AMAZING SEAT FOR YOUR MODELMAKER’S DEN

SMN report:

Here's an ejection seat from a Royal Navy Buccaneer strike bomber, cleaned up and mounted on a custom metal frame. Just the thing for a talking point at a gathering of modelmakers -  or for reference in superdetailing that latest model!

AIRFIX BUCCANEER STRIKE AIRCRAFT TO 1:72 SCALE

David Jefferis reports
Airfix continues its renaissance with this kit of a classic Cold War-era strike aircraft, the British Hawker-Siddeley Buccaneer. Airfix provides us with parts to make three versions of the low-level twin-jet attacker, the S2B, S2D, and the South African export model S50.

The kit has plenty of detail, though thank goodness Airfix no longer features some of the non-working ‘working’ parts of the very first NA39 kit, back in the early days of the company. I well remember the ‘rotary bomb bay’ that was warped, ill-fitting, and that didn’t do the job as advertised!

The present kit features 114 parts, with a wingspan of 185 mm (7.3 in) and length of 267 mm (10.5 in). The undercarriage can be assembled up or down. The Buccaneer comes packed in the now standard, and highly attractive, new-style Airfix box.

The video shows the aircraft and crews of 12 Squadron, Royal Air Force, taking part in the 1978 Exercise Open Gate. This was a NATO exercise aimed at keeping the Straits of Gibraltar open during a possible conflict with Warsaw Pact forces.

Video courtesy Central Office of Information for the Ministry of Defence (RAF).

The Airfix Buccaneeer is available from model stores and online suppliers including Amazon here.

AWARD-WINNING 1:72 SCALE BUCCANEER STRIKE AIRCRAFT

Seeing the Buccaneer gracing the cover of that 1961 RAF Flying Review had us thinking about the kit situation for the ‘Battler from Brough’. The first one was the old Airfix 1:72 scale kit, which had a rotating bomb bay and positionable air brakes, but also came with some poor-fitting components, and very basic detail levels. The crew figures were classics of their kind - barely human in appearance, too small, and really fit only for ejection into the bin. Since then there have been various upgrades, including the bigger and better 1:48 scale version - but even here, accuracy buffs (aren’t we all) have had to use after-market detail sets to produce a show-quality model. Sadly, the Matchbox and Frog offerings haven’t been much better.

Well, quality arrived from Eastern Europe with a resin kit from Czech Master Resin (CMR), a company that has resolved all the accuracy issues nicely with its 1:72 scale Buccaneer. As the eye-candy pictures show, here is a model worth building, though it’s fair to say that resin kits need more work from the model maker than a well-sorted injection production. Various parts - wings, tail, canopy, flaps, nose - can be displayed open, closed, up or down. The cockpit is a particular joy to behold, with levels of detail that would be good in 1:48, let alone 1:72, and metal-etched parts are included for this.

CMR is really going for it in the detail department, and constantly upgrades support information. This Buccaneer, for example, comes with a well-produced photo-booklet which will have precision-freaks smiling with pleasure. SMN is not the only observer to rate this kit - the respected German magazine Modell Fan awarded it ‘Model of the Year’, and you can’t get better than that.

The model in the pictures was made by Jaromir Senft from the Czech Republic, as the aircraft appeared for Exercise 'Red Flag 77' in August 1977. It’s built straight from the box, and there are a total of 14 alternative markings supplied by CMR. Well done, all concerned.

You can visit CMR here.

The CMR Buccaneer is available from online suppliers, including Hannants here.

Squadron can also supply CMR products here.

Pictures courtesy Czech Model Resin