1/72nd H Hobby (ex Hasegawa), Brewster Buffalo, 805 NAS, Egypt, 1941NAS

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

                  Another one for you,... the ex Hasegawa 1/72nd scale Buffalo,..... re boxed by H Hobby with additional resin parts to enable a British or Dutch Buffalo to be built from the kit and with decals for two Royal Navy aircraft based in Egypt or a Dutch aircraft based in the Dutch East Indies. Thankfully they also include a paint mask for the canopy in the box too!

 

I elected for a AX815, coded G of 805 NAS as I had recently bought a photo of this aircraft being recovered from a forced landing in the desert, along with other pics of 805 NAS aircraft. It is thought that some of the RN Buffaloes in Egypt could have been re painted in the Temperate Sea Scheme at some stage and some of them do appear to look darker than usual in b&w photos,.... however AX815 seems to retain the Dark Earth and Dark Green finish when compared to photos of these ex Belgian contract aircraft when they went into service in the UK,.... so that is the scheme I chose, brush painting it using a combination of Polly Scale and Aeromaster acrylics from my quickly dwindling stock!  Note the little bee on the rudder too! 

 

Here are some pics of RN Buffaloes, which were ex Belgian contract B-339B aircraft and were diverted to the UK, being different to the B-339E aircraft delivered to the RAF in the Far East;

 

Here are some Belgian B-339B under test in the US, before delivery. A second batch of six B-339`s were loaded aboard the French carrier Bearn in Canada, bound for France, but with the fall of France in 1940 they were put ashore on Martinique along with French Helldivers and left to languish on a beach before being destroyed by the CIA who were concerned at such a large number of military aircraft on their doorstep,...... despite the fact that this French island did not have an airfield! ;

 

These B-339B Buffaloes are fresh from being erected and repainted into British colours and markings in the UK;

 

 

 

After an attempt to equip 71 (Eagle) Sqn RAF with the B-339B Buffaloes, they were allocated to the Royal Navy and here is one at Hatston in the Orkneys with 804 NAS;

 

Most of the RN Buffaloes eventually went to 805 NAS in the Middle East,...... at least three were flown in the defence of Crete but were left abandoned on a beach scrap dump when the Germans took the island;

 

 

 

One RN Buffalo even carried out trials aboard HMS Eagle in Alexandria harbour,.... allegedly without arrester gear although one photo exists where an arrester wire seems to have been snagged?! There were plans to use the Buffalo to replace the Sea Gladiator`s of the carriers Fighter Flight,..... but the carrier retained its biplane defenders who actually gave a very good account of themselves against the Italian`s;

 

But most Buffaloes were used by 805 NAS for land based convoy escort patrol duties off the Egyptian coast, alongside RN Martlet Mk.III`s and Hurricane`s loaned from the RAF;

 

Here is the subject of the model,.... Temperate Land or Temperate Sea Schemes,...... who knows eh?;

 

The Model;

 

 

And here is a 1/48th Tamiya model of another 805 NAS Buffalo that I built some time ago;

 

So,.... you are probably all Buffaloed out now,..... so I`ll sign off,

Cheers

            Tony

[Aces High]

Very nice model! I like these funny dumpy looking planes!

[trickydicky210]

Great Buffalo 

[Bangor Lad]

Nice build. Thanks for the background story too. I hadn't realised Buffaloes had been used in the Middle East. Another to be added to the wish list!

Thanks

[adey m]

Crikey, I never knew that the Royal Navy had Buffaloes, excellent Tony.

[Sky Keg]

Outstanding Tony!!!!  Great picture essay along with a type that tugs at my heart.  

 

Just an excellent overall presentation!!!!

 

Mike

[Smudge]

Very nice, and an interesting subject.

 

Do you mind if I ask which additional resin parts are included, and is much cutting involved?

 

I might be tempted to get one 

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, Aces High said:

Very nice model! I like these funny dumpy looking planes!

Thanks,.... yeah me too! 

 

1 hour ago, trickydicky210 said:

Great Buffalo 

Thank you. 

 

1 hour ago, Bangor Lad said:

Nice build. Thanks for the background story too. I hadn't realised Buffaloes had been used in the Middle East. Another to be added to the wish list!

Thanks

Thanks and no worries,...... I like

 

1 hour ago, adey m said:

Crikey, I never knew that the Royal Navy had Buffaloes, excellent Tony.

to pass on a bit of my research,.... it helps bring the subject to life and every day is a school day,....it is nice to pass on some knowledge. 

 

1 hour ago, adey m said:

Crikey, I never knew that the Royal Navy had Buffaloes, excellent Tony.

No worries Adey,...... glad you like it.

 

55 minutes ago, Sky Keg said:

Outstanding Tony!!!!  Great picture essay along with a type that tugs at my heart.  

 

Just an excellent overall presentation!!!!

 

Mike

Thanks Mike,...... glad that you liked the post pal...... I have a soft spot for the old Buffalo myself.

 

52 minutes ago, Smudge said:

Very nice, and an interesting subject.

