Blackburn Buccaneer S.2C by CDW & AJohnson - FINISHED - Airfix - 1:48

[CDW]

Ready to test and touch up a few places if needed, then lay down a smooth coat of primer over the whole model.

 

The S.2D I’m building has a detonation cord in the canopy. Other aircraft I’ve seen have white/light gray colored cords. I’m guessing it’s the same for the Buccaneer. Suggestions?

 

Don't waste any money on aftermarket wheels or antennae for this model. The kit parts are as good and the wheels maybe better than the aftermarket ones. Perhaps they were intended for the old 90’s Airfix kit cause this kit doesn’t need them at all. I do recommend the cockpit set. It’s amazing.

[CDW]

PS: The rings at the front of the intakes are left off as they will be painted silver and added after the rest of the model is painted. Better than masking later IMO.

[shipman]

Foil those rings?

Paint never cuts the mustard on shiny bits.

 

I understand the rings on the Buc intakes are stainless steel.

Edited April 6, 2023 by shipman
additional paragraph

[CDW]

25 minutes ago, shipman said:

Foil those rings?

Paint never cuts the mustard on shiny bits.

That's an option to consider

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, shipman said:

Paint never cuts the mustard on shiny bits.

Depends upon the paint, you want shiny but aluminum looking, Testors Chrome Silver, you want muted but reflective aluminum, Rub-n-Buff over grey primer & Future...

 

Either will give the look of cleaned aluminum, IF, you want the polished mirror look Alcad chrome pen applicator over a perfectly smooth surface primed shiny black...

 

Any of the alcohol based chrome gundam markers will work as well...

[CDW]

These peacocks came struttin’ through my back yard this afternoon. Both are females. The males don’t wander too far from home but send the females to scout around. These things are open season in Florida (for real), considered an invasive nuisance species along with the pythons and iguanas.

[CDW]

8 minutes ago, Egilman said:

Depends upon the paint, you want shiny but aluminum looking, Testors Chrome Silver, you want muted but reflective aluminum, Rub-n-Buff over grey primer & Future...

 

Either will give the look of cleaned aluminum, IF, you want the polished mirror look Alcad chrome pen applicator over a perfectly smooth surface primed shiny black...

 

Any of the alcohol based chrome gundam markers will work as well...

Mr Color has one out called super chrome silver, applied over gloss black through an airbrush. With a clear varnish it looks phenomenal. A couple of other “super” metallics in this particular line. Very fine pigments.

[CDW]

Even though Mr Color Surfacer 1000 goes down very smooth, will wet sand gently with Tamiya extra fine sanding sponge before applying color coats.

[CDW]

With a light wet sanding, the Mr Surfacer primer becomes smooth like glass.

Not sure how well it will show up in the photo but the bottle on the left is Mr Color Dark Sea Gray which will be my top coat. Under it will be the color on the right which is the top color knocked down a few notches with a lighter shade of gray. The combination of the two colors will be to help achieve a slightly worn/weathered look. I will lightly wet sand the top coat until a little of the lighter gray shows through in random places.

[AJohnson]

On 4/6/2023 at 1:12 AM, CDW said:

These peacocks came struttin’ through my back yard this afternoon. Both are females. The males don’t wander too far from home but send the females to scout around. These things are open season in Florida (for real), considered an invasive nuisance species along with the pythons and iguanas.

With seasoning, don’t Peacocks, Pythons and Iguanas all taste like chicken 🐓?  😋

Sorry maybe not the “modern” response required….. I’ll get my coat.  

[CDW]

30 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

With seasoning, don’t Peacocks, Pythons and Iguanas all taste like chicken 🐓?  😋

Sorry maybe not the “modern” response required….. I’ll get my coat.  

Never taste tested any of the three but I have heard from reliable sources that Iguanas are truly good tasting meat. In a tight spot, I can survive but as long as I am able, opt for more traditional domestic food sources. Peacocks are a smelly bird. If they tasted anything like they smell, it would be awful. There used to be (maybe still is) a Rattlesnake Festival near where I live each year. Rattlesnake is on the menu, I've tried it but was not overly impressed with it. Same with Alligator. Ever tried fried frog legs? Alligator tastes a lot like that, a cross between chicken and fish. Gopher tortoises and snapping turtle are absolutely delicious when prepared correctly. 😄 Nowadays gopher tortoises are a protected species.

