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Blackburn Buccaneer S.2C/D (A12012) 1:48


Mike

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Blackburn Buccaneer S.2C/D (A12012)

1:48 Airfix

 

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The Buccaneer needs little introduction to most British aviation enthusiasts, as it was in service for a long time, first in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, and latterly with the RAF after remaining airframes were handed-over, performing a similar strike role in both branches of the British armed forces.  The Buccaneer was originally designed by Blackburn for the Royal Navy, which is why even the RAF aircraft retained their folding wings and arrestor hooks. Blackburn was later rolled into Hawker Siddeley, hiding away its lengthy heritage.  It was designed to a rugged low-level attacker that was to approach below the enemy’s radar horizon, and also had a reputation as a highly-stable weapons platform that although it was just sub-sonic could leave behind other more modern aircraft in the weeds if things got down and dirty.

 

After the last British aircraft carriers were retired at the end of the 70s, the hand-over to the RAF was completed, and older airframes were scrapped due safety concerns after an accident, leaving them with a fleet of around 60 aircraft that served until 1994 when the Tornado took over the tasks it had been carrying out.  The type proceeded from initial S.1 variant to S.2, ditching the underpowered De Havilland engines for the powerful Spey engines that were also used in the Nimrod and British Phantoms amongst others.  This required a larger intake to gulp-down sufficient air to feed the engines, and later the S.2B was further upgraded to carry Martel missiles.  The S.2A moniker was reserved for former FAA airframes after they had been converted for use by the RAF, while the C was the Navy’s name for the S.2A, and the D were former Naval airframes upgraded to S.2B standards.  The last hurrah of the Buccaneer was during the first Gulf War, lasing targets for the Tornados it flew with in the event they encountered problems with their own pods.  They were instrumental in the destruction of many bridges in Iraq, and they were also sent to dive-bomb airfields and bunkers either solo, or with lasing provided by other aircraft.  On its return from the Gulf, it was decided that they were no-longer needed, and were retired early, despite having been substantially upgraded at great cost just a few years earlier – typical!  Their role was taken over by the Tornados after they had been upgraded to operate the Sea Eagle anti-shipping missiles the Buccs had been carrying.

 

 

The Kit

This is NOT a reboxing of the old 90s era kit, which suffered from soft detail and a difficult fuselage to close up neatly.  This is a 100% brand-new tooling from Airfix, sharing only the colour of the box and the fact that it has a painting of a Buccaneer on the top.  The kit arrives in a large top-opening box, and if you consider part count to be a value indicator, you’re getting almost 300 of them on the seven sprues that are in a darker grey styrene than usual, reminiscent of the Extra Dark Sea Grey scheme that it often wore in service.  There is a single sprue of clear parts, a large decal sheet and a thick instruction booklet that has three glossy colour and markings profiles inside.  First impressions are excellent, with lots of delightfully fine detail that includes panel lines and rivets, as well as raised details where appropriate, at odds with the comical lie that the Bucc was hewn from one billet of airframe aluminium.  Amongst the parts you get a very detailed cockpit, gear bays, engines, boarding ladders, an open port engine bay that even includes a handy styrene mask for painting, a contoured box inside the nose for the nose-weight, detailed bomb bay, airbrake in the tail and a broad weapons load, plus a set of FOD guards for the intakes and exhausts.  That’s an impressive list of features that even includes two pilot figures, although they are sadly still suffering from the hands-on-laps pose that dates back to the 80s and beyond.  Such a minor gripe that it’s hardly worth mentioning, especially as many folks don’t use pilot figures anyway.

 

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Well, that’s my two old Airfix Buccs pushed right to the back of the stash then.  I’m still smiling though, because this kit looks like it’s going to be a monster in terms of sales and detail.  It’s clear from the outset that the A-team has been in operation on this project, and they’ve put in a lot of overtime to create a model kit that looks like it’s going to be a big seller if there’s any justice.  The decal sheet is similarly well-detailed with lots of stencils and dials for the instrument panels that should add to the realism of the cockpit from the outset.  Before you break out the tools, you need to make a decision on which of four weapons loud-outs you are planning to deploy on the wings and in the belly of your Bucc.

