Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 When the Blackburn Buccaneer was entering service with the Royal Navy, there was some strong interest shown by the West German Marineflieger. The Germans were of the opnion that the Buccaneer was the ideal aircraft to patrol the Baltic. There were a couple of problems though. Firstly, the S.1 version which was in service was underpowered, although this might not have been much of an issue for the land-based role. Secondly, the RAF at the time was strongly opposed to the Buccaneer. In the event the Germans went with the F-104 starfighter, which provided economies of standardisation. It wasn't as good in the anti-shipping role as the Buccaneer though. So I'd like to speculate what a Buccaneer would have looked like in Marineflieger colours. This is the old tool Airfix kit. It was originally bought for the Buccaneer STGB, with the intetion of chucking a lot of aftermarket components at it. Of course, the release of the new airfix Buccaneer made that plan obsolete. The Neomega resin cockpit, intakes and gear bays therefore went onto a FROG Buccaneer in the Frog Squad GB. I still have these goodies left over though. Freightdog correctly shaped nose: Scale Aircraft Conversions white metal undercarriage: 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Nice, would watch along, but I know there will be no post for 2 months and suddenly it will appear in the gallery all finished 🤣 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 I'm desperately trying to break that bad habit! The Airfix Buccaneer kit was originally issued in 1960 as a Blackburn NA39. As far as I was aware, it was retooled in the late 80s as an S2. However, comparing the two kits, I see very little commonality between them I think the reissued Buccaneer was essentially a new tool. Whatever, it was reissued again around 2010 with two new sprues to allow Gulf War and SAAF aircraft to be build. These are the original sprues. The two new sprues for the 2010 boxing are shown below. I won't be using any parts from these sprues. The universal pylons will be used on an RAFG S.2 in the Buccaneer STGB next year. The large tanks will be used on an SAAF conversion in the same STGB. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 There's no messing around with this one as there is no seperate cockpit detail. It's just a tub moulded into the upper fuselage part. Likewise the gear bays for the lower fuselage. So, I simply glued in the engine fronts and the weapons bay doors then sprayed everything with aluminium from a rattle can. I then bunged in some ballast. Fuselage halves assembled. Time for some filler. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Very good choice with your entry and I'm looking forward to seeing this one built up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 A nice concept Enzo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Welcome aboard Enzo, look forward to watching this one. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 16 hours ago, PhantomBigStu said: Nice, would watch along, but I know there will be no post for 2 months and suddenly it will appear in the gallery all finished 🤣 16 hours ago, Enzo Matrix said: The Neomega resin cockpit, intakes and gear bays therefore went onto a FROG Buccaneer in the Frog Squad GB. I still have these goodies left over though. Freightdog correctly shaped nose: Nice to see that I'm not the only one who still has the old airfix "Buc"!!! Two questions: Did you buy the Neomega sets directly from their website or from another site? And from where did you buy the Freightdog resin nose? I'm asking this because I have tried to find it but no luck!!! looking forward to see your Airfix Buccaneer finished!!! Cheers Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 The Neomega sets did indeed come directly from their website. I've had the Freightdog set for ages but it is still available. https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/freightdog-1-72-buccaneer-s-2-airframe-set-early.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Excellent subject choice good sir Looking forward to seeing it finished in your next update 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 25 minutes ago, Col. said: Looking forward to seeing it finished in your next update 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Hi Enzo, As I recall Freightdog did and may still do 2 sets with nose, horizontal tail with upper fairing and refuelling probe. One was "early" and one "late" though I cannot now remember what the difference is - which did you use? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 (edited) 18 minutes ago, PeterB said: Hi Enzo, As I recall Freightdog did and may still do 2 sets with nose, horizontal tail with upper fairing and refuelling probe. One was "early" and one "late" though I cannot now remember what the difference is - which did you use? Pete Good question Pete, though I think they only have the early type still available which by the way I wanna ask is it suitable for improving the Airfix SAAF Buccaneer? Cheers Bill Edited November 13, 2019 by Shalako Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Not too clear but the early set is on the left and the later one on the right. The early set has the nose, probe and tail whilst the later set has what seems to be the same nose and probe and a modified tail with the rear of the fairing raised somewhat for the warning receiver I guess, and also contains the wing bullets. The late "bullet" at the back of the tail also looks thicker and blunter to my mind. As to which version you need for a SAAF one I have no idea. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 4 hours ago, PeterB said: As I recall Freightdog did and may still do 2 sets with nose, horizontal tail with upper fairing and refuelling probe. One was "early" and one "late" though I cannot now remember what the difference is - which did you use? To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. However, I believe the nose is the same in both sets. 4 hours ago, Shalako said: Good question Pete, though I think they only have the early type still available which by the way I wanna ask is it suitable for improving the Airfix SAAF Buccaneer? I don't see any reason why not, at least in their "as delivered" fit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share Posted November 13, 2019 And after that discussion about the Freightdog nose, here it is attached, together with the vertical tail and airbrake in the closed position. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 Just checked and as far as I can see Enzo is correct - the nose was the same for all S2 and probably the S1 as well. The S50 would have the same nose and the early style tail as delivered. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 14, 2019 Share Posted November 14, 2019 Looks to be going well for you Enzo. Proof there's plenty life left in the older kits yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 15, 2019 Author Share Posted November 15, 2019 I must admit that I didn't put much effort into the cockpit. The canopy will be only partially open so I simply sprayed the cockpit area with Lifecolor UA-033 and then applied the kit decals and rear instrument panel. I primed the fuselage with grey plastic primer from a rattle can while I was working on the joint line. I then added the outer wings. Windscreen added and masked. Cockpit masked. Final primer coat applied and cleaned up. Now comes the fun part! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 15, 2019 Share Posted November 15, 2019 Looking good so far, will you use the F-104 Grey over silberweiss belly ? Or did the Marineflieger use other camouflage types 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 15, 2019 Author Share Posted November 15, 2019 Yep, it's gonna be Basaltgrau over silberweiss... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 15, 2019 Share Posted November 15, 2019 23 minutes ago, Enzo Matrix said: Yep, it's gonna be Basaltgrau over silberweiss... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 17, 2019 Author Share Posted November 17, 2019 Undersurfaces sprayed with Lifecolor UA-026 Light Ghost Grey. Uppersurfaces were masked off and sprayed with Tamiya XF-54 Dark Sea Grey. The nose was sprayed with Lifecolor UA-743 Dirt Road. This is an off white which avoids having a stark white area. Other areas on the wing were masked off and sprayed with aluminium from a rattle can or Tamiya XF-4 Yellow Green. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Looks good Enzo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Hello Enzo just a friendly reminder that we’ve reached the mid point of the build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now