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Another 1/48 Buccaneer S.1


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3 minutes ago, heloman1 said:

Wow, speedy progress, looking every inch the part. Only once ever touched a Buccaneer, to pump up the port tyre!!!

 

Colin

 

 

They also serve...  Practically makes you QS, I'd say!

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Just now, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

 

 

They also serve...  Practically makes you QS, I'd say!

Thanks Crisp, a Wessex man, excepting for a few months on Gannets at Culdrose with 849 NAS. The Bucc was a pre air day job at Daedalus.

 

Colin

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I imaging getting Buccaneers in & out of Daedalus was quite sporty; I operated a Lynx from Lee for a few days in 1989 (supporting some radar trials at Portsdown which I have long forgotten), and we used to get regular noise complaints even then.  Mind you, the local estate agents had started to describe Daedalus as "the disused airfield" by then, so I guess it's not that much of a surprise that people didn't like it when they found out the Navy was still using it.

 

[In the Tower at Culdrose there used to be - and possibly still are - two low flying complaint files; one for all the complaints received from the entire South-West peninsular... and the other for the complaints from a single farm called Gilly Gabbern (don't you just love Cornish names?).  Gilly Gabbern happens to be about 150 yards from the threshold of runway 30 at CU, which is the longest r/w into the prevailing wind, so the fixed-wing duty runway for approximately 80% of the time.  It is offset slightly to the North of the r/w centre line, which puts it smack bang on short finals for all the front line rotary-wing squadron dispersals on the NE side of the field.  Since in my era there were something like 12 squadrons operating out of CU, making it the busiest airfield (in pure aircraft movement terms) in Western Europe, this farmhouse got a LOT of overflights - we were all warned to avoid it as far as we could, but that was pretty much impossible a lot of the time.

 

Legend has it that the owner was sold the house during main Summer leave, when the only movements would be the daily SAR Wessex check flight plus any live SAR shouts - and even those were from 771's dispersal half a mile away from Gilly G.  He bought the house... and then we all came back from Summer leave.  I have no idea whether that is actually true - but this guy certainly used to make 2 or 3 low flying / noise complaints EVERY DAY... Hence his own special file.]

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I haven't been back here for about a month. You are making superb progress on this one Neil.

 

Very much looking forward to seeing the zillions of tiny jobs happen and this one finished!

 

I have an S1 in my future (with several S2's) but all in 1/72. Might be tempted to upscale for a Buccaneer though. Probably my favourite fast jet of all time.

 

Terry

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@Terry1954 thank you for kind words: I have been making progress and I'm nearly there!  Right now I'm 'doing' the ejection seats while various beacons and aerials have been added. One last task is waiting for a delivery form Hannants tomorrow: a pack of 1/32nd inch stripes.  The reason?  Having examined several photographs and then this video, I realised that earley Buccaneers appeared to have the bomb bay marked with black lines.

 

This is the video:

 

and here is the relevent still:

 

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One of the beacons and the VHF aerials:

 

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And finally the ejection seats:

 

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Thanks again for your interest: hopefully my next post will be the big reveal!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

Edited by neilfergylee
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49 minutes ago, 71chally said:

Excellent progress, really does look the part.

 

I've never seen reference to the bomb door having black lines, it looks like the gap and sealing strip to me.

 

Thanks, I'd appreciate your opinion.  Take a look here (this is the correct video) and let me know what you think:

 

 

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Yes I have watched that before a few times, I do think it's a gap and sealing strip, it is a bit gappy on the real thing, probably due to the nature of how it operates.  Either way, using a decal to represent it isn't a bad idea.

Another really good film for you to watch is a colour RN Instructional film  called 'The Buccaneers' which features extensive footage of 800 Sqn Buccaneer S1s on  HMS Eagle in your build timeframe, it really is fantastic and useful stuff to watch, and is narrated by Bob Hollness.  I have it on DVD but occasionally it can be found on YouTube.

Just now seeing your work on a bigger screen, fantastic work, especially in the time you've done it in.

