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Airfix 1/72 Buccaneer - new tool


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Some photos of some of my first two evenings work. As you can see the cockpit is pretty barren, the Eduard interior set I have for the old tool doesn’t fit; at least the IP and side panels so the decals will be used instead. The seat belts from the etch might still prove useful. 

 

BCF96022-100F-4006-9560-E72A48772DD4

 

The forward intake trunking has a join to fill and sand, more work on this later.

44E9FFC9-4713-44EE-8848-3C91B52E2683

 

The landing gear bays have some nicely moulded detail but more discerning modellers might cut these off and add wire for improved fidelity, but I will highlight the moulding with a wash. Additional conditioning ducts fit into the holes visible in the main gear bays. The turbine aft face will be pretty much invisible when the exhaust jet pipes are fitted .

3D10ECCA-4BCA-4D03-9A62-92E167EA4D55

 

The jet pipes fit into the centre box section and will be partially visible in the gear bay; I have posed the jet pipes upside down here so the surface painted in Dull Aluminium will be facing the other way when installed  

99AB7086-3369-42D3-B65C-A6D61BB4CAC1

 

Mother work done so far includes painting the cockpit sidewalks, gear bays, jet pipe tail pipes and assembling the rear fuselage tail cone. 

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3 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice progress Rick. Airfix usually provide seat inserts with moulded in seat belts, are these provided with this kit... which actually looks fantastic so far. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

Yes Dave, there are inserts which have had the base coat applied but I haven’t illustrated them yet. I noticed as applied the black to the head box I’d missed a sprue gate burr.

Interestingly, Airfix also included two crewmen. 

Edited by Rickoshea52
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Good work so far! As seems to be the case with some of Airfix's newer kits, there appears to be some interesting engineering with this kit. Not that that's a bad thing if it all fits.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Edited by Learstang
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It looks like Airfix are going to do a Royal Navy Boxing and probably next Year a RAF boxing just like they did with their Phantom.

Shame they didn't do a folding nose cone.

I hope if they do a RAF aircraft it has the bulged bomb bay and all the other minor changes so a late  model Buc can be made.

If not I am sure the after market will fill the gap.

I won't see this baby for a month since I live in Canada.

Edited by Jetgrob
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I wasn't even aware that Airfix had released a new mould Buccaneer!

I have a 12 Sqn decal sheet that includes a Bucc but I'm not at home at the moment so can't tell you which one it is. If it fits, and you want it, it's yours since I only need the Fairey Battle stuff.

 

Ian

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The first bump in the road with this kit; the join between the upper and lower fuselage runs right through an engine access panel but it’s not a massive issue. 

 

DB225CCA-FB63-4178-9FD2-91F073C77CED

 

But rather thoughtfully there are tabs on the inside to keep the surface aligned.

B95E786E-D1D2-4F67-AB5F-703AF709D8B9

 

At this stage the instructions need careful review because the wing fold options are detailed here; I crossed out the assembly steps not to be followed.

C009B779-F0E5-4CB0-90A3-25012C9723E0

 

Make sure that the correct holes required for any external stores are drilled out per previous step instructions, the wing spar stiffener fits over one of the holes. In the photo below you can see the intake trunking and rear bulkhead with the exhaust ring fitted. 

79C19CFD-49B6-465F-B69D-5B0159536821

 

 

A994ED44-E60A-4DF5-AE0A-990AD84F2E58

 

8E08A0F9-F3F4-4A8C-9157-86D3F0642452

 

 

The airbrake is is nicely moulded but a selection of drills made for an improved look; 

Before...

87858F7A-86E8-4EE1-893F-DC2C00D5B473

 

After...

352565F9-4EA3-4588-A9D2-AC94047801C1

 

 

Edited by Rickoshea52
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21 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

I wasn't even aware that Airfix had released a new mould Buccaneer!

I have a 12 Sqn decal sheet that includes a Bucc but I'm not at home at the moment so can't tell you which one it is. If it fits, and you want it, it's yours since I only need the Fairey Battle stuff.

 

Ian

Thanks for the offer Ian but I have two different decal sheets covering all that I need. I hope you stay tuned.  

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On 27/09/2019 at 20:45, wadeocu said:

 

 

Blackburn Buccaneer S2A XT270 St Mawgan 8-8-73

 

 

 

Interesting photo, looking at the aerial(s) on the spine is that one spade type and one blade type or is the thinner blade type from something in the background? 

I’m not keen on going the three colour scheme and would prefer the grey/green wraparound version. Going by the contributions here the bomb bay will have to be posed open with a spade aerial to create the model I’m after. 

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On 9/29/2019 at 3:55 AM, Rickoshea52 said:

Interesting photo, looking at the aerial(s) on the spine is that one spade type and one blade type or is the thinner blade type from something in the background? 

