Adam Poultney Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I intended to do this ages ago, but have only just made a start. I will be building it wings up and pretty much straight out the box. I’ll put up more later as I have to go to work now 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 There was a really convenient place to chop the wings, a deep panel line that you’d expect where the joint is. And dry fitting without the internals shows that the fuselage halves area a bit warped Taping the major parts together shows just how big buccaneers are The tail subassembly goes together well enough, and I’ve started painting some of the internals and cockpit parts 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 The internal structure was built up and the wheel wells painted. All so far by brush. A bit of the nose weight was added here, superglued in and blue tack just to be sure, as apparently its difficult to get enough in the nose. After almost ending up with a tail sitting Vulcan in the Christmas Blitzenbuild, I really don't want to end up with a tail sitting Buccaneer. At least Vulcans have been known to tail sit in the snow.... You might not notice there are some pipes missing.... yeah I didn't either. The instructions call for them to be put in later, but I intended to put them in before the exposed bit of jetpipe went in, knowing just how awkward parts like that can be. Oh well, guess I'll see if Airfix's instructions are sensible or not with those parts... I'm quite enjoying this so I might jutst have to get an S1 conversion set for one of these..... I mean really, look how good the S1 looks! Anyway back to the Airfix S2, instrument panels. All brush painted still. The radar screen was blue but is, as pointed out by a friend who knows a lot more about Buccaneers than I do, supposed to be orange. So I dug out a clear orange I have from doing wargaming models (I think it's intended for doing helmet lenses or gems) and that seemed to work nicely enough. The fuselage was sealed up, for which I needed rather a lot of pegs to hold it together, I don't think I took a photo of that... After that I attached the rear of the aircraft to the main part of the fuselage. This needed some filler but should end up ok. I also dry fitted the wing fold mechanism parts. They didn't fit properly as the upper half wasn't glued down properly. Nothing a bit of Tamiya Extra Thin and some pegs didn't fix. I have been dryfitting everything three times at least before gluing on this kit 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Cockpit done, just need to add some lead in the nose and seal it up. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 The nose weight was added, test fitted to make sure nothing would stop it fitting, I took off the other half of the nose so you can see the nose weight in there The nose was then attaches, followed by some parts of the tail and the remaining parts of the intakes. Some filler definitely required. I will be attaching underwing tanks, so they have been assembled 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James88 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Loving the build so far and I’m following along if you don’t mind as I got this kit for Christmas however I’m going to build it with a twist. It’s going to complete my RAF lineup of Gulf War aircraft so ordered some extra decals for it 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 On 06/01/2021 at 22:16, James88 said: Loving the build so far and I’m following along if you don’t mind as I got this kit for Christmas however I’m going to build it with a twist. It’s going to complete my RAF lineup of Gulf War aircraft so ordered some extra decals for it great to have someone along for the build, I'm not sure if you can build a gulf war one from this box though, I think you might need the rebox 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 The folded wings were assembled, but are not glued on so I can paint them separately, I blue tacked on a pilot for scale because wow! I didn’t realise how big the buccaneer was, despite having been up close to them before. canopy masked and general application of filler 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Looks good! The copious interior detail seems to be balanced out by an indifferent fit. The FROG one I built last year had exactly the opposite characteristics! If you're going to build an S1 I would have to vote for all over anti-flash white. Regards, Adrian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 14 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: Looks good! The copious interior detail seems to be balanced out by an indifferent fit. The FROG one I built last year had exactly the opposite characteristics! If you're going to build an S1 I would have to vote for all over anti-flash white. Regards, Adrian I think it'd be a toss up between doing one in white or one like Newark's 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James88 Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 On 11/01/2021 at 09:50, Adam Poultney said: great to have someone along for the build, I'm not sure if you can build a gulf war one from this box though, I think you might need the rebox I’m hoping it is just a case of needing to buy armaments/decals to make it into a Gulf War edition as from what I’ve found online the airframe was the same, mainly avionics differences between the S.2B and the S.2C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 Looking good ,looking forward to seeing the finished piece of work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 30 minutes ago, James88 said: I’m hoping it is just a case of needing to buy armaments/decals to make it into a Gulf War edition Sorry to dash your hopes, but the current FAA boxing does not have the necessary parts to make a GW1 Bucc. It doesn't have the later style slipper tanks, bulged bomb bay door, RWR mods to the fin top fairing or the correct chaff/flare fits. The good news is that all of these will be included in the upcoming RAF boxing due to be released in the not too distant future. Mark. