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F. 238 Blackburn Buccaneer " The Flying Pirate!"


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Hello everyone... Well I'm in with my 1st ever Frog model. Im going with this the S.2A Buccaneer Frog #F.238. 9p2AeTc.jpg

 

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The kit comes with early RAF & SAAF markings. Which i plan on keeping for a backup. However i just don't feel good always going with kit markings. So I'm going ambitious with this as my option. Aircraft coded XW986 or XW988. Im going to have to source the decals for the plane as i don't have any. Biggest ones are roundels but should be able to figure something out ? Even if i have to mask them. 0dK0a4O.jpg

 

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Here are the complete sprue shots. 9vHbXet.jpg

 

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Questions, comments, & suggestions always welcome. 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Wow - no mucking around hey Dennis?... I take it someone is getting a little excited about this GB! 

That's a great subject choice mate and I'll look forward to watching this one come together in that great scheme. 

Now I'm sure someone local should be able to help you out with a couple of RAF Tactical decals, if not I can ship a set over from Oz. 

Your kit looks to be nice and crisp and thankfully still in Dark Gray plastic. I'm not sure why Frog reverted to the Dark Blue plastic during the mid 70's, certianly not the easiest colour to work with. Hopefully your canopy will polish up, she looks a tad murky to my eye. 

 

When I get a free moment I'll start the GB Build List thread and link this build to that. 

Good Luck and thanks for joining.

 

Cheers.. Dave

 

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Yes I've been looking forward to the build for sometime. Initially was going to use this barracuda for the STGB. But when Airfix conveniently offered to make all of us new kits. I moved this one to this build, i wasnt able to participate in the Classic Airfix build last year and was not happy. Ive even gone and gotten a Heller kit to be in the Classic Heller build. If needs be i will take you up on the roundel decals. But will see what i can source on my own. Yes i plan on buffing and polishing the canopy. Its seen better days for sure. 

 

Dennis

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Hello everyone... Ive been thinking about this for a day or two now ? Yes i know thinking can be dangerous. In keeping more with the spirit of the build I'm going to change my color-scheme for the Buccaneer. I will use the yellow scheme for the Buccaneer group build next year. Ive decided to go with the RAF scheme from the kit. Ive posted this up in Aviation but will ask here as well. I have the green and darker grey for the upper camouflage. However I'm a little confused for the Gloss light aircraft grey on the lower fuselage ? I have a few grey's ranging from a light aircraft grey used in SEA Camouflage from Vietnam. Medium sea grey and Light ghost grey ? From the pictures that I've looked at the color from the SEA camouflage would be the closest ? Anyone have any thoughts or an possible answer ? 

 

Dennis

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Light Aircraft Grey (LAG for short) is quite a light colour and I'm not that convinced that the paints that claim to be LAG actually look that good once applied to a model. If we apply the dreaded 'Scale Colour" syndrome you'll probably find that a lighter colour would probably serve you best. It might pay to test all your paints on a scrap piece of plastic and see which one looks right. My guess would be that your Medium Sea Grey will actually paint out the darkest and your (US) SEA Gray the lightest. 

 

I hope this helps... Cheers.. Dave 

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While i was looking for some answers i found my aircraft XV348 was a part of 237 OCU. It was lost in a crash on 31/10/1977. The plane had left Bødø Norway for the U.K. and struck power-lines shortly after takeoff. The back seater survived the pilot did not. 

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I've decided to dedicate my build to Lieutenant D.H.J. Owen (RN). 

 

Dennis

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It’s a very interesting kit, Dennis! I’ve never seen the FROG’s Buccaneer but I have a feeling that this plastic was in Airfix box decades ago. Looking forward for your progress here!

 

P.S. XW986 has a nice color scheme...

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Hi Dennis,

 

Just read up on the various Bucc kits in preparation for that build next year. The Frog kit is said to be quite accurate, but the engine intakes and exhausts are "see through" and the cockpit non existent - just what you would expect for the date moulded I guess. Should build up nicely. IPMS Stockholm's useful colour reference (Urban's colour reference charts as they call it) says Light Aircraft Grey is close to FS26440 - satin version of USN Light Gull Grey. Can't vouch for that myself and different manufacturer's paints all have varying shades anyway so take your pick. Interesting that the pilot was RN in an RAF machine but then I suppose some of the RN crews transferred over with the planes after the "Ark" was scrapped.

 

Pete

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Only thing I've done in anticipation of the start was to buff and dip the canopy. Also have brushed a coat of Microscale liquid decal film on. Im hoping that saves the decals. I have photo's of the jet wearing the early red, white, & blue roundel's as well as the later Tactical roundels. If all else fails, i can mask the markings. Questions, comments, or thoughts ? 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Ok so it starts... To be honest this will be a slow build for a while, as i finish off a couple of others. However i did manage to cobble together a rough cockpit tonight, to fill in the empty void that really existed. Not much but here is where it stands. 