That is indeed the same smaller, thinner type behind.  You are good to go with what is in the box for that one.

 

On 9/29/2019 at 3:55 AM, Rickoshea52 said:

I’m not keen on going the three colour scheme and would prefer the grey/green wraparound version. Going by the contributions here the bomb bay will have to be posed open with a spade aerial to create the model I’m after. 

 

You will need to address some more differences due to upgrades over the years.  The S2.A/C designation was to note non-Martel capable airframes for the RAF and RN (respectively).  The pylons and vortex generator arrangement are suitable as is in this kit for an RAF S.2A of any time period.  A wrap around scheme would be post 1978.  There were S.2As that served long enough to get a wrap around scheme.  This is XT271, an S.2A as it appeared in the early 80s:

 

Buccaneer S2B

 

The trouble for you is that there were also a number of upgrades over the years resulting in other external differences that were made to both S.2Bs and S.2As.  You will need a bulged bomb bay door, antennas for either side of the fin, the wide spade antenna on the spine, blunt RWR tips for the tail fin and you’ll need to swap the light and blade aerial on the belly.  Oh yes, also for RAF Buccs you will need the headlight on the nose gear too; that was an RAF upgrade.  I don't know if there is one on the clear runner already that is marked not for use; perhaps there is.  Most difficult to deal with would be the MDC in the canopy.  I’m not sure if XT271 has one at this point or not.

 

You could manage most of the changes with bits from the old Airfix kit and some minimal sanding and scratch building.  There’s not too much to it.  I am sure however that an RAF kit will be out next year with all the parts needed for a later version.  It seems that they have recognized and provided options for each of these differences in the kit but only the early Mk.2 specific parts are provided in this release.  The access door for the electronics bay behind the bomb bay and the panel in front of the bomb bay are separate parts which is good news; they fudged that difference in the 90s with the 1/48 model.  I have a feeling though that we will have to sort out an MDC on our own if we want one.  Also note that you will need to use the later version of the slipper tanks if you want to use those.

 

Edited by wadeocu
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I'm watching this with great interest as mine arrived on Saturday. I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable as others in terms of variants and subtleties and my own thoughts were to build this, a Phantom and Sea Vixen as a trio. I've already ordered the Sea Vixen and also took the plunge and bought the new 1/48 Hunter, so plenty to do. 

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Progress had to take a break while work took over this week ( I was kept busy with the real thing, an A350-1000). The ejection seats were embellished with an Eduard detailing set for the old tool Buccaneer kit which doesn’t look exactly like the real thing but they do add some more interest than the moulded on detail  the observant will note a missing handle on the front seat, I dropped the nose section but managed to retrieve the fallen part for later. There is also some paint touch up to do. 

50FF06C3-9615-4807-B6D7-E5427637A213

 

Some sanding need to be done before the nose section is glued to the fuselage.

E93DC305-1C8F-4A22-9D3C-B8070D662253

 

The seam that runs through the middle of the engine cowl has been filled and sanded.

48A3CDCA-F700-4862-9C8D-01F544324DF3

 

Edited by Rickoshea52
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On 30/09/2019 at 17:06, wadeocu said:

You will need a bulged bomb bay door, antennas for either side of the fin, the wide spade antenna on the spine, blunt RWR tips for the tail fin and you’ll need to swap the light and blade aerial on the belly.

@wadeocu ; I assume that the bulged bomb door could be assumed open if the jet was on the ground and left off? A spade aerial is easy to make or I’m sure I have one in the spares box. The blunt RWR fairings are a bit confusing, from the photos I have seen it is the act fairing that appears more blunt? 

Where on the belly are the serial and light you are referring to?

The aerials on the fin, do you mean these - r29.JPG

 

Your contributions so far have been very helpful and are gratefully received. 

 

Memphis rocks by the way!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some progress, the fuselage sections and tail have been added and are nearly done, some filler was required for the tail and jet pipe fairings. 

1FDC2BB2-F2DB-4989-88C6-829C517E9A57

 

C82595CA-CE82-4AC4-8853-AFF350EC0F21

 

Many of the sub assemblies and appendages are done, sink marks on the wing mounted receivers needed a lick of filler. 

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I need to decide if the RAF version is going to be a goer so I had a rummage in the spare box and found some aerials that could pass for those on the fin - part 34. 
 

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But the big issue is the long chord pylons - a set from the Airfix A-4 Skyhawk need a bit of looking at though. The kit supplied pylons are shown below with the Skyhawk version for comparison....hmmm?

D8AA29A8-3C8A-4C4E-BBB3-50CB5374AD9C

 

Edited by Rickoshea52
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  • 2 weeks later...

Just picked this up, watching with interest - I have one of these but am in the throes of moving house at the mo, so it's on hold.  Do the decals look OK in the cockpit, or should I hold off for some nice bits of resin?

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