Airfix 1/48 Buccaneer S.2 for 2022!

[Calum]

19 hours ago, Geoff_B said:

And like the 72nd RN kit still has the chaff mounting plates beneath the engines that were added later when in RAF service, So B- for research,  as this was pointed out on their 72nd 2SC kit 

 

 

This seems like a whinge for whinges sake.

To me the inclusion of these mounting plates seems like a sensible engineering choice to me.  If they were omitted you'd need to have a whole new mould for that sprue for the RAF versions.  The clearly adds expense for little gain, especially as they can be easily sanded off by the modeller. The instructions just need to state this.  As others have pointed out even mighty Tamiya does the same thing, as does Eduard.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Calum

[RichG]

17 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

That engraving on the zoomed in pic of the bomb bay plate looks far, far, better to my eye than the oft complained about trenches!

 

Agree TT, that's the first thing I noticed. It looks like the same standard as established for the recent Chippie and Vampire. Very nice it looks and hopefully it will satisfy the majority of us and to the extent that surface detail is no longer an issue for Airfix looking forward.

 

Rich  

 

PS Gosh that box art is gorgeous isn't it... makes me want one even though I was intending to hold out for the eventual RAF version.

Edited April 2, 2022 by RichG

[Shaun]

21 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said:

That engraving on the zoomed in pic of the bomb bay plate looks far, far, better to my eye than the oft complained about trenches!

 

TT

Looks like the open bay is molded with the Fuselage and you drop in the underfuselarge part to show the bay closed..neat.

Question for the experts...Did the battle flight Bucanneers at Llarbruch, park with the bomb bay open to allow access to the We177?

[tony.t]

This kit is just looking better and better. Thankyou Airfix. 

 

Two from the Ark pour moi, one with folded wings and one unfurled, the latter maybe with white undersides or a recce tray or both.

Wonder if Black Dog come up with the recce tray? 

 

Am now wondering what to do with the delightful diddy 1/72 boxings. Of course, you can't have too many Buccaneers. As Lord Mountbatten used to say in his time, laying down cards with Buccaneers and TSR.2s printed on them, "you can have three of these [Buccaneers] for the price of one of those". Sadly that's not true in modelling terms, but inflation and all of that.

 

Sheer joy in a box. The next best thing to a tube with a bottle of Laphroaig. 

 

Tony 

 

[wadeocu]

For anyone interested in the accuracy minutiae, I confirmed with the references that Martel was not operational with the RAF until Oct 74 and 809 received them in Oct 75.  The box art and kit should have low-vis roundels and the kit should offer the parts for the belly light swap around to accurately portray a Martel armed Buccaneer.  Not a big deal really as I have spare roundels and could fill the hole for the light, glue the light on in the correct spot behind the bomb bay door, and scratch build the little blade antenna.  There are also some other minor differences involved with these parts, but this would satisfy me on the accuracy front.  This will all be moot when the second boxing comes out next (hopefully ) year. - Jack

Edited April 4, 2022 by wadeocu

[Homebee]

Schemes

Source: https://uk.airfix.com/community/blog-and-news/workbench/fighting-colours-fleet-air-arms-buccaneer

 

 

 

 

V.P.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Homebee

[Scooby]

On 4/1/2022 at 9:12 AM, TEXANTOMCAT said:

That engraving on the zoomed in pic of the bomb bay plate looks far, far, better to my eye than the oft complained about trenches!

 

TT

They certainly do look great, they aren’t WWI trenches!

[wadeocu]

Things are shaping up.  They sorted out the yellow/gold wings for the 801 version making them pale blue as they should be.  They also caught the error with the serial number for XV162.  Also pleased to see that they sorted out the box art with the low vis roundels rather than the three color roundels with which it premiered.

 

Some errors remain with the color callouts: the inside of the airbrakes should be in the same light blue grey as the gear bays, not EDSG:

 

 

The only other issue I note is with the color callouts for the Martels.  I believe the datalink pod and the missiles (TV and AR) should be in white.  I am less certain about the datalink pod pylon but my suspicion is this was likely LAG.

 

 

 

 

I am not completely certain about this, but I have never seen photos of Martel gear in EDSG for 809 Buccaneers.  My theory is that Martels were painted with RAF service in mind.  809 became operational with Martel in October 75 and there were only a few years left for FAA Buccaneer operations.  By this time the RAF Buccaneer force and 809 were intertwined.   My belief is that the Martels were painted with the LAG underside of the RAF Buccaneers in mind even though they stuck out like a sore thumb on the bottom of an EDSG 809 Bucc.  My guess is that they left it alone and perhaps had a plan to repaint Martels if 809 ever went operational with these weapons which never happened. Martel colors in Buccaneer service have been discussed here before (from whence these photos came) : 

 

 

Nothing here that can't be overcome by ignoring the instructions on the color callouts, but perhaps worth mentioning for those who care about such things.

