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Green Leader - Rhodesian Air Force Canberra B2


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Cockpit assy glued into the one fuselage half. Note mark II gizmology bombsight put in to fill the space in the nose somewhat. Bears absolutely no relation to the real thing, whatsoever, but looks suitably busy when fuselage joined

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Fuselage halves joined up - fit was perfect, unlike the B(I)12, which was a nightmare

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Wings and tail feathers added, pics to follow. Overall, so far, this has been a fun build, I have not had to shout scream and curse, the dogs still love me and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. AND, joy is me, the un detailed rear bang seats cannot be seen in the closed fuselage, so that gamble paid off :winkgrin:

Mike

Edited by Nwanda
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And as is all ways the case, a wee dram of Scotlands finest to reward myself for this tranche of work :drink:

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Edited by Nwanda
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Hi all - looking at the installed bomb bay, and the bomb carrier? they look awfully bare. Though they wont be seen, it will worry me that there should be something in there - I have flown in a canny, but never seen its bomb bay .... Anyone got photos of this area? I can put in gizmology, but would like it to sort of resemble the real thing

totsiens

mike

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  • 3 weeks later...
Generally out of the box with the adittion of a NeOmega bang seat and MAV decals

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Hi Nwanda,

I have notice the serial number on your MAV decal sheet. This serial belonged to a Vampire FB.52 (ex SAAF 251).

de Havilland Vampire FB.52  R1378 VO674 SAAF 251 Feb-75 wfu late 1981, to Australia 1988

All the Canberra serials had the number 5 inserted into the old RRAF serial.

Here are the Canberra serials:

English Electric Canberra  R2005 SH1624/SBH2365 WH867 Jun-59 RRAF159/RRAF200. wfu Sept 1977

English Electric Canberra  R2051 71125 WH653 Jun-59 RRAF160/RRAF201. wfu Jul 1971

English Electric Canberra  R2502 71137 WH662 Jun-59 RRAF161/RRAF202. wfu Mar 1979

English Electric Canberra  R5203 71150 WH672 Jun-59 RRAF162/RRAF203. w/o 03 Oct 1979

English Electric Canberra  R2504 71173 WH707 14-Jun-59 RRAF163/RRAF204. wfu Aug 1979. to Military Museum, Gweru

English Electric Canberra  R2055 SH1612/SBH2353 WH855 Jun-59 RRAF164/RRAF205. wfu

English Electric Canberra  - SH1628/SBH2369 WH871 04-Jun-59 RRAF165/RRAF206 wfu Feb 1967

English Electric Canberra  - SH1640/SBH2369 WH883 04-Jun-59 RRAF166/RRAF207 wfu Jul 1968

English Electric Canberra  R2085 71116 WJ571 Jun-59 RRAF167/RRAF208. PR mods 1971, wfu Jul 1978

English Electric Canberra  R2059 HP159B WJ572 Jun-59 RRAF168/RRAF209 wfu Dec 1971

English Electric Canberra  R2510 HP165B WJ578 Jun-59 RRAF169/RRAF210. w/o 16 Nov 1971

English Electric Canberra  - HP173B WJ606 Jun-59 RRAF170/RRAF211. wfu Nov 1963

English Electric Canberra  R5212 R/R3/EA3/6627 WK108 Jun-59 RRAF171/RRAF212. w/o 28 Oct 1969

English Electric Canberra  - HP179B WJ612 Jun-59 RRAF172/RRAF213. wfu Apr 1966

English Electric Canberra  R2514 HP158B WH664 Jun-59 RRAF173/RRAF214. w/o 05 Apr 1974

English Electric Canberra  R2155 71132 WH658 Mar-61 T.4 RRAF173/RRAF215. conv to B.2 Jun 1972, reconv T.4 Nov 1974, wfu Oct 1977

English Electric Canberra  R2156 71152 WH674 Mar-61 T.4 RRAF174/RRAF216. conv to B.2 1970, wfu 12 Jan 1977

English Electric Canberra  R2175 HP180B WJ613 Mar-61 T.4 RRAF175/RRAF217. wfu Nov 1974

English Electric Canberra  XR2158     1970 B.2 composite from spares (mainly R2065), wfu 30 Oct 1971

English Electric Canberra  R2519     1972 B.2 composite from spares*, conv PR duties 1975, wfu 03 Dec 1981

Hope this helps you to find the one you are looking for.

Love the cockpit detail. How much weight did you have to use in the nose to prevent it tail sitting. I know my B.2 took a very large amount.

Any chance of some more photos of it.

:speak_cool:

Phil

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Hi Nwanda,

I have notice the serial number on your MAV decal sheet. This serial belonged to a Vampire FB.52 (ex SAAF 251).

de Havilland Vampire FB.52  R1378 VO674 SAAF 251 Feb-75 wfu late 1981, to Australia 1988

Love the cockpit detail. How much weight did you have to use in the nose to prevent it tail sitting. I know my B.2 took a very large amount.

Any chance of some more photos of it.

:speak_cool:

Phil

Hi Phil, quite correct. The decals are for the Vampire, but measurement indicated that the larger wing ones are a pretty close match to the size of the fuselage ones on the Canny, and the flashes will be juggled a little. Serial numbers to be cut and paste. As with the RhAF, improvisation is the order of the day. I am not overly worried about being an inch or two out, having an attitude of doing this for the fun of it. Thanks re the cockpit - I have had little chance to do much more on it - have more photos but still need to upload, which I cant do from home because I run on 3g there, and cant do at work coz to busy :fraidnot: I didnt bother with weight, as I intend to nail the thing firmly to the base. I tried weight with the SAAF one I am also doing, and a solid lead canny doesnt appeal to me, so will nail that one to a base as well!!! BTW, there is a set of decals out there - foreign canberras? That not only shows a canny with Rhodie markings as being zimbabwean, but also has them wrong, and as far as I can determine no canny ever ever had upper wing markings.

Ciao

Mike

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wings and tail feathers attached

b1.jpg

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First base coat of matt white sprayed on - I used a rattle can for this. The intention is to get the faded and uneven finish so evident on late war RhAF aircraft - the African sun plays havoc with paint, and toward the end the Rhodies usual meticulous standards had slipped seriously - there just wasnt time to paint and perfume :D

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b3.jpg

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Preshading done, again an attempt to get the worn look. I have never done this before, and this is also the first time I have made use of an airbrush in over 25 years - rather chuffed with myself :speak_cool:

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b8.jpg

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Put on the dark earth - underside is entirely dark earth, top sides are dark earth and dark green. The RhAF Cannies originally had pale blue undersides, but these stuck out like sore thumbs in the Highveld sky, so the dark earth was experimentally applied and a test done by flying over Salisbury and being looked for by ground observers. The traditional blue underside a/c were easily spotted, the brown finish could only be seen once they emitted contrails. So brown it was ...

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The photos dont clearly show it, but the finish is exactly as I hoped it would be. Next step is the green and then attach all the bits and we are about done

Mike

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And completely gratuitiosly and merely to indicate an obsession with Rhodesia, my toy room ....

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:offtopic: but it is my thread :thumbsup:

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