 

Version A

2 x TV Martel anti-shipping missile

1 x Martel AS.37 Anti-Radiation Missile

1 x Martel Data-Link Pod

 

Version B

2 x Matra Rocket Pods

2 x ‘slipper’ Fuel Tanks

 

Version C

4 x wing-mounted 1,000lb iron bombs

 

Version D

4 x Bomb-Bay mounted 1,000lb iron bombs

 

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Construction begins with drilling the necessary holes for your chosen weapons scheme, which takes up four pages with various diagrams used to assist you with the decision.  A further page shows the location of the various internal decals that are used throughout the build, although they aren’t mentioned on the actual instruction steps, so a bit of cross-referencing might be in order to prevent missing some out.  They are all within the cockpit however, so that shouldn’t take long.  We finally get to cut some parts off the sprues to make up the two Mk.6 Martin Baker ejection seats, which consist of six parts each, with large multi-part cushions and the overhead pull-handles that initiates the ejection process in the event of an emergency.  The seat building process is carried out twice, then the rear-seater’s instrument panel is made up with a recess on the front mating with a block on the back of the pilot’s launch rail, adding decals to the panel and the headbox of both the seats.  The cockpit tub has the nose gear bay glued under it, needing just the aft end cap adding to box it in, then the side consoles are detailed with top surfaces that lock in place on shaped depressions, and accepting decals later to improve the detail.  The pilot’s instrument panel is started by adding rudder pedals behind the centre, and adding the short L-shaped control column into the slot in the front of the panel, before it and the rear bulkhead are joined to the rest of the cockpit, followed by the two seats, the forward one also holding the rear instrument panel.  In preparation for the closing up of the separate nose portion of the fuselage, a container is made up from two halves, which has large I-shaped bars running down the sides, and inside you are told to put 15 grammes of nose weight before closing the lid on it.  It’s a fancy feature that should make the fraught task of avoiding a tail-sitter a thing of the past, cramming lead shot into spaces to your best guess.  The nose sides have cockpit sidewall detail moulded-in, which is improved further by adding extra parts, and if you are planning on using the included boarding ladders, you should drill some holes where indicated.  The nose weight fits into the port half of the nose weight on its I-tab, taking care to glue it home fully.  The cockpit slides into the port nose half, and should click into position thanks to a tab on each side of the rear bulkhead that clips in place on a shape secreted in the rear of the nose helves.  Gone are the days of mushy cockpit positioning, which is another improvement.  The nose is glued together and sets up, then the pilot’s coaming and gunsight are popped on top, finishing off the work in that area for now.

 

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As mentioned, there are detailed engine fronts included, plus their trunking that penetrates deep into the fuselage and out the other side, with an almost full engine in the port side nacelle that can be displayed.  The first parts are the exhaust trunking halves that are paired on a cross-brace and the helves fit together using four circular depressions, and also includes some framework for the main gear bays, which is painted a different colour.  A bulkhead straddles the two tubes and incorporates the rear walls of the main bays, with another at the forward side that clips onto a large tab.  Another bulkhead slides into the rear of the exhaust trunking tubes, and two perpendicular panels slide in between the two aft-most bulkheads to strengthen the assembly, and provide surface detail for the inner walls of the main gear bays.  This part of the assembly can then be inserted into the lower fuselage half, which has the rotating bomb-bay roof moulded into it.  The intake trunking is mounted on a similar cross-brace with two circular alignment pins, then is butted up against another bulkhead that has engine front-faces moulded into them.  You are incited to build the next few steps whether you intend to display the engine or not, as it will make aligning the parts much easier down the line, and I’m not going to argue.  The shell of the port engine is made up from two halves, and attaches to the rear of the forward bulkhead behind the intake trunks, with some detail painted necessary before you insert them into the fuselage in front of the aft assembly.  Some additional tubing is laid over the top of the engine as it will appear through the hatch if you are leaving it off, but omit these parts if you are leaving it closed.  A curved plastic part is included with the word ‘MASK’ etched on it is surfaces that can be used to protect your hard work on the engine during the painting of the exterior of the model.  Pretty cool, huh?  If you are displaying the engine, the upper fuselage needs a little work, removing the access panel that has been helpfully partially chain-drilled for you from the inside, making the task simply a case of attacking it (carefully) with a scalpel, with a scrap diagram showing the correct angles to cut through the thickness of the fuselage.  A side wall is glued in place in preparation, then the fuselage is left to one side for a moment, before it is shown again over the page, where you are incited to paint the main gear bay rooves and drill out some holes in the spine if you are folding the wings.  The fuselage halves are then joined only if you are folding the wings, where you are advised not to glue the aft bulkhead as it will help with alignment of the two halves.

