This is the much anticipated first
model kit release from Twobobs.
The T-2C Buckeye is
the USN jet trainer and is powered by two General Electric J85-GE-4 turbojet
engines. The T-2C Buckeye traces it's roots back 50 years to 1959 when the
single engined T2J-1 entered service. There were a total of 231 T-2C
Buckeye produced and overseas customers included the T-2D
for Venezuela (12 built) and the T-2E
for Greece (40 built). The
T-2C Buckeye has a top speed of 521 mph (834 km/h), a service ceiling of 44,400
ft (13,500 m) and a range of 910 miles (1,456 km).
Until now, the only
Buckeye you could buy was in 1/72 and in 1/48 your only option was to
scratchbuild your Buckeye. And considering this aircraft was a trainer for
USN jet pilots that went on to fly the USN fighters that are much loved by jet
modellers, it always seemed odd that a 1/48 Buckeye kit was not available.
But Twobobs
has stepped up to the plate with their new 1/48 Buckeye kit and a variety of
Buckeye decals are also available from Twobobs to permit you to build US
Buckeyes from a variety of Squadrons as well as the Buckeyes flown by the Greek
Air Force (HAF). Two
Mikes Resin is also busy
producing resin detail items to further dress up your Buckeye kit and those
items will be released in the future.
So what do you get
in this first kit release from Twobobs? Quite a bit actually.......it
appears Bob was keen to make sure his customers had a big grin when they opened
up the box.
This kit includes:
-
5 sprues of gray
plastic for the kit
-
2 vacuformed
canopies
-
1 sprue of clear
parts for various lights and lenses
-
A bag of resin
goodies including a resin cockpit and a few other resin parts
-
1 decal sheet to
permit you to build 1 of 2 different Buckeyes
-
A CD Rom with
430 walkaround detail photos of the Buckeye
Click on
images below to see larger images
The kit itself has
recessed panel lines which are quite nicely done. The 2 ejection seats are
made from resin and include molded in seatbelts. These seats are better
than what you would normally expect from injection molded ejection seats, so
going with resin detail parts was a good move. You also get resin side
consoles for the cockpit and various other resin detail parts (control sticks,
rear instrument coaming, and a variety of other parts in cream colored
resin. The rear instrument coaming has well defined wiring detail on the
back of the instruments. You do have the option to pose the control
surfaces for the wings, the tail and the rudder in any position you
choose. The landing gear bays include surface detailing as do the inside
of the gear bay doors. Access panels on the wings and fuselage include
rivet detail. The 2 piece wheels have great looking spoke detail on one
side and very well defined brake detail on the back side.
The 8 page
instruction sheets are well laid out with all you need to get your Buckeye
assembled. The decal sheet is loaded with markings and stencils which will
make the finished model look very good in it's white and orange paint
scheme. Painting instructions are on the separate full color 2 page decal
instruction sheet. The decals are up to the usual high standard we expect
from Twobobs.
The instrument
panels are injection molded plastic with raised detail for the gauges, which
will respond very well to drybrushing.
A sample of some of the
walkaround photos from the CD Rom included with this kit is included at the
bottom of this article.
I did some test fitting of the
main parts and the fit looks very good with no problems that I could
see.
All things considered I am quite
impressed by this kit and what is included. For a small operation limited
run kit, this is a very well designed kit and I can see why they are selling
very fast. This is good value for the money and I look forward to seeing
which kit Twobobs chooses to release next.
This kit
is available through http://www.twobobs.net/
for order to US/US
Territories/APO-FPO/Canada/Mexico. All orders from other countries will be
declined. Price includes shipping of $10.35 per kit.
European customers can secure
this kit from hobby shops serviced by Hannants in the UK.
Far East customers can secure
this kit from hobby shops serviced by Beaver Corporation in Japan.
Steve Bamford
Click on
images below to see larger images
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