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I will see if i have anything to use as instrument panel decals ? And a control column. 

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Still trying to figure out the blackholes that are the intakes, exhausts, & wheel wells ? Questions, comments, or thoughts ? 

 

Dennis

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Hello everyone... Well spent a little time figuring out the cockpit. Its by no means perfect, accurate, or realistic but should be ok for Gov't. work. Especially once the canopy is glued on. 

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As these two photos show ↕️ The seams look like they'll be not much work.

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The seat cushions have been painted green and are drying as i write this. I will give it a 2nd coat tonight if needed. Tomorrow i can add belts if everything looks good.

      Now the next big thing after the office will be gear bays and intakes/exhaust. I plan on boxing in the gear bays once the fuselage is together. Once that is done I will be going with FOD covers both front and back. That should take care of the big cavern that is the fuselage. Im still trying to determine what the Martels looked like ? I think they were white at this early stage ?  I found photo's of Martels in Green or grey, but think that was in the later years, maybe 80's. Does anyone know when the TV guided version of the Martels entered service ? These photo's i believe are from testing the missiles. 

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I might consider modifying the ones in the kit if i had proof they were carried ? If i do i would also need a decent outline/photo's of the TV datalink pod carried on the inboard S/B pylon. If anyone knows please let me know ? Ultimately i most likely will leave the pylons bare. Questions comments, and/or thoughts ? 

 

Dennis

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Tonight i boxed the main gear bays in. It will look better when I've added some plumbing and its painted.

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Tomorrow i will start on the nose gear bay ? I need to study some photo's first, to see where the nose gear leg is positioned. Its not exactly clear from the instructions ? Questions, comments, or thoughts ? 

 

Dennis

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Hi Dennis,

 

Nice work on adding your own details. A good improvement on the basic kit 👍 

 

Have you found any suitable decals yet? I have some spare from the Airfix reissue, if you want me to look them out? 

 

Cheers Greg 😁

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Nice to see you have dived in to this one!

 

The fuselage certainly is “see through” straight from the box. Quite scary! I wonder if rolled paper, sealed with superglue,  would work for quick and dirty intake ducts?

 

Regards,

Adrian

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10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello everyone... Well spent a little time figuring out the cockpit. Its by no means perfect, accurate, or realistic but should be ok for Gov't. work. Especially once the canopy is glued on. 

 

Love that cockpit instrument panel detail - how was that done? I wondered if you would be able to 'shrink' photos of the real thing to size then print and stick on?

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4 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Have you found any suitable decals yet? I have some spare from the Airfix reissue, if you want me to look them out? 

I appreciate the offer but I think I'm covered. I do still have the originals which as i wrote are questionable. I also have some masks which i will use as a back up. Though the masks are for the Two color (blue, red) tactical roundels ? If all else fails i have until September. There is an excellent decal set i can purchase with Birthday money in August. 

 

Dennis

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2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

I wonder if rolled paper, sealed with superglue,  would work for quick and dirty intake ducts?

🤔 Not a bad idea ? I never worked with paper and superglue before, any tips i should know ? Maybe i will try that first. If it all goes bad i can still go with FOD covers. 

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1 hour ago, Ventora3300 said:

Love that cockpit instrument panel detail - how was that done? I wondered if you would be able to 'shrink' photos of the real thing to size then print and stick on?

Thanks for the compliment. Yes the shrunken photo idea does work. I don't remember who did it but there was a B-29 build about 18-24 months ago. The person stuck a load of weight in the secondary seating area of the cockpit behind the pilots. He then miniaturized a photo of the cockpit taken from right behind the pilots seats. He then glued that photo onto a sheet of plastic to make a wall to hide the weight. So in theory you could do this with instrument panels.

    I cheated though, these are instrument panel decals left over from another build. I just cut them out leaving the paper backing and clear pva'd them to the locations. Once dry i just painted around them to color the cockpit.  

 

Dennis

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9 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

paper and superglue before, any tips i should know

If you have some PVA glue that's better for gluing the paper tube together. So:

  • Choose an intake length to your compressor face and cut a strip of paper that wide.
  • From that strip cut a rectangle about 4x as long as the longest axis of the intake.
  • Roll the paper rectangle round a pencil then put it about half way into the intake.
  • Let it unwind to fill the intake, then mark where the paper overlaps.
  • Take it out, put PVA on the overlap and stick together.
  • Put the tube back in the intake.
  • Whilst it's there, put some drops of superglue onto the paper and spread it around with a cocktail stick to cover the paper.
  • When this is dry you should have a tube that is shaped to fit the intake and has a hard inside surface.

 

Here is one I just made as a demo from an envelope in the nose of a FROG Wyvern:

5-C99-D422-3592-4-FDD-AC06-CD1-C67-E13-B

 

And here's a "real" one from a Bristol 188 vac build:

IMG-7548.jpg

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

 

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