Jump to content

Bruntingthorpe Buccaneer


Deanflyer

Recommended Posts

Right...see that bloke waving out of the back of this Buccaneer trundling down the runway at Bruntingthorpe? That's me, that is...

buccme2.jpeg

 

I was lucky enough to be the backseater in the last public run at a Cold War Jets Day at Bruntingthorpe last August, and had a whale of a time. Of course, I've got to make a model of the event, and after collecting together an Airfix 1/48 kit, a set of decals for the correct squadron markings, and an PE cockpit set, I finally made a start. I'm going to try to recreate XW544 as she was on the day I climbed aboard, complete with all the weathered paintwork, my pilot Ollie in the front and an excited passenger waving out of the back.

buccme1.jpeg

 

It's going to take a bit of doing, but I'm game. Wish me luck!

 

The PE set had been covered in some sort of primer by a previous owner, so I set about cleaning that off with solvent. This was the fret afterwards:

bucc1.JPG

 

And this was after most of it had been installed:

bucc2.JPG

 

I'm not going too mad on cockpit details, as with two crew figures in place not much of it will be visible. Talking of crew, the two moulded blobs in the kit were pretty much unusable, so I trawled through my spares box and found a few Canberra pilots I had going spare. Just the thing. A bit of surgery on the figure representing me, to get me waving convincingly and looking over at my adoring public:

bucc6a.JPG

 

Then it was time for a couple of scratchbuilt oxygen masks, oxygen hoses, and a pull-down handle for Ollie's helmet visor, as he was wearing an earlier mark of helmet than my 3c:

bucc6.JPG

 

Then, with a lick of paint (and I'm no figure painter), some home made decals for the shoulder patches, some masking tape seat straps, some wire ejection handles and a lot of test fitting, the crew were installed in their seats:

bucc7.JPG

 

bucc8.JPG

 

Then it was time to detail up the cockpit surrounds a bit. Some detail was scratchbuilt for the cockpit coaming, and a set of rails for the canopy were also scratchbuilt and installed:

bucc3.JPG

 

After paint:

bucc5.JPG

 

Then it was time to test fit the cockpit and seats to see if everything was going to fit:

bucc9.JPG

 

bucc10.JPG

 

Close enough for me... (Photo credit Steve Page)

buccme3.jpeg

 

See what I mean about not much being visible with the crew in place?

bucc11.JPG

 

Then it was time to begin the endless puttying and sanding needed. The intakes have a prominent step inside the lip, and this was the result of several rounds of putty-sand-repeat:

bucc16.JPG

 

The next step was to close the fuselage halves, which was done in stages, working around the airframe. The resultant seams have been the subject of several rounds of PSR, and I'll show those in the next instalment...

 

Keep watching folks...because I'm watching you!

buccme4.png

 

Cheers,

Dean

Edited by Deanflyer
  • Like 27
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What an amazing experience! I wonder if they'll continue with this once settled at Kemble.

 

Beware the warped fuselage and ill-fitting jet pipe area, amongst other things. Looking at that outstanding work on the crew though you'll cope easily with the kit's inadequacies.

 

Cracking start so far.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dean,

Seeing  you in the Buccaneer  at Bruntingthorpe  makes ME smile  as I have  been there twice on their Cold War Jets days.

:heart:   

 

I am very happy to see that you managed to get

a ride on the Buccaneer (they get booked  up pretty  fast.. so missed  out on that  and the taxi run in the VC10  :wicked:.. You Dean are lucky to get it !  )

 

 

How AMAZING  to see you build  this magnificent  Aircraft  that i have seen and heard at close quarters.

:wub:   :yahoo:

Brilliant  start and chuckling at the waving figures.

:thumbsup:

SUPER Neat work.

 

will return to see more. Watching  You !☺️

 

:clap:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers folks...looks like I'll need all the encouragement I can get with this kit!

 

Come on Airfix, were you even trying with the fin? Firstly it was warped so that if you fit it together using the locator pins, it curved to the right like a banana. Then the bottom of the spine extension was too narrow the meet the corresponding part on the fuselage, so had to be shimmed wider at the bottom. Then, after cleaning up the seams, the engraved panel lines don't meet up from one part to the other!

bucc19.JPG

 

From the way the multi-part airbrake goes together, it wasn't ever meant to be displayed closed, and a sink mark in amongst all those raised rivets is hard work to deal with:

bucc15.JPG

 

The jet pipes have a huge locating pin at the open end which needs to be removed, or it'll be very visible on the finished project:

bucc18(1).JPG

 

And whoever moulded the wobbly raised panel lines on the bomb bay needs something painful doing to him. Luckily the real thing has hardly any visible lines, so I sanded them off after this pic was taken:

bucc17(1).JPG

 

Then it was time to get some gap filling done on the fuselage. I started off with brushed Mr Surfacer 500, but soon realised that heftier putty was going to be needed:

bucc12.JPG

 

bucc14.JPG

 

I see lots of sanding in my future...

 

Cheers,

Dean

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dean,

WHOA !! you are making great progress.