 

Super excited for the release date; can't be too much longer now right?! 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by wadeocu

[David H]

On 4/1/2022 at 5:47 AM, sniperUK said:

And they are easier to remove than add, it takes two minutes with a sanding stick. 

i know!!

-d-

[amos brierley]

On 5/23/2022 at 6:33 PM, wadeocu said:

The only other issue I note is with the color callouts for the Martels.  I believe the datalink pod and the missiles (TV and AR) should be in white.  I am less certain about the datalink pod pylon but my suspicion is this was likely LAG.

 

I’m very much not sure of the white theory, this Martel looks to be Light Aircraft Grey.

 

And the data link pod as well.

 

Just for discussion purpose’s.      

[wadeocu]

On 5/25/2022 at 1:21 PM, amos brierley said:

I’m very much not sure of the white theory, this Martel looks to be Light Aircraft Grey.

And the data link pod as well.

Just for discussion purpose’s.      

 

Amos - I too have thought that the Martel color is something short of stark white but I don't think they were LAG.  The picture above is the best one I know of to see this:

 

 

You can see the difference between the LAG pylon and the top part of the pod.  Notice the same color difference for the adapter and missile versus the pylon on the outboard station. 

Edited June 1, 2022 by wadeocu

[Muzz]

Wonder when there will be a definitive release date other than 'summer 2022', 1 June today which definitely makes it summer 2022 now.

[SeaVenom]

On 4/2/2022 at 12:30 AM, colin said:

Pity with all the cad work that's done when developing/making kits nowadays they couldn't do the crew not as identical twins

I know that with 99% of completed kits they won't be used but

 

 

Tamiya are experts at that also.  Even when making multiple figures they have the same faces and often bodies as well.   And I like to have pilots and wouldn't be surprised if many others do too.   Typical of model companies having a one track mindset sometimes   It's bugged me for years now how many kit reviewers do the standard seatbelts etc and not pilots as if everyone thinks the same.  Sometimes no doubt it's because the reviewers can't paint figures very well if at all yet some/many model companies think that's what everyone wants

[wadeocu]

Shouldn’t be long now; PJ is strapping in to deliver mine now I think:

 

[wadeocu]

Oh and then there is this:

[Greg B]

3 hours ago, wadeocu said:

Oh and then there is this:

 

The question is who is offering the best discount though

[Black Knight]

3 hours ago, Greg B said:

 

The question is who is offering the best discount though

A quick reckoning;

Airfix, with Club Membership, = -10% (£7.25) and free postage

Hannants, pre-order = -10% + either £4.30 or £13.95 postage (Parcel Force) - will depend on the size of the box

Jadlam, pre-order = - 0% + free postage

[Greg B]

Hannants is probably the best option for me. Export prices = 20% off ( 10% discount, another 20% off for VAT but then 10% back on for the Aussie version of VAT (GST)). Postage with Hannants is always pricey though.

 

Edit - Just checked. Jadlam knocks off the VAT and postage is a lot cheaper (£12 compared to a similar sized kit with Hannants at £27).

[One 48]

Its a bigger box than I expected ! I cant wait

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 4/1/2022 at 12:08 PM, Homebee said:

 

Test sprues !

 

 

 

 

V.P.

It will take me ages to scrape away all those ejection pin marks.

[Bozothenutter]

21 hours ago, wadeocu said:

Shouldn’t be long now; PJ is strapping in to deliver mine now I think:

 

Well if that is the pilot included....

[salomon]

Won't want this pilot without the accurate flying suit. Any release information there?

[PLC1966]

On 1/19/2022 at 9:50 AM, Richard123 said:

People who can't afford it can't buy it! But they may still want it. 

I have the same problems wanting to buy, I can't afford so I will carry on with my 2001 Suzuki, sometimes you just have to buy what you CAN afford.

[Calum]

On past experience It will be considerably cheaper from the far east... Will just have to wait longer. 

 

[wadeocu]

First look (well closest look to date at least) inside the box:

 

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/airfix-a12012-blackburn-buccaneer-s2cd-first-look?utm_campaign=kmw social&utm_content=214593126&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-633337750041055