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Royal Navy Buccaneer


EJet

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buccaneer_zpse80e82b9.jpg

Well as I have been through all the trouble to get a photo posted with the good help of Emilliano I thought I may as well start a work in progress with my 1\48 Airfix Buccaneer. It will be Fleet Air Arm and more or less straight out the box but probably get AM airbrakes and wing fold. Progress might be a bit protracted and come in fits and starts due to work and wife! Will get something posted at the weekend hopefully and go from there. This will be a bit of a test for me, not only seeing what you think, but also getting used to posting etc, so apologies in advance if it goes astray at times!!!

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Looking forward to watching a real Naval classic - on my list too. If I'd been born 10 years earlier, this aircraft would have been my ambition... but Ark was already in the trots in Devonport, eating to be towed away, so it was Sea Kings & Lynxes. Not complaining, mind - but boy I'd love to have flown one f these off a deck.

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Well I started this today and I have to say it not fit together very well! This is the thing with the nose aligned and what happens at the rear end!!

alignedonnose_zpsa061725d.jpg Not good!

The other problem I was getting the cockpit section to fit. I sprayed it mid grey then applied the decals ( I am not a fan of this but it seemed OK in what was povided). They were applied and the fold over areas soaked with Matt Cote to make them plyable. When dry I applied a wash and cleaned up. To the thin to fit in the top fuselage I had to cut it across between the rear pilot and area and the f'ward observer area. It was still a difficult area to work on and to be perfectly honest thought about stopping and start and decent kit. This was the result.

cockpit_zpsaddea48b.jpg Not a good phot but was pretty p'eed off!

The cockpit needs more attention but with the fit of it all thought I would wait until after the 2 halves together and most of the filling and sanding done. I did the seats though! Tamiya tape, painted, matt cote, wash, matt cote.

bucseats_zps35001ac1.jpg

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To continue.. actually have noticed the phots don't look that good so will try harder with the next lot but these coming up are from the same batch.

The bomb bay when glued in did provide a suprising amount of ridgidity to the aircraft so I perservered. I made up several of the other parts to be used later, most of which again did not go together very well especially the slipper tanks!

So I got ready to start gluing! Note lots of tape and clamps!

startgluing_zps192662dd.jpg

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I started from the rear doing a bit at a time and slowly worked forward. I don't like taping up but with the amount a sanding and filling coming up I just carried on with it. It eventually left this gap on the LHS which a later clamped and glued to a much flatter position. I will fill and sand now and will post when done. Might be a good week due to my roster but the a/c needs a bit of time to let the glue fully harden anyway. A glass of wine is needed!!

bucgluing_zps86dae572.jpgbucopenside_zps19fbacc9.jpg

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Enjoying this. Saw a lot of the Bucc when I was at Lossie. Nice seats. Well deserved glass of wine - now where did I put mine....

Steve

(Edited to spell my name right - doh.)

Edited by Fritag
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Well, as my day of work changed, I spent the day(well most of it) filling and sanding. Actually, so long as the main parts have been glued with a bit of patience and acurracy, it actually goes together fairly well! After some sanding it is OK! buc1_zps7666453b.jpg

The join lines soon disappear, so really after a bit of faffing, gluing, taping and clamping the Buc does go together OK.

buc2_zpsa9d1fb70.jpg

The exhausts needed a bit of TLC but I found that using a good amount of liquid poly and as it set, slowly moving the part as it set, it formed a weld like joint, so there was little filling to be done later. I brush painted it to see any faults in the joins, luckily, there were few!

buc7_zpsfc19e072.jpg

I have attached the tail fin here, and with a bit of sanding and scrapping have got it to fit. It needs filling and sanding again though.

buc4_zpsbbc3ba8f.jpg The kit had both the upper and lower wing surfaces with boundry air blowers!? I sanded the lower ones off !!

Next I put together the airbrake. It needed a bit of attention to thin the pipes down and also, it did not fit properly into the rear part of the fuselage, so I made a slightly bigger diameter bulkhead out of thin plasticard, which I glued to the original piece. I added a couple of extra pieces for effect. You can't see that in this pic, but I will endeavour to show it on a later phot.

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This is the front end, which has turned out to be not too bad. I filled and sanded before each part went on, so the intakes in this phot have just been glued in place, after the main fuselage has been sorted. The grey paint is used so I can see what blemishes are obvious! As before!! I have just ordered from Hannants a Eduard wing fold set. I think the kit one is a bit too chunky, so I will compare the two when the other arrives and see what is best! Airbrake is good though, so did not get one of those!

About it for now. If this seems a bit disjointed please forgive me. Have been at the local boozer for a beer and steak night!!! Bon nuit mon amis!!

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Have been at work these last few days, but head home tomorrow after getting in from Alicante, so hope to get a bit more done on this early next week! Cheers!!!

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Have not done much apart from to spray it in primer but that was after a lot of rubbing down and touching up with filler. I have actually done a fair bit more to the cockpit but that is now under tape! That took most of the day Monday. The initial coat of paint has covered well and shows up very little in the way of blemishes and re-sanding/filling etc..

buc24_zpsf658d89d.jpg

The rear part of the fuselage underneath where the airbrake attaches I glued on, only to realise the airbrake wouldn't fit in, hence it is slighly bent down at the moment, but it moves and is an easy fix! This about all I can post for now as I was rather busy in the garden these last few days and back to work tomorrow. Hopefully more in the latter part of next week. I still need to take better photos though!!

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buc22_zpscba51ac4.jpg

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Nice work! I really must have a good look at my kit one day and see if there are a few easy fixes for this kit's fit issues. I have a few thoughts but would want to try them out for myself before posting them here and possibly causing someone to ruin their kit.

Any thoughts yet on which scheme the finished article will be in?

Martin

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It is going to be painted in it's all grey scheme. Have thought about other schemes but I just like it in sea grey!! It just looks right in that colour for a naval aircraft.

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To add, this kit is alright. Yes, it needs some extra work, but I think that when it is done it will be worth the effort! Cheers!!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I have now actually finished this aircraft and will endeavour to place on the 'ready for inspection' area in due course! I have been extremely busy these last few months and just didn't get the time to put it all together on this build page! Sorry! But it is done!! Regards.

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