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All your Bucc questions


Don H.

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On 9/26/2019 at 10:59 AM, Scimitar said:

I can't access www.buccaneer.co.uk at moment. It's an excellent site.

 

Do you mean www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk? It's been down for a couple of years or so - there is a partial archive of it on the Internet Archive

https://web.archive.org/web/20140310173528fw_/http://www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk/Buccaneer_Index.html

 

Not sure what happened to it

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On 9/27/2019 at 8:13 AM, wadeocu said:

This is a development aircraft configured for testing.  This load was never used operationally.  Incidentally, Matchbox picked up on this photo and used it as inspiration for their box art on the original release in 1973.  It does look menacing though doesn't it!

Hi there

 

A very similar illustration coming from the Matchbox kit inflamate my youth, as I promised then to be a good boy if got that kit as a gift, because it look so mean but unfortunately no bombs whatsoever inside the box!!!

 

cheers

 

Armando

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23 hours ago, cocky05d said:

Can i ask a question about the new Airfix bucc ,can it be done as a RAF one with wrap a round camo?

The S2.A/C designation was to note non-Martel capable airframes for the RAF and RN (respectively).  So the pylons and vortex generator arrangement is suitable as is for an RAF S.2A.  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 in the early 80s:

 

Buccaneer S2B

 

The trouble is that 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 and you will need the head light for the nose gear; that was an RAF modification.  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.

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9 hours ago, wadeocu said:

The S2.A/C designation was to note non-Martel capable airframes for the RAF and RN (respectively).  So the pylons and vortex generator arrangement is suitable as is for an RAF S.2A.  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 in the early 80s:

 

4E3400CC-D2BD-49B5-98E5-CCE323BBA40F

 

The trouble is that you will need a bulged bomb bay door, ILS antenna for 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.  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.

 

The cheat for the bulged bomb bay would be to do the kit with an open bomb door.

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36 minutes ago, cocky05d said:

Thanks for the replies ,looks like i will have to wait for Airfix to bring out the model i want .

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.  I have a feeling though that we will have to sort out an MDC on our own if we want one.

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Afternoon Gents, just a few questions for any ex-navy groundies, the carrier kind, about navy Buccs...

First, did the dark grey scheme weather well ?  Were the 'planes kept clean 'n shiny  ?? If parked on deck, with wings folded, would airbrakes be open ??

That should do for now,  ready to start me new buc, looks like a damm fine kit, maybe done for Telford....

 

Cheers 

 

Dave  😎

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I wasn't there, but just a researcher and fan of FAA jets.

 

Navy Buccaneers were often parked with wings folded and the airbrakes open on deck and even ashore. 

In fact it was quite important that the airbrakes were left open to reduce the overall length of the aircraft, along with folding the nose cone back, to help fit on the hangar deck lift.

There are some great FAA films (particularly Flying the Ark, Sailor, and The Buccaneers) on YouTube that illustrate Buccaneers on deck.

 

In photos and films,  the extra dark sea grey scheme seems to hold up well, more so than the earlier grey over white, and strangely, better than contemporary Phantoms it seems.

But ex deck hands and operators will know far better how well they were kept.

 

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Thanks to everyone for their insight and help. The pylons and tandem rail should be easy to make, although any pics of drawings of the 540 lb bombs or is the caption wrong and should be 1000 lb ?

 

If they are 540 lb, any available ?

 

Regards

Robert

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Hi all - and please excuse me, if this has already been asked, BUT.....

 

Apart from the bulgier bombbay and the wingtips, what would it take to convert the new Airfix 1/72 RN Buccaneer into a RAF Desert Storm plane? :hmmm:

 

 

Cheers :bye:

Hans J

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This sort of question is popping up a lot!  Here is a reprint of what I said elsewhere but should give you an idea of what all needs to be done to cover some of the upgrades you will need.  A Granby Bucc will also need different pylons, some flare/ECM equipment and the different wing tips although those are provided in the current release of the kit.  I think the easiest thing would be to wait until next year and you are almost sure to have a release with everything in the box.  Here is the reprint in response to a question about building a wrap around camo S.2A:

 

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:

 

 

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.

  

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Also, depending on which one you want to do, you may need to work on the airbrakes too.  Those in the kit have the external stiffening plates that were unique to (as I recall) the XT and XV serial blocks, maybe some of the XNs to perhaps.  The XWs, XXs and two XZs did not have this feature as well as early versions including the XKs and all S.1s.  I am going on memory here so stand to be corrected.

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If you get the final release of the old Airfix kit (A04049), it will have most of the bits you need to add to this one for a Granby Bucc, but yes I think we will see one in a future release of this new kit.

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Evening Robert

 

You could try dropping Jim Chapman a line.  Recently he's been bringing little bags of bombs to shows to give away, and some of them look as though they might be the right sort of size.  Although it occurs to me, I'm not sure what scale you want.

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Not with total accuracy.  I am much less versed in SAAF Bucc upgrades than RAF/RN.  I know there were many home grown changes made over the years. It depends on what time period you are after.

 

Even from the beginning they had different slipper tanks and antennas on the spine.  They had RATOG as well but this was retractable.  There were some strakes on the bomb bay not present on RAF/RN versions; not sure what for.

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13 hours ago, wadeocu said:

If you get the final release of the old Airfix kit (A04049), it will have most of the bits you need to add to this one for a Granby Bucc, but yes I think we will see one in a future release of this new kit.

Hi Wadeocu! :D

 

I actually have the aforementioned kit + an assortment of different aftermarket parts but I don't think I have the in-deep knowledge to completely pull this off, so I shall wait it out untill we - hopefully - get a dedicated Granby Buccaneer. :winkgrin:

 

Cheers :bye:

Hans J

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