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallBlondJohn Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 If you are building a 1960s RN Buccaneer you need to remove the chaff dispensers and strengthening plates the RAF added later and therefore present on the example Airfix LIDAREd. Or you can argue that you are building that exhibit as it is now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James88 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 19 hours ago, Harry Lime said: Sorry to dash your hopes, but the current FAA boxing does not have the necessary parts to make a GW1 Bucc. It doesn't have the later style slipper tanks, bulged bomb bay door, RWR mods to the fin top fairing or the correct chaff/flare fits. The good news is that all of these will be included in the upcoming RAF boxing due to be released in the not too distant future. Mark. Great information and thanks for saving me from impending doom whilst trying to convert my FAA one. RAF Airfix one now on pre-order and going onto the build list 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted March 5, 2021 Author Share Posted March 5, 2021 Well it's been a while. I've built a few other models since I took a break from this build, but I'm back to this to finish it. So I added a bunch of bits, here everything is blue tacked together. Unfortunately just as it was taking the wings and gear off I managed to drop the model by holdibg it by the airbrakes which really wasn't a good idea; it fell upsidedown snapping the refueling probe clean in two. Thankfully it was an easy fix and the build was back on track soon afterwards. I ran into a larger problem soon after though, I ran out of white primer and couldn't get any for a few days. Oh well, I needed the time for college work (5000 word essay which I somehow managed to do on V Force testbeds, that's a lot of work!). Once I had more primer, I finished priming the model and went onto painting. This is where I'm up to now. Next I will begin to do the metallic leading edges and a few other details. The wings are still removable to be painted separately 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 Looking good, despite its unintentional flight! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 On my build, the BLC Air Ducts (parts D39 and D41) installed okay late in the game with just some careful maneuvering work with a pointed tweezers. A drop of Krystal Kleer in the sockets secured them in place nicely. -d- 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 On 05/03/2021 at 10:22, AdrianMF said: Looking good, despite its unintentional flight! Regards, Adrian Hopefully that will be its last flight.... This is one Buccaneer the really should stay grounded. On 05/03/2021 at 17:06, David H said: On my build, the BLC Air Ducts (parts D39 and D41) installed okay late in the game with just some careful maneuvering work with a pointed tweezers. A drop of Krystal Kleer in the sockets secured them in place nicely. -d- I don't know if I mentioned this further up in the thread but I did end up getting them in with some careful manoeuvring. If I build another, I'll have to make a note to put them in at the right time because it was a bit of a pain. Anyways, with the main colour now on, I painted on some more detailing. The metallic leading edges were the first bits I did and then the canopy framing. I noticed that some masking had become loose, so I took it off to check if the primer has gotten underneath. Unfortunately, it had. The primer I use really does not like to come off clear parts. Thankfully there was only a very small amount so most was successfully removed, it's not so obvious now, I'll simply display it with that side facing towards the back of the cabinet. Today I decided I've been overworking myself on A Level work so if limit myself to a couple of hours of integration and then finish this. The canopy was roughly remasked, I planned to varnish the framing by brush (I would be doing for a gloss finish on the final coat after decals). The first ones were the underwing serials. These need to be cut for folded wings. Oddly, the two schemes provided seem to have them in different positions, so if anyone knows why serial placement was inconsistent on Buccaneers, I'd love to know. On Vulcans it seemed far more consistent apart from a few airframes which had them wonky (I can't remember which airframe but there's a photo of some seriously wonky serials on a B1a I think). Someone also had the bright idea to have the serials go in such a place that the underwing tanks would obscure the last digit. The other part which was cut off ended up not getting used as it would be like 99% covered and I'd glued the tanks on before painting. A lot of decals, a second gloss coat and some light weathering later, I had a completed model by the evening. I decided to leave the wings unglued, friction holds them in place well enough - less chance of breaking the joint if the Buccaneer tries to fly again. Anyway it's 3am and I need some sleep. I'll post up more pictures and an RFI thread tomorrow. And if anyone knows where I can get some nice intake covers for a 1/72 Bucc, I'd quite like some 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 RFI with more photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Congratulations, excellent build. I unfortunately picked the earlier release on Saturday morning. I had a weekend to myself and thought, why not a speed build. Unfortunately the earlier Buccaneer release doesn't end itself to a quick build. Raised panel lines little in the way of panel line detail, empty intakes, ill fitting speed brakes... No wonder Airifx wanted to redress the ills of this kit. Unfortunately the new kit hasn't yet arrived in Sa, otherwise I would have gone that route. I enjoyed your build, thanks. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 I'm gonna have to scratchbuild some intake covers myself. Congrats on getting her over the finish line! It's a good kit, but not one to be rushed. -d- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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