 

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The wings are started by making up one of two types of fairings that project from under the leading edge of the wing, then the ailerons, all of which are made from two parts each.  The decision of whether to fold the wings or not is down to you, but bear in mind that RAF aircraft retained their wing-fold mechanisms, and there are photos of them with wings folded on airfields, despite their original reason being to save space below deck on a carrier.  The folded option involves inserting ribs into the wing roots that have spikes projecting from the top to receive the outer wing panels, which are next to be put together.  These are two parts each, and you are told to remove the fifth vortex generator from the inside edge, adding your choice of tubular fairings, the clear wingtips that incorporates the wingtip light, ailerons and actuators, and inner rib that has receivers for the prongs on the wing folds.  The port wing also has a long pitot probe mounted on a fairing below.  For closed wings, a spur on the outer panel is removed, as is the fifth vortex generator, then an A-frame insert is placed in the recesses inside the wings before they are joined.  The wings are glued into the lower wing roots within the raised guides, then the upper fuselage can be glued down, again without gluing the aft bulkhead.  The same painting and drilling is done before the two halves are glued, as per the repeated diagram.  If you have elected to expose the engine, a brace is glued across the bay, then the bay door and a small part are fixed in place on four hinges that slip under the edge of the bay.  Again, the mask part is included for your convenience during exterior painting.

 

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The Bucc has an area-rule era coke-bottle shaped fuselage, so has a bit of a fat butt, which is made from a separate section to the main fuselage.  The tail is split vertically into two parts, and has an aft bulkhead inserted during closure, after which the tail-hook insert is glued into the gap in the underside of the assembly, followed by gluing of the tail and the nose to the main fuselage assembly, taking care to align everything neatly to remove or reduce any remedial work.  The larger S.2 intake trunkings are slotted over the interior trunk surface, and they are topped off by a handed lip, and again it’s best to ensure good fit here before applying glue.  The exhausts have inner and outer skins too, and these slide inside each other before being attached to the rear of the fuselage either side of the tail, with the short flap-sections made up from top and bottom halves and fixed next to the exhausts either flush, or raised at up to 40°, next to the ailerons that can be offset to 30° by changing the actuator part out.  The final flying surface is the legendary T-tail, which starts with the fin that’s made from top and bottom halves, mated with the now usual circular locating tabs, then it’s glued onto the moulded-in tail fin.  The fairing on top is two more parts, with a choice of forward and rear bullet fairings, separate elevators and rudder panel, all of which are single parts each and can be deflected if you wish.

