AIRFIX 1:48 H.S. BUCCANEER
Reviewer: Gavin Dore (rec.models.scale)
The Hawker Siddley Buccaneer was designed as a low level ship-attack aircraft for the Royal Navy and served with them since the mid 60's. The aircraft also served with the South African Air Force where they saw action in local skirmishes with Angola and other regional confilcts. The aircraft has since been retired from service with it's last remaining years under RAF command as a ground attack aircraft. It only saw action in the Gulf War of 1991 assisting Tornadoes in the ground attack role but only as a target marker. The Royal Navy surrendered Buccaneers to the RAF when it retired the last of the aircraft carriers it could take off from in the 70's, this also affected the British Phantoms. The remainder ships of supposed aircraft carrier specification were only able to handle STOL aircraft like the Harrier. Personally I was sad when I learned this aircraft was no longer in service and it prompted me to get a replica for my own sentimental values.
Like most enthusiasts it was the brutish aura this aircraft projects that has made me a fan of the Buccaneer for a long time. I once had an old 1/72 version (I can't even remember the producer) which was equipped with a movable bomb-bay, but this has since found its way into the garbage after many years of fondling!! Anyway, on opening the large Airfix box you are presented with a light grey injected plastic that unfortunately contains a number of mould imperfections and sink marks. Compounding this disappointment is the fact that some flash is evident and I could see that a few fitting problems were also going to be encountered, without having even attempted any dry-fitting! The scribed panel lines and rivets are clearly oversized although not overly exagherrated.
The quite well set out instruction booklet comprises a number of well-detailed drawings and is reasonably easy to follow. I would advise you to skim through the instructions first, in particular colour references for internal parts, as sometimes they are not disclosed until you have assembled the region - for example the interior being coated light grey was not disclosed until after you had assembled the unit and affixed inside the fuselage! Colour codes are referenced to Humbrol enamel paints and you will find these annoying (unless you use Humbrol of course) because only the paint number is given, that is the actual colour names are not disclosed. It is therefore worthy to have a Humbrol listing on hand for cross referencing with colour names and other popular brands.
As with nearly every model I construct, the larger parts - wings, fuselage, etc - are subject to a dry-fit test before I commence production. My fears of fitting problems above were confirmed, which would ultimately mean a painstaking process of further preparation work - thankfully I was in the mood. The fuselage halves are quite clearly warped and many of the parts are not aligned correctly. This is further established when the alignment pins were not allowing a good fit. I have since found that this is not an isolated problem after having since read other people's reviews of this kit. So that is a warning that must be heeded before you even contemplate getting this model.
Once I commenced construction I found that these areas all required a lot of attention as well as new problems arising in other sections. You must be prepared to spend a lot of time sanding down areas before glueing, filling in with putty and rescribing panel lines. This presents quite an effort that is all of challenging, rewarding and frustrating in various degrees. The real areas of problem are the instrument panels, wings, fuselage, intakes, exhaust, bomb bay, main wheels and speed brakes. These are all covered a bit more starting with the paragraph below on the instrument panels. You will also find some other less frustrating stumbling blocks that will still require their own amount of attention. As with most airfix kits the plastic is soft (evidenced by the fact that it easily warps) so extra care needs to be taken when removing parts from the sprue - otherwise you will have torn bits to contend with. One further point to add is that you will need a sufficient weight in the nose with undercarriage down to keep the model on the ground.
You start with the cockpit unit and as already pointed out this is supposed to be done in Hu64 (Matt Light Grey) which is not advised until later in the instructions. The instrument panel provides a few problems because the console, dials and so forth are supplied by way of decals that are not the correct size to be applied to the panel areas. A bit of cutting and repositioning will overcome this with minimal of fuss.
I have already stated that the fuselage was badly warped and this will require quite a bit of patience to get a good fit. This is also the case with the wings and unfortunately their warping remains in the finished product - however you can display them in the folded position which will hide the warp problem. The alignment pins were giving me problems so these were removed and I ended up glueing the fuselage parts with plenty of clamps, rubber bands and other clamps on hand. Again this was not a huge problem but patience and attention does need to be heeded for the best result. The wings were a much harder task to get right because it included the intakes and exhaust area as a complete section. The intakes did not align correctly so these were sanded back and fixed with filler before they would fit properly and I would further recommend painting before fixing to the model because I found out later it was a hard task on a finished product! The exhaust area was not quite so cooperative and even with a lot of sanding, filling and rescribing this problem could not be overcome and I had to be content with a poor fit in the end. When painted over and with the malicious use of filler the problem is not quite so discernible on the finished product, but I can see it every time I look at it sitting on the model shelf!
The bomb bay and speed brakes are next tackled and both require attention to attain a decent fit. I noticed that the instructions and kit states that the speed brakes are formed on the inside of the aircraft, where in fact, they are on the outside. This problem is only a minor one because the mounts can be reversed to have them on the outside but alas, it doesn't quite look right once you have done this! But it will be your call if you have the speed brakes open or closed in the finished product. Furthermore, they also require a lot of care to fix properly and like the bomb bay you can glue components in sections, let them dry before continuing on. This will at least save some headaches and wall bashing on fitting to the aircraft itself. The main undercarriage needs its own isolation of attention but concerns relate more to its fiddly construction than problems with fit. However, you may strike some resistance when trying to attach to the aircraft (if you are like me and construct the undercarriage separately first) so it's worthwhile to put it all on while it's still drying and allows some flexibility.
Having overcome the main frustration points you can then move onto underwing stores and canopy (which thankfully I had no real problems with). There are a number of antennaes to attach and there is also some windscreen wipers to attach as a separate item. Weapon and stores options are a plenty with a choice of different pairs of bombs, rocket pods and two pairs of underwing fuel tanks. My model was finished with underwing tanks on the inside pylons and rocket pods on the outer pylons that were exposed with the wings folded, speed brakes open and cockpit uncovered. It actually looks quite good on the model shelf next to an FGR.Mk 2 Royal Navy Phantom II in a similar folded wing configuration.
Another good aspect about the model is that you have the choice of four aircraft types to replicate with the finished model, being an S2 (800NAS), S2C, S2D (both 809NAS) and S.Mk 50 (24 Sqdn SAAF). I opted for an S2D Buccaneer finished in overall Dark Sea Grey using the Humbrol references provided. There are a heap of decals to affix to the aircraft and it will take many hours to complete the task. Quality of the decals was reasonable as they were thick and did not stand out really well on the model, but with the right aftermarket accessories you should still be able to get a good finish. The end product in my opinion also needs to emanate a gloss sheen when compared to colour pictures.
In conclusion, I found this kit to be a big disappointment in terms of ease of construction. The fits were terrible and I expected more in a kit that has only been a recent Airfix release. However, with enough attention and work you can overcome all the problems and have a very good finished product on your model shelf, and apart from the speed brakes and exhaust area it seems accurate in every regard. To be honest, on the plus side I found the whole experience quite rewarding and it certainly tested my skills. For that reason I would only recommend the kit to advanced model builders as this is well within their limits. Those modellers of lesser skill will most likely be embroiled in fits of frustration and perhaps find the challenge a little too much so this needs to be taken into account before going ahead with the purchase.
Finally on a personal note, having overcome all the problems and feeling very satisfied with my efforts, if I were to build another 1/48 Buccaneer I would most likely look elsewhere for an easier kit. This I am inclined to actually take up since a Gulf War RAF version or a SAAF example seems quite appealing.
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