 

Do you mind if I ask which additional resin parts are included, and is much cutting involved?

 

I might be tempted to get one 

Cheers,..... the resin parts are a new, longer tail cone and a new land plane tail wheel for the Dutch (and RAF) version.  You also get the  optional longer nose section and propeller for the earlier variants flown by the US Navy and Finn`s.  The only cutting involved is to remove the resin from the lugs and it is very, very easy,.... I did it with a craft knife. I think H Model do an early boxing with US Navy and Finnish markings too?

 

Cheers

          Tony

[Smudge]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

,..... the resin parts are a new, longer tail cone and a new land plane tail wheel for the Dutch (and RAF) version.  You also get the  optional longer nose section and propeller for the earlier variants flown by the US Navy and Finn`s.  The only cutting involved is to remove the resin from the lugs and it is very, very easy,.... 

Thank you for that, Tony. It was the nose I was thinking about, never can remember which ones have the short nose or vice versa, and also the tail cone and wheel etc is useful info.

 

Cheers

[qn30jEkPz7]

Nice, appreciate the little history lesson along the way

[Beard]

I've liked the Buffalo since I made the Matchbox one when I was a nipper and yours are very nice indeed. I really must dig the Hasegawa ones out of my stash.

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, Beard said:

I've liked the Buffalo since I made the Matchbox one when I was a nipper and yours are very nice indeed. I really must dig the Hasegawa ones out of my stash.

Cheers Beard,..... you must dig out those Hasegawa kits, they are little gems. 

 

4 hours ago, LostCosmonauts said:

Nice, appreciate the little history lesson along the way

Thanks mate. 

[Greg Law]

Nicely done on the little fellow. 

[ArmouredSprue]

Very well done mate. I really like the overall  look of it.

Cheers

[Procopius]

19 hours ago, tonyot said:

before being destroyed by the CIA who were concerned at such a large number of military aircraft on their doorstep,......

Great builds as always Tony, but the CIA wasn't established until 1947.

[tonyot]

9 hours ago, ArmouredSprue said:

Very well done mate. I really like the overall  look of it.

Cheers

Thanks mate.

 

7 hours ago, Procopius said:

Great builds as always Tony, but the CIA wasn't established until 1947.

Cheers,...... well OK,.... the US Secret Service. 

[stevehnz]

Really nice Tony, I've got one of these in stock too, as well as several Hasegawa branded ones. I do like what you've done with this, an 805NAS one is in my long term, aren't they all? , plans.

Steve.

[Navy Bird]

Great stuff, Tony! What's not to like about the Buffalo, eh? I have four in the stash at present - the Hasegawa kit and three from Special Hobby. Plus, I already built one from Special Hobby, so I guess you can say I like Buffaloes! Do you have the new-ish Ginter book on the Buffalo? Great reference material.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Wulfman]

Lovely job on the Buffalo, excellent modelling !

 

Wulfman

 

Hi Navy Bird

Should we be calling you Buffalo Bill ?

 

Cheers Wulfman

 

 

 

[Mark Joyce]

Very nice Buffalo, Tony.  It looks good in those colors!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[Touvdal]

As always super build with references, 👍😀

 

Cheers

Jes

[tonyot]

On 4/30/2020 at 4:19 AM, stevehnz said:

Really nice Tony, I've got one of these in stock too, as well as several Hasegawa branded ones. I do like what you've done with this, an 805NAS one is in my long term, aren't they all? , plans.

Steve.

Thanks Steve,...... aren`t they all indeed eh! Keep plodding along and ticking them off one by one!

 

6 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Great stuff, Tony! What's not to like about the Buffalo, eh? I have four in the stash at present - the Hasegawa kit and three from Special Hobby. Plus, I already built one from Special Hobby, so I guess you can say I like Buffaloes! Do you have the new-ish Ginter book on the Buffalo? Great reference material.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill,...... I`ve never built the special Hobby kit. I do have a Hasegawa kit somewhere with a resin wing update with opened gun bays,.... but can I find it,.....can I hell!! I`ve bought another one of these kits too,...... quite fancy doing a TSS 805 NAS Buffalo too,...... as I`m 60% sure that some were painted in this scheme,...... some of the Martlet III`s were along with ex RAF Hurricane`.s

No I don`t have the new Navy Wings book,.... although I have heard that it is good, it is just a bit too expensive for me.

6 hours ago, Wulfman said:

Lovely job on the Buffalo, excellent modelling !

 

Wulfman

 

Hi Navy Bird

Should we be calling you Buffalo Bill ?

 

Cheers Wulfman

 

 

 

Thanks Wulfman,.....  and I do like that nickname!

6 hours ago, Mark Joyce said:

Very nice Buffalo, Tony.  It looks good in those colors!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Thanks Mark, I`m a sucker for anything in roundels!

3 hours ago, Touvdal said:

As always super build with references, 👍😀

 

Cheers

Jes

Cheers Jes and glad you like the added info. 

 

Thanks again folks,

Cheers

          Tony