 

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The Buccaneer has a split tail cone that acts as the air-brake, which was a weak-point of the old kit, but doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case with the new tool.  To display it open, you begin by assembling two outer skins on a W-shaped support, then inserting the three peaks into the rear of the brake surfaces, which are moulded as one, and have some nice rivet detail moulded into them.  The surfaces are boxed in at the rear by the fairings that give it the tapering profile it achieves when stashed away, adding a short bulkhead and a triple-linked tube before sliding the air-brake assembly into position, with a scrap diagram showing the correct orientation of the tubes diagonally within the assembly.  The closed air-brakes are simple by comparison, comprising two halves and a central bulkhead that creates the vanes at the top and bottom of the fairing.  It slots straight into the rear of the fuselage, so is quite the appealing option if you’re intrinsically lazy, in a hurry, or just don’t like masking.  The arrestor hook is added later by choosing a deployed or stowed Y-shaped base, actuator to get the correct angle, and the hook itself with a small blade aerial next to it.  A pair of blade antennae and two probes are also fixed under the nose while the airframe is inverted, with an aux-intake further back on the fuselage.

 

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Under the belly of the Bucc is an innovative rotating bomb bay that you can either pop the lid onto and carry on with the rest of the build, or put the effort in and detail it further.  The process begins by adding an insert with clear light forward of the bay, with another insert at the rear, and a detail insert in the front of the bay that is used for both options.  The closed bomb bay can then be covered up and you move one, but if you plan on showing off that nice detail within, there are five lengths of hose/cable fitted within, plus two thick trunkings added into the main gear bays nearby.  The bombs are fitted later if you plan on using them.

 

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The gear of the Bucc was sturdy to cope with constant hard landings and catapult launches from the deck of a carrier, so all the struts are moulded in halves with some of the wider sections hollow inside to reduce the likelihood of sink-marks.  Some bright spark will probably make metal inserts to toughen those up further.  The three wheels are each moulded in halves, with a flat-spot on the bottom to simulate weighting, although all the wheels are shown as not glued in place, presumably so you get the flat spot on the bottom consistently.  Once the gear is done, flooding the links with glue should prevent them moving again if you don’t want to faff about every time you move it in the future.  The nose gear leg slots into the bay with a retraction jack behind it, and a single bay door running down the length of the bay.  The main gear legs fit into a hole in a rib and onto another rib, making for a strong bond, then they have their curved doors fixed to the edge of the bay with three hinges that slot under the side. A decal is applied to both the main gear legs at front and back, which is good to see, as stencils make models look more detailed.

 

Before applying the glazing to the cockpit, you should choose whether to install the pilots, which have a detailed painting guide next to them, then a blast-shield is placed between the two pilots, and a choice of two windscreens, only one of which has a wiper, so you can use aftermarket Photo-Etch (PE) wipers if you’re a detail upgrader.  This is definitely a model designed by modellers.  The main canopy also has two parts, one with the det-cord breaker moulded-in and the other without it, so you can use alternative methods such as PE or decals to replicate the det-cord.  Another helpful addition.  You can close up the canopy or depict it slid back to just over the rear pilot’s seat using either of the two parts.  The Bucc’s big L-shaped refuelling probe is inserted into a recess on the nose, and the spine is decorated with antennae and lights depending on which decal option you have chosen.

 

The weapons included in the box are well-detailed, and have inserts for some of the Martel missiles to give them more realistic thickness fins.  The weapons set includes the following:

 

2 x TV Martel Anti-Shipping Missile

1 x Martel AS.37 Anti-Radiation Missile

1 x Martel TV Guidance Data Link Pod

2 x Matra Rocket Pods

2 x handed slipper tanks

4 x 1,000lb retarded bombs

 

All the weapons have pylons that are suitable to their station, some of which have additional parts to thicken their mounting-points, and the bombs have either pylons for wing-mounting, or cleats for mounting inside the bomb bay.  All the weapons and fuel tanks have stencils and a painting guide included on the main sheets.

 

The model is complete now, but Airfix have helpfully included a number of extras that will give your model some additional visual interest.  There are two crew ladders with separate stand-off brackets, one for each pilot that are fixed side-by-side to the nose using the holes drilled initially before the model was completed or even begun if you’re prepared.  There are also Foreign Object Debris (FOD) guards for the intakes and exhausts, which have nice engraved detail, and the exhaust blanks have a T-shaped handle that is fitted to the centre of the part.

