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All your Bucc questions


Don H.

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Really appreciate all this good Bucc stuff that's coming through of late. It always surprises me that no matter how much (I think) I know about a particular airframe, there is always something new to learn when kits like this come out. 

Cheers and keep up the excellent work.. Dave 

 

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Hi there

 

Please clarify me if I'm wrong but later on service the SAAF Buccaneers got the extended bomb bay covers???

 

Cheers

 

Armando

 

PS I remember a build up here also with a Matchbox kit but with precision guided bombs 

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Can I add a huge mega thanks for the detailed info.  It will be very handy with the new kits coming along and the future Bucc GB on here.

 

I am wondering how to measure the seat offsets in all three scales 1/.72/ 1/48 and 1/32 to get that authentic look in the cockpit.  Do you know how much they were offset in the aircraft by any chance?  

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Another thing worth noting, is that during the early 1970s Buccaneers had all the Vortex Genrators removed from the wings, they were reinstated in the mid 1970s.

 

There was also a change in the length of the arrestor hook.  Originally it ended just ahead of the hold back bay, but this was changed where a longer hook terminated within the hold back bay area.  I'm unsure when that change was made and was probably very early on so unlikely to effect many builds

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31 minutes ago, JohnT said:

Do you know how much they were offset in the aircraft by any chance?  

Each seat 2" inches offset from centreline.  Also, the cockpit features offset items such as the rudder pedals, attack sight, and joystick, and the instrument panel is slightly asymmetrical, all to centre with the pilot obviously.

I have seen it that the seats were angled out from each other aswel, would love to measure up a cockpit properly.

 

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8 hours ago, 71chally said:

Another thing worth noting, is that during the early 1970s Buccaneers had all the Vortex Genrators removed from the wings, they were reinstated in the mid 1970s.

Yes indeed James!  I forgot about that.  I will add this to the list.  This is a very obscure bit of Bucc history.  In fact, it was news to me when CT Modeller posted his build of XW538.  I had my doubts at the time, but found photos to confirm it.  Thanks for reminding me of that.

 

8 hours ago, 71chally said:

There was also a change in the length of the arrestor hook.  Originally it ended just ahead of the hold back bay, but this was changed where a longer hook terminated within the hold back bay area.  I'm unsure when that change was made and was probably very early on so unlikely to effect many builds

 

This is something of which I am aware but do not fully understand.  I know there were changes to the recessed area and that the panel at the back was sometimes removed to accommodate the longer hook (as in the pics of XT270 above).   I do not however know the what/when/where behind all of this, so I will dig into the references and see what I can come up with here. 

 

Thanks for your help and please continue to chime in with any thoughts you have to offer!  Cheers - Jack

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On 10/7/2019 at 12:16 AM, RAGATIGER said:

but later on service the SAAF Buccaneers got the extended bomb bay covers???

Yes. They were fitted with the door tank later in service.

At the end of their service,apart from the external RWR pimples and chaff/(or flare ? ) dispenser to the rear of the radio bay,they looked just like the RAF ones.

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On 10/7/2019 at 10:28 AM, 71chally said:

Each seat 2" inches offset from centreline.  Also, the cockpit features offset items such as the rudder pedals, attack sight, and joystick, and the instrument panel is slightly asymmetrical, all to centre with the pilot obviously.

I have seen it that the seats were angled out from each other aswel, would love to measure up a cockpit properly.

 

Another feature of the Bucc seats was in the  rocket motors under the seat pan. The nozzles on one side of the pilots seat were larger  giving greater thrust on one side. The nav seat had the same  feature but the larger nozzles were on the other side. The reason was that if both crew ejected at the same time, when the rockets fired the trajectory of  the  two seats would  diverge ensuring that they did not collide in the air, and  give enough seperation for the chutes to safely deploy.

 

Selwyn

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On 10/7/2019 at 9:16 AM, RAGATIGER said:

 

 

PS I remember a build up here also with a Matchbox kit but with precision guided bombs 

Check out post #11 in this thread champ

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I am also a fan of FAA aircraft Scimitar, Sea VIxen, Buccaneer etc. My observation would be that the airframe held up pretty well but you can in some photographs see a difference between the start of a deployment and the end of a deployment. There are some potential obvious wear points but certainly not like today's combat aircraft.

 

 

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For (ineffective) weatherers like myself, knowing that inservice Buccs were kept rather well is sweet news to my ears. Now in this Airfix Workbench blog there are two builds each depicting the decal choices available in the latest kit. One is quite weathered, whilst the other is kept clean. I know which one I prefer however it would be interesting to see what others think? 