 

Flawless  workmanship :

:wow:

 

:clap:

 I assume  you took a lot of  photographs  of the Buccaneer  while you were there ... ergo: wings, wheels, cockpit etc Which could help you in this super duper  build.

 

:thumbsup:

 

 

and Love your Signature  photo too.

:wub:

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Dean. 

 

It was a tad warm on the last taxy-day, wasn't it? Weird to think that August 2019 taxy-day was the last one we're ever likely to see (certainly with that number of aircraft involved, anyway). I'll be interested to see what the Lightning Preservation Group can put on next year. Time will tell... 

 

Would you happen to know if there's any early news / rumours about what the Buccaneers will get up to at Kemble? Will it be much the same as they did at Bruntingthorpe? I've often thought that having someone describe the start-up sequence and other such activities would enhance the day (obviously, not a viable option at Brunters).

 

I've read a lot about the fit issues with the Airfix Bucc - certainly not one of their better efforts! I read one comment about putting the fuselage halves together, describing it as like trying to glue two bananas together. It sounds like you're making a great go at it and I wish you all the best on the rest of your build. 

 

Cheers.

 

Chris. 

Edited by spruecutter96
Correcting a typo.
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, spruecutter96 said:

Hi, Dean. 

 

It was a tad warm on the last taxy-day, wasn't it? Weird to think that August 2019 taxy-day was the last one we're ever likely to see (certainly with that number of aircraft involved, anyway). I'll be interested to see what the Lightning Preservation Group can put on next year. Time will tell... 

 

Would you happen to know if there's any early news / rumours about what the Buccaneers will get up to at Kemble? Will it be much the same as they did at Bruntingthorpe?

It was the best weather I've experienced at Brunty! As far as I know, there's going to be no access to the airfield at all in future, so open days of any kind are a thing of the past, sadly.  At Kemble, the Buccaneers are intending to do fast runs as before according to their FB page, but I'm wondering what sort of crowds it'll pull in if it's just them? At Brunty you got a whole day out for your money, with lots of different aircraft running...

 

Sad. I didn't realise at the time that I was participating in the last open day there. 😞

Edited by Deanflyer
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice.  Must be good to model a survivor where you can go to reference photos. I have one to build & would like to go for Honnington era, but shots of them in detail at the right time isn’t always easy.  More after they moved to Scotland.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off to a great start there, the Airfix Bucc isn't that bad, I must dig mine out which I built to one I got to examine at close quarters in GIB back in 87 !!

 

Don't knock yourself on the figures , my only suggestion would be to give the figures and seats a wash with thinned Tamyia Smoke. This will really make the details 'pop' and once dry just needs a flat coat to bring it all together. I will try and find some I have recently done for comparison.

 

Keep attacking !!!!

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, TonyOD said:

This is awesome! Doesn't it feel a bit weird modelling a tiny version of yourself though?

It does... especially when I cut the head off to reposition it!

6 hours ago, Paulaero said:

Off to a great start there, the Airfix Bucc isn't that bad, I must dig mine out which I built to one I got to examine at close quarters in GIB back in 87 !!

 

Don't knock yourself on the figures , my only suggestion would be to give the figures and seats a wash with thinned Tamyia Smoke. This will really make the details 'pop' and once dry just needs a flat coat to bring it all together. I will try and find some I have recently done for comparison.

 

Oh it is, it is!

 

As for the figures, they were given a wash with a pastel wash, drybrushed with a lighter colour to highlight the folds of the flying suits, and then matt coated. The sides of the seats weren't given the same treatment, as literally nothing of them can be seen once in place. I even painted the two figures' suits a slightly different colour, as my flying suit has faded a bit more than Ollie's- it's been around longer!

 

Cheers,

Dean

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Right, I'm back. It's been a bit manic at this end lately, not least of which was the fact that my Dad had two strokes within a week. 😞

 

Progress report...the rear end of the fuselage is too narrow to meet flush with the closed airbrakes, and had to be built up with successive layers of putty until it met.

bucc20.JPG

 

Best I can do:

bucc21.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

The rear exhaust shrouds were an appalling fit:

bucc22.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

As was the fin to the spine, despite shimming it out earlier:

bucc23.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

So it was out with the putty again:

bucc24.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

After two rounds of putty-sand-repeat, it looked like this...not quite good enough:

bucc25.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

bucc26.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

After a total of five rounds of PSR, it was good enough to have a coat of metallic and a few rivets added, along with the exhaust pipe:

bucc27.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

Then it was time to add the intakes. They were first masked off inside, as it would be easier to do it now than in situ, and glued on as best they could fit. Which was not good:

bucc29.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

More puttying and sanding followed:

bucc31.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

bucc30.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

Surprisingly, the intakes only needed two rounds of PSR before the primer coat showed the joints to be acceptable:

bucc32.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

bucc33.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

I also built some scratchbuilt details to go under the missing wing fold panels, just to busy things up there:

bucc28.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bo

 

All being well, after a bit of tidying up and rescribing here and there, the wings will be next to go on...

 

More when it happens,

Dean

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...