 

 

Markings

The Bucc didn’t wear many schemes during its long and illustrious career, but what it lacks in diversity, it makes up for in number, with four options on the sheet, each of which has a side of glossy A3 in full colour devoted to it to assist you with painting and decaling.  An additional one-sided sheet shows where all the many stencil decals are placed, avoiding duplication and over-complication of the other sheets of diagrams.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

  • Buccaneer S.2D No.809 Naval Air Sqn., HMS Ark Royal, August 1978
  • Buccaneer S.2C No.801 Naval Air Sqn., HMS Hermes, 1969
  • Buccaneer S.2C No.809 Naval Air Sqn., RNAS Lossiemouth, Scotland, 1970
  • Buccaneer S.2C No.803 Naval Air Sqn., RNAS Lossiemouth, Scotland, 1969

 

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Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Ooooh.  I’m excited!  This looks to be an awesome replacement for the old kit, and the detail is excellent, as is the engineering that has gone into the making of the kit.  Add to this the useful extras such as the ladder and FOD guards, and we’re onto a winner.  It’s a Buccaneer too, which is just another reason you want one.

 

Extremely highly recommended.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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BTW - the sprues have come out quite a bit lighter than they look to the Mk.1 eyeball.  However, the lightness shows off the detail nicely, so I didn't do anything about it.  Also, the close-ups show the lighter areas where cut-outs of details are, which is kind of interesting too :)

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And here I thought I was going to restore my old Buccaneer. I'm going to have to save up my nickels and dimes for this one. I doubt that I'm on Father Christmas' good list to get one from him.(Last Time I enquired I was at the top of the naughty list ,Highlighted, annotated and embossed as to not miss. even without spectacles.:fight:)

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This kit looks like it’s been scaled up directly from the recent 1/72nd scale kits so there are a number of reinforcement plates on the wings and the chaff/flare launcher mounting plates under the engine tailpipe fairings that will need to come off for earlier airframes.  If the mere thought of this work puts you off building this kit please forward your unwanted examples directly to me and I will ensure their safe disposal being stuck together.

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Mine arrived yesterday. 🤩

 

A comparison with my "Stash" 1/48 Buccaneer from the past suggests that the new offering will be far better, and importantly, easier to build. The previous version had, shall we say, "issues" in getting the upper and lower fuselage halves to properly align. I may yet drive myself mad by building both, the old one with white underside, XV156 from 800 Squadron as per HMS Eagle, 1966 and the new one as a S2D, XN981 on Ark Royal August 1978. Either way, I'll need a lot of Extra Dark Sea Grey... 

 

I suspect that we will see a later release of a RAF version! I seem to recall that back in the day Airfix did this and at one point boxed 2 kits together in one box.  

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35 minutes ago, 224 Peter said:

Mine arrived yesterday. 🤩

 

A comparison with my "Stash" 1/48 Buccaneer from the past suggests that the new offering will be far better, and importantly, easier to build. The previous version had, shall we say, "issues" in getting the upper and lower fuselage halves to properly align. I may yet drive myself mad by building both, the old one with white underside, XV156 from 800 Squadron as per HMS Eagle, 1966 and the new one as a S2D, XN981 on Ark Royal August 1978. Either way, I'll need a lot of Extra Dark Sea Grey... 

 

I suspect that we will see a later release of a RAF version! I seem to recall that back in the day Airfix did this and at one point boxed 2 kits together in one box.  

I think that was a packaging error, I remember it well, was 2005, two for the price of one! 

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On 8/5/2022 at 10:27 PM, Mike said:

Also, the close-ups show the lighter areas where cut-outs of details are, which is kind of interesting too :)

 

Cut-outs, or cuts-out?

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Uhh, this looks very good... I can feel my wallet shivering already... It's a steep price, but the kit looks well worth it, especially with all the "modeller friendly" details. Looks like Airfix is following Tamiya philosophy... Well done, well done!!