 

Cheers. Dave

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13 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

For (ineffective) weatherers like myself, knowing that inservice Buccs were kept rather well is sweet news to my ears. Now in this Airfix Workbench blog there are two builds each depicting the decal choices available in the latest kit. One is quite weathered, whilst the other is kept clean. I know which one I prefer however it would be interesting to see what others think? 

 

Cheers. Dave

 

Whilst both models are nicely built and finished and all models are artistic representations of the real thing - IMO the first is weathered in a way that I have never see on a RN Buccaneer. 

 

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Agree with above, my issue with the weathered one is that it still looks shiny. FAA jets paint tended to go a bit dull and flat if anything after a bit of time at sea, maybe losing a shade aswel.

 

Lovely builds though, way above my capabilities and the kit does look good built!

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4 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Now in this Airfix Workbench blog there are two builds each depicting the decal choices available in the latest kit.

Aside from the question of weathering, I didn't realize until I saw that side by side photo of the Buccaneer and the Phantom in that blog, just how big a plane the Buccaneer was!  

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I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this question, so if the mods need to move or delete it please do.

 

There has been a lot of discussion of the new Airfix 1/72 Buccaneer model on this forum and on the internet in general.  I've seen unboxing reviews and even models for sale, although they all seem to be from the UK.

 

I had pre-ordered the new kit direct from Airfix USA, figuring that would be the fastest way to get it once it was released, but the Airfix USA website still lists the kit status as "pre-order" with a vague "fall/winter" release date.  Does Airfix USA typically release kits later than their UK counterpart?  Was it a mistake to pre-order through Airfix USA or should I expect the USA release soon?

 

Thanks!

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You and I are in the same boat.  🇺🇸📭:pray::shrug:

 

I suspect that we will get our turn at the end of the month.

 

There are some UK retailers offering kits on ebay that will ship to us but be prepared to pay anywhere from 50%-100% of the price of the kit to ship it by air.  I have one being sent by surface mail from one of these retailers that should be here on 10/25 according to the tracking information.  They only charged me $5 for shipping.  I bet the pre-order delivery arrives about the same time.

 

This is the first time I have ever pre-ordered any kind of model and my first order from Airfix USA or even paying full retail for an Airfix kit for that matter, but I wanted to throw Airfix a bone on this one; it is, after all, a Buccaneer!

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47 minutes ago, wadeocu said:

There are some UK retailers offering kits on ebay that will ship to us but be prepared to pay anywhere from 50%-100% of the price of the kit to ship it by air. 

Yes, I did see a couple kits on eBay from the UK, and IIRC they were selling for full retail, with a $10-12 shipping.  Based on that, I decided to keep my Airfix USA order, as they were selling it for full retail, too, but with only a $4 shipping.  

 

Oh, well, its not like I don't have other kits to work in in the mean time!  ;) 

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I tried to order the Hawker Hunter when it came out and Airfix USA made it so difficult to actually order the damned thing I gave up.  I was going to buy it through ebay or similar but given Airfix's recent quality issues and having to deal with a supplier if anything goes wrong instead of with Airfix I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle.

If I remember correctly, the Hunter wasn't available in the USA for at least 6 months after it was released in the UK so I'd expect to see the same issues recurring

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With the exchange rate as it is, it's probably quicker and cheaper to order direct from a retailer in the UK. I've been thinking about adding one to my Hannants cart, as it's around $25 plus about an additional $10 airmail to what's already in there. That compares to $33 plus $4 shipping from the Airfix USA website. 

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I was just about to ask about this; glad to see something is being said. Kitlynx is now offering the kit for $27.99USD; and saying that it has a 2 week delivery time(for USA). I haven't read how the kit looks, how detailed, decals/transfers, etc. Somewhere I have the old(60s) kit made by Airfix. So, I am interested in this one. Would like to read/see more about the new one.

Joe

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1 hour ago, JPuente54 said:

I was just about to ask about this; glad to see something is being said. Kitlynx is now offering the kit for $27.99USD; and saying that it has a 2 week delivery time(for USA). I haven't read how the kit looks, how detailed, decals/transfers, etc. Somewhere I have the old(60s) kit made by Airfix. So, I am interested in this one. Would like to read/see more about the new one.

Joe

Here we go - try this :-

 

https://www.florymodels.org/reviews/2019/10/2/airfix-172-buccaneer-s2c-review

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Airfix USA usually are about a month behind the UK.

Be patient and you will get yours.

I live in Canada and my local hobby shop has not been given a date for the kit in Canada.

I have it as I bought from the UK.

I missed out on the TSR 2 by waiting and swore I wouldn't do that again.

Nice kit but they really needed to have a folding nose cone.

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