When my forefathers came to Florida in the early 1800's, it was completely uncivilized, a wilderness. They learned to eat/survive on native game and found creative ways to prepare it so it was good to eat. Time changes everything, food along with it. 

[CDW]

Here’s the model with both shades of gray applied, the top one being the finish color. Next will wet sand to lightly expose some of the lighter shade of gray underneath and hopefully achieve the lightly weathered effect I want.

[CDW]

I think maybe it’s time to break out the new lighting systems my son gave me for photographs. Two bright LED light banks that sit atop adjustable tripods. Each one has a sort of diffuser that softens the light and something like adjustable blinders that help focus the light. Gray seems to be a color that’s hard to photograph to me. I’m thinking that light is the issue.

Edited April 8, 2023 by CDW

[CDW]

With Easter weekend finished got a few more things done on the Buccaneer. Lots of small details to pull together now.

[Jack12477]

Nice painting. Also nice lighting on the model. Grey is a hard color to photograph.  Came out well.

[CDW]

First a pin wash, second a cleanup of the pin wash excess, then last a side by side comparison of with and without the pin wash that captures panel line/rivet detail. Some like it, some don’t. Suit yourself. This gives an idea of what to expect with or without it.

[AJohnson]

I like the wash, suppose you could make it heaviest around the engine and undercarriage / access panels and less prominent elsewhere where less maintenance was done, you are zooming along. Me, well the hall carpet was laid today so the end is on sight, just feel like I’m missing the party here!  Living through you Craig!   

Edited April 11, 2023 by AJohnson

[CDW]

26 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

I like the wash, suppose you could make it heaviest around the engine and undercarriage / access panels and less prominent elsewhere where less maintenance was done, you zooming along. Me well the hall carpet was laid today so the end is on sight, just feel like I’m missing the party here!  Living through you Craig!   

Thanks Arthur. You could also use a lighter shade for the panel line wash. I used black. I’ll be using some oils and pastels for various highlights on the model later on.

[shipman]

I'm always in two minds about emphasising panel lines.

 

I've stood right up close to many aircraft from all era's, yet such details are the last thing to catch the eye.

Nearly always such detail is either absent or very subtle, unless the aircraft has been left to rot outside.

 

I do agree, this technique makes a model look busy, but I also think it highlights features not seen on real aircraft.

 

As you imply; each to his own.

Your lovely model shows what a great job Airfix have done.

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, AJohnson said:

I like the wash, suppose you could make it heaviest around the engine and undercarriage / access panels and less prominent elsewhere where less maintenance was done,

 

1 hour ago, CDW said:

You could also use a lighter shade for the panel line wash.

 

1 hour ago, shipman said:

I'm always in two minds about emphasising panel lines.

 

I've stood right up close to many aircraft from all era's, yet such details are the last thing to catch the eye.

Nearly always such detail is either absent or very subtle,

I'm of two minds with panel highlighting as well, it should be very subtle to non-evident on dark aircraft and super shiny aircraft, on light colored aircraft you should be able to see it but it still should be very subtle...

 

At standoff distance you never see it on real aircraft and as shipman said, up close, you only notice it when your eyes are drawn to it.... 

 

It's one of those artsy aspects to our hobby, it's there but can anyone say it's really "there"....

 

And I hope everyone understands what I mean here... Perception dictates the application.... It looks good on some models, looks toyish on others...

 

It's up to the modelers decision/preference on what he or she is depicting....

[CDW]

To achieve a more subdued look, simply remove some of the panel line wash using Solvent 110. It seems this product is a refined, odorless white spirits but I have not experimented to find a generic equivalent of it. What I do know is that it works well to remove excess Tamiya or Mr Color wash that’s been applied over Mr Color lacquer paint without harming the paint in any way. Your results may vary over different paint types. On the opposite side of the model I used a dark gray panel line wash to compare to the black wash used on the first side. A slightly different look but not much different. I’ll end up using the black on both sides to keep everything consistent. The key is how vigorous the cleanup after application.

im going to try and find some photos that show the commonly used access panels so I can show some light wear around those. If you’ve run across any photos like this please share them with me.

 

[CDW]

Next will repeat the same process on the bottom.

 

 

[Danstream]

12 hours ago, shipman said:

I'm always in two minds about emphasising panel lines.