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Can't wait to receive my ordered one.....

Looks great!

On 8/6/2022 at 2:34 PM, Nick Belbin said:

Looks fabulous. I hope Airfix will now revisit the 1/48 Jaguar giving us the trainer option as well.

 

Nick

That would be very nice.

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Just now, Fred piket said:

Looks great!

You are not wrong. :) Just remember the styrene is a little darker thank in the pics, and you'll be fine ;)

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40 minutes ago, luis pacheco said:

Can we expect a 1/48 Mk.2B until the end of the year ? 

No, Possibly next year but we'd have to wait until the 2023 catalogue is announced at the beginning of January.

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1 hour ago, luis pacheco said:

Can we expect a 1/48 Mk.2B until the end of the year ? 

My kit hasn't arrived yet but I think it's an easy job to produce an early RAF jet as issued to 12 and XV Squadrons.  Biggest problem is likely to be some of the stencilling.

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5 hours ago, luis pacheco said:

Can we expect a 1/48 Mk.2B until the end of the year ? 

 

The kit is obviously set up for an RAF release, hence the chaff/flare mounting plates under the jet nozzles. There have been no announced plans for it to be released this year so I suspect it will be either for next year's announcement or maybe even beyond that depending on their other plans.

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9 hours ago, ModellerMick said:

Can anyone confirm whether the TV Martel screen in the rear cockpit is included. I can’t see it on the sprue pictures. The same screen was used for Pavespike so that’s a major omission for tha RAF Bucc.

The Martel screen is provided on sprue A

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Apologies for the negativity on an otherwise great looking kit, but I've just looked at the sprues on my kit and there are sink marks on parts 34, 35, 36, 37, 15 & 16 on sprue G. They are on all 4 of the main U/C leg halves and 2 of the instrument panels. Part 16 is easy to fill and take care of but the others are a lot more tricky due to the surrounding detail. I notice the parts on the pics in this review also have the same sink marks.

Do I contact Airfix and ask for replacements? The reason I ask is that I haven't had much luck in the past with replacement parts as usually the replacements are no better than the originals or I get told that there are no parts available.

I suppose there will be AM available for the instrument panels but probably not for the U/C parts. Considering the kit is £72.00, no one should have to replace parts that are defective. QC yet again seems to be Airfix's Achilles heel.

 

On a positive note, the kit looks really good with great detail, good quality plastic and hopefully goes together well. It's going to look very impressive once built. Well done Airfix. 

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35 minutes ago, andyrowe said:

Apologies for the negativity on an otherwise great looking kit, but I've just looked at the sprues on my kit and there are sink marks on parts 34, 35, 36, 37, 15 & 16 on sprue G. They are on all 4 of the main U/C leg halves and 2 of the instrument panels. Part 16 is easy to fill and take care of but the others are a lot more tricky due to the surrounding detail. I notice the parts on the pics in this review also have the same sink marks.

Do I contact Airfix and ask for replacements? The reason I ask is that I haven't had much luck in the past with replacement parts as usually the replacements are no better than the originals or I get told that there are no parts available.

I suppose there will be AM available for the instrument panels but probably not for the U/C parts. Considering the kit is £72.00, no one should have to replace parts that are defective. QC yet again seems to be Airfix's Achilles heel.

 

Sink marks are pretty much inevitable on styrene injection moulded kits, as the moment you get any thickness, you also get shrinking as the plastic cools.  I've seen sink marks on pretty much every kit I've bought or been given, and when you're talking about a kit with such detail, you can't avoid it, you can only minimise it.  If you sent every kit with sink marks back, you'd not have a stash.

 

That's why Bod invented filler, after all.  If you smear a little bit here and there (preferably over the sink marks), sand back the excess, LO!!! the sink mark is gone.  That wasn't meant to sound sarcastic, just dramatic :)

 

I've obviously seen the few sink marks on my review sample, and I'm not even slightly concerned about it spoiling my fun. :yes:

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