord Riot
    The mask for the engine provided in the kit did its job well, no spray leaked in.
  12. Lord Riot
    I think by 1975 at least some of the single seat Harriers would have been GR.3s, albeit many without the LRMTS nose. Remember, the GR.3 designation related to the engine upgrade not receipt of the ‘laser nose’, so externally apart from a few different vents they would have looked very similar to GR.1s.
  13. Lord Riot
    I’d be tempted to give that tail a sanding before you respray it. I’ve encountered something similar and it does seem to help, a light sanding then a very smooth one to buff it out before you spray it again.
  14. Lord Riot
    @Graham T thanks for the wing fold advice, I’ll be dry fitting them very carefully now. On removing the bomb door it’s starting to bring the Bucc to life a bit now.
  15. Lord Riot
    Hawker Hunter, first flight 1951. Still providing great service as an aggressor with HHA in the UK and ATAC in the US.
  16. Lord Riot
    @Brad-M, yes as viper-30 said, they’re right at the start of the instruction leaflet. Easy to skip past, I almost did! The key thing to note is if you’re doing the later version (scheme A) the outer pylons are further outboard. After a second coat the finish is looking much neater …
  17. Lord Riot
    Nice! Would be great to see a squadron of these at Lakenheath!
  18. Lord Riot
    I’m not sure if this is much use given the lack of a specific year, but the comment and image below may provide some info worth considering? Other photos do seem to show 034 again as a buddy tanker … 034 was XV359, looks like 035 was also in the XV35 … range However, none of these purport to show the exact mission you’re after so I’m afraid I can’t be of more help.
  19. Lord Riot
    I finally got the main airframe sprayed, and am reasonably satisfied. I’ll have a proper look once it’s completely dry in the morning, and under more natural light. It is actually a shade darker than it looks here. I’m happy with the colour, just need to make sure there are no blemishes. Outer wings will need a second coat though I think. This gives a better idea of the colour, with the airbrake interiors sprayed medium sea grey. As Airfix include two canopies for different versions I used the one I won’t need as a mask for the cockpit, remembering to blu-tack it further forward so not to cover part of the spine when spraying.
  20. Lord Riot
    A fabulous insight and history brought to life. Exquisite work.
  21. Lord Riot
    You’re very welcome John, I’m pretty sure it’s an idea I picked up from here so good that it gets shared around. I find the cable ties are much easier to use than trying to loop elastic bands around models.
  22. Lord Riot
    Bomb bay detail added.
  23. Lord Riot
    Very nice, you can’t have too many Buccaneers! Great fix on that air scoop. Your second scheme, camo XW529 I can remember being temporarily based at Woodford in the 80s when the fleet upgrades were done there. Never saw the black and yellow one though.
  24. Lord Riot
    I sanded off the attachment points for chaff/flare dispensers as this Bucc was too early to have those fitted. And drilled through the airbrake holes.
  25. Lord Riot
    It looks like I have two choices of airbrakes; with or without strengthening panels. The instructions call for using the parts with these panels (circled red in the image), but reading references suggests these may have been added later than 1970 when XV340 was in the scheme I’m building. Does anyone know for sure which airbrakes I should use for circa 68-70 S.2C version please? I’m erring on the side of non-strengthened (on the right below) …
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