Yes, I agree with that. But as @Egilman said, it is a sort of artistic license. I consider the model as a 'reproduction' of the real thing, which is different from scaling it down 48 times. That means that it has to convey the feel of the real thing, with its volumetric presence and its multitude of surface details. Of course, one can bring it to a level of exaggeration such that it easily appears ridiculously fake. There is another technical aspect that I consider important: once you have a model with negative panels, I find that having the bottom of the grooves not darkened, makes the model to appear more like a toy, while having them darkened gives it a more realistic look, perhaps because light is trapped better in the grooves and it is less reflected off.

@CDW, at any rate, in the last posted pictures above, the panels look great in my opinion.

Dan

[CDW]

In this short video of an obviously out of service Buccaneer, probably on display somewhere, the maintenance panels and panel lines stand out rather proud. One can presume this is at least in part due to weathering as it sits out in the open. Other than photos of engine maintenance where the panels around the intakes are removed, I have not yet been able to find photos of other panels opened for maintenance. I will just use my imagination to show some wear on various random panels for this model.

 

 

[CDW]

This lucky guy was able to buy his very own Blackburn Buccaneer. Wow!

 

[Egilman]

Especially since there aren't that many complete aircraft of the type left in existence... 

 

When the British government disposed of these aircraft, they went with a caveat... You have to get a type certificate if you want to make one fly again... The reason? The airframes were stress damaged beyond all recovery... It's why you read about a lot of cockpits being preserved, but very few complete aircraft... I've read about a gent in South Africa that's trying to get one flying again (or dreaming of such)

 

As far as the British government is concerned, a flying Bucc, (with an original airframe) is an aircraft accident/crash waiting to happen.... They really really used those aircraft to the fullest extent possible....

 

The aircraft above I presume is US based cause that looks a lot like the Nevada desert mountains in the background and sponsored by Shell Oil as well... (very deep pocket)

 

It's nice seeing one actually fly.... (If the British government had it's way, none would ever fly again)

[realworkingsailor]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

This lucky guy was able to buy his very own Blackburn Buccaneer. Wow!

 

People with money….. yeeesh… 🙄

[AJohnson]

1 hour ago, Egilman said:

Especially since there aren't that many complete aircraft of the type left in existence... 

 

When the British government disposed of these aircraft, they went with a caveat... You have to get a type certificate if you want to make one fly again... The reason? The airframes were stress damaged beyond all recovery... It's why you read about a lot of cockpits being preserved, but very few complete aircraft... I've read about a gent in South Africa that's trying to get one flying again (or dreaming of such)

 

As far as the British government is concerned, a flying Bucc, (with an original airframe) is an aircraft accident/crash waiting to happen.... They really really used those aircraft to the fullest extent possible....

 

The aircraft above I presume is US based cause that looks a lot like the Nevada desert mountains in the background and sponsored by Shell Oil as well... (very deep pocket)

 

It's nice seeing one actually fly.... (If the British government had it's way, none would ever fly again)

Those Buccaneers are based in South Africa along with EE Lightnings that you could book flights on as tourists. Then they lost a Lightning and the ejection seat failed, due to lack of maintenance and they were grounded.  There is a group trying to get them airborne again, but it is an uphill task even in S.A. for them to get permission and funding and infrastructure back in place. It was called Thunder City

Edited April 12, 2023 by AJohnson

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, AJohnson said:

but it is an uphill task even in S.A. for them to get permission and funding and infrastructure back in place.

Military aircraft don't need a type certificate to be operated by the military, they are trusted to know what is safe and what isn't.... And the go/no-go maintenance protocols are tough...

 

But when placed in civilian hands, there are no such requirements... So the civilian authorities require that you get a type certificate which requires the same level, (or more for some aircraft) of maintenance inspections the military requires.... (it also requires the same level of repair facilities the military requires here in the US)   A good example of this is the S-64 Skycrane, the type certificate is issued to Erickson Air-Crane, and when they acquired the rights to manufacture them from Sikorsky in 1992, they bought all the tooling as well...

 

In the US, you not only have to have the type certificate, for the FAA, you need the aircraft engineering certification from the NTSB as well... (and the aircraft needs to be brought up to current standards & equipment for commercial service, collector pieces, like an all original P-51, have special historical warbird exemptions as long as all the maint. bases are covered)

 

Extremely expensive....

Edited April 12, 2023 by Egilman

[shipman]

Thunder City Wiki page...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunder_City