1/48 Airfix Buccaneer S.Mk.50

Gallery Article by Malcolm Reid on Dec 8 2010

 

This is not the best kit around – soapy plastic which doesn’t seem to respond to Tamiya super thin glue as well as one would expect. The kit comes in a large box complete with two warped fuselage halves….hmm….

Anyway, having read all about the horrors of this kit, it was one insane day that I thought I’d start to build it. 2 years of on and off building later, I was very pleased with the finished product. It looks like a Buccaneer and the warped fuselage pieces, once glued together, were straight !

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I wanted to build a late version South African Air Force version as used in the border war in Angola (rather effectively I might add). This was fitted with the bulged bomb bay with integral fuel tank.  But the kit I had was of the early model without the bulged bomb bay. Solution : turn the kit bomb bay part upside down, add some plastic card detailing, 4 bombs and, presto, one neat open bomb bay. I added another 4 bombs to the wing pylons for a full operational load – couldn’t have been much fun being on the receiving end of a fast low flying Bucc !

I used the Neomega kit cockpit which is an absolute must in this scale. The kit parts are lousy. The build was tedious with many applications of Milliput – I swear half the mass of the final model is attributable to Milliput. Other bits and pieces added were the RWR, comms and nav antennae and rear fuselage chaff dispenser pods unique to the SAAF birds. I dropped the flaps and placed the speed brake in the open position – this required adding a fair amount of detail simulating the speed brake actuating mechanism.

My subject model was for a late colour scheme SAAF Buccaneer, similar to the well preserved sample at the SAAF Museum at Swartkop Air Base in Pretoria. Colour scheme was matt extra dark sea grey upper surfaces and PRU blue lower surfaces. Paints used were :

  • Extra dark sea grey – 30 parts Model Master gunship grey FS36118 with an overspray of mix 50% FS36118 / 50% Tamiya X-2 white
  • PRU blue – 30 parts Model Master FS35164 + 30 parts Tamiya X-2 white + 5 parts Tamiya X-14 blue

Weathering was accomplished with pastels, sealed under satin varnish. No national insignia were carried by operational Buccs late in the war. Anyway, it now has pride of place in my collection. It’s a truly magnificent machine. It also now seems as if Trumpeter will be releasing a 32nd scale version in the near future (if the internet forums are correct). Can’t wait !

Thanks to Gary in New Zealand for the kit !

Malcolm Reid

Photos and text © by Malcolm Reid