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@71chally thank you for that.  As an aside, YouTube is a goldmine for such videos and - yes - the Bob Holness film is quite remarkable.

 

I'm going to add the decals and for anybody who is interested, here is the rest of the task list:

 

  1. Add weapons bay decals.
  2. Add remaining stencil decals (these early Buccaneers weren't the stencil-fest of later marks).
  3. Apply light dusting of satin varnish to airframe to seal the decals and provide a consistent finish.
  4. Mask airframe and add Mr. Hobby Steel to inner wing blow ducts and tailplane leading edges.
  5. Apply very light weathering.
  6. Attach undercarriage.
  7. Attach Pilot's HUD and windscreen.
  8. Fit ejection seats and canopy (half open).
  9. Attach outer wings.
  10. Keep an eye-out for Coastal Kits' HMS Eagle deck surface.
  11. Stare lovingly at the finished model.
  12. Spot all the errors.
  13. Get the camera out.

Why do we torture ourselves like this? 😂

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

Edited by neilfergylee
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This is really super stuff

 

i have a Maintrack conversion in the stash for an S1 - has a whole new forward fuselage to address the intake/fuselage join. It’s an intimidating lump of resin. Dont know if i’ll dare use it given its rarity - fear of botching it.

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On 10/14/2020 at 8:39 AM, neilfergylee said:

Thank you!  Somehow, adding decals brings it to life.

 

Neil

It’s an odd fact that.  Decals can bring a paint job that you perceive as a bit dull to life.  And a really good paint job can seem a bit off when the decals go on.  Looking great.  I built a couple of dark sea grey & white 1/72 Airfix Buccs with a gold nose as a kid.  Always liked the Navy Phantoms, Sea Vixens & Buccaneers.  Who else remembers that 70s TV series on the last trip of the Ark Royal?
 

But for me it was always the Honnington wrap around camo Buccaneers.  Remember them flying at the Mildenhall shows.  Fast & low.

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1 hour ago, Vlamgat9 said:

This is really super stuff

 

i have a Maintrack conversion in the stash for an S1 - has a whole new forward fuselage to address the intake/fuselage join. It’s an intimidating lump of resin. Dont know if i’ll dare use it given its rarity - fear of botching it.

 

41 minutes ago, bar side said:

It’s an odd fact that.  Decals can bring a paint job that you perceive as a bit dull to life.  And a really good paint job can seem a bit off when the decals go on.  Looking great.  I built a couple of dark sea grey & white 1/72 Airfix Buccs with a gold nose as a kid.  Always liked the Navy Phantoms, Sea Vixens & Buccaneers.  Who else remembers that 70s TV series on the last trip of the Ark Royal?
 

But for me it was always the Honnington wrap around camo Buccaneers.  Remember them flying at the Mildenhall shows.  Fast & low.

Thank you both!  I didn't know the Mainmtrack conversion came with a complete nose - go on, you know you want-to!

 

Take a look here for that wonderful series: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sailor+ark+royal

 

Meanwhile, the final lap is always the hardest.

 

I painted the bare metal parts and found myself having to repaint the nosecone as a run of the satin varnish had caused a little damage.

 

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All was fine, undercarriage attached and then I tried the wings.  I thought a dab of superglue and all would be wonderful but I was very, very wrong!  Noting stuck so I needed a 'Plan B' quickly.

 

The approach I took as to attack strips of photoetch brass to the outer wings and then fold the strips to engage with the PE mountings.  That works - just - and so I decisded to add props that are used to hold the wings in place when the aircraft is not in use.  That seems to be working but I need to paint the props.

 

Here is the result.  Not perfect but not bad:

 

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Finally, here is a shot taken last night.  Not quite done, lacking undercarriage doors and the HUD needs installing but I am very close.

 

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Thank you for all your kind words: hopefully the next image will be of the finished article!

 

Cheers,

 

Neil

Edited by neilfergylee
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14 minutes ago, Vlamgat9 said:

I think Maintrack did one that was just the intakes but it was really designed to fit their forward fuselage hence the fettling required to fit without it

And - God - was there some fettling!

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