Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B/S2D/SMk50

[Mike]

Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B/S2D/S Mk.50

Airfix 1:72

The Buccaneer needs little introduction to most British aviation enthusiasts, as it was in service for a long time, first in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, and latterly in the RAF, performing a similar strike role in both branches of the British armed forces.

The Buccaneer was originally designed by Blackburn for the Royal Navy, which is why even the RAF aircraft retained their folding wings and arrestor hooks. Blackburn was later rolled into Hawker Siddeley, hence the name change on more recent boxings of this kit, which I think is a bit of a shame, as a generation of modellers may well not know the origins of this impressive aircraft.

The kit is a reissue, but has additional parts and ordnance to make a Desert Storm (Operation Granby to the Brits) Bucc, which is probably the most famous of her recent guises, often seen on the news in a shabby desert scheme, and used as a lasing aircraft for the more modern Tornadoes and Jaguars during the conflict, as well as a bomb truck in her own right.

The original sprues are obvious by their squared off trapezoid sectional sprues, and the fine raised panel lines, of which there aren't really many due to the method of construction of the airframe and the sleek lines (with a fat midriff). The wings have the vortex generators built into the upper surface, and these are commendably thin.

The age of the moulding shows in the rather blank canvas of the cockpit, but there are plenty of decals to busy this area up, and if you seat the included pilots, not much can be seen. It's clear that Airfix are listening to our wishes though, as the kit comes with a split 2-piece canopy - perfect for those who like to show their aircraft with canopies posed open.

The undercarriage bays are similarly simple, but if you're so minded, the main bays are easy to detail, as there is precious little in there on the real thing. The nose gear bay is nice and deep, unlike many older mouldings, but the nose gear and to a lesser extent the main gear legs are a little chunky and would benefit from some brake hosing to busy them up. The upside of the chunkiness is that when built, they won't be so easy to break.

You get a streamlined and bulged weapons bay in the kit, a pair of slipper tanks with extended tanks on the new sprues, which I'll come to later. You also get a set of 4 Martel missiles, various rails, and some smaller pods, which I have to confess I don't know what they are - buddy refuelling pods, or small fuel tanks. I'm sure that'll be cleared up in minutes, and I'll edit the review accordingly.

All of the original weaponry is undocumented for this release, and could be used if you wanted to "backdate" the kit to an older release. The new sprues include the extended slipper tanks, two Paveway II LGBs, a solitary AIM-9L Sidewinder, 4 SNEB 68mm rocket pods, and modern data/targeting pods in the form of AN/ALQ 23E Pave Spike and AN/ALQ 101 pod, which are both provided attached to their pylons. Pylons for the other weaponry is also supplied, as well as a pair of short wingtips, which the instructions describe as being fitted to the Gulf War Buccs, with a guide to cutting the old wingtips included.

All of the new parts are nicely moulded and have fine recessed and raised detail where appropriate. The decal sheet also includes markings for the weapons, which are covered in the painting/decaling diagrams.

The color painting/decaling diagrams are again printed in color on glossy paper, and the decal sheet is crisply printed, in register and comprehensive. The airframes that you can model with this sheet are as follows:

• Buccaneer S.2B "Sky Pirates", RAF Lossiemouth Gulf Detatchment, Muharraq, Bahrain 1991
  
• Buccaneer S.2B No. 809 NAS, Fleet Air Arm, HMS Ark Royal 1976
  
• Buccaneer S.Mk.50 No.24 Squardon South African Airforce, Waterkloof, South Africa 1970
  

Conclusion

This kit will build up nicely from the box, and with a little extra detail added to the cockpit and wheel bays would produce a stunning model. For those that prefer recessed panel lines, the main airframe shouldn't be too hard to rescribe, as there aren't many panel lines! The weapons are already done for you too.

The choice of subjects on the decal sheet may be limited, but the area of operation is sufficiently different to appeal to most tastes. Overall, a nice addition to the line, using a combination of new and old toolings. Keep 'em coming!

[Mark M]

nice review mike!!

one note, the gulf decals have the wrong seriel, its for a Gazzell, it should be xx at the begining

[Mike]

An interesting point Mark... time to get the scalpel & generic codes out, eh?

[bexwh773]

nice review mike!!

one note, the gulf decals have the wrong seriel, its for a Gazzell, it should be xx at the begining

Well done Fairyfix

Thanks for the review Boss, oh and thats just increased my wish list

Oh and I agree with you, shame they couldnt keep using Blackburn instead of HS.

Bexy

[Tabio]

nice review mike!!

one note, the gulf decals have the wrong seriel, its for a Gazzell, it should be xx at the begining

Yep, I did this aircraft with the airfix kit using Modeldecal set 110 many moons ago, thay have an XX, now I can't believe you can just get it out of the box after all the hunting about I did for the right bombs and ecm pod etc! Hahaha! I got the Airwaves etched set and it really sorts out the cockpit, you can do an open airbrake too which I did but it's fiddly!

[Antoine]

Thanks for the review, Mike.

I'll certainly put it on my wishlist too.

A few pics of the old sprues could have been useful too, for those like me who's never seen those before.

[stever219]

Check the rear fuselage serials for the RN jet: you get different numbers for either side, XV344 and, I think, XV869(!). Aeroclub do a replacement undercariage and IFR probe set, but obvoiusly avaiability is a bit questionable at the moment.

Steve

[keefr22]

It's clear that Airfix are listening to our wishes though, as the kit comes with a split 2-piece canopy -

Hmmm, don't know about that, the S2 kits have always had 2 piece canopies......

I think I may be forced to add yet another of these to the stash though for the new weapons sprue. And those SAAF decals look rather nice too....

Cheers for the review Mike

Keef

Edited March 14, 2010 by keefr22

[Tabio]

Check the rear fuselage serials for the RN jet: you get different numbers for either side, XV344 and, I think, XV869(!). Aeroclub do a replacement undercariage and IFR probe set, but obvoiusly avaiability is a bit questionable at the moment.

Steve

I used that set, it's good, well worth getting

[Tabio]

Yep, I did this aircraft with the airfix kit using Modeldecal set 110 many moons ago, thay have an XX, now I can't believe you can just get it out of the box after all the hunting about I did for the right bombs and ecm pod etc! Hahaha! I got the Airwaves etched set and it really sorts out the cockpit, you can do an open airbrake too which I did but it's fiddly!

I say bombs, but I looked at it and it's got an ecm pod, laser pod, slipper tank and a sidewinder.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Tabio

[Enzo the Magnificent]

You get a streamlined and bulged weapons bay in the kit, a pair of slipper tanks with extended tanks on the new sprues, which I'll come to later. You also get a set of 4 Martel missiles, various rails, and some smaller pods, which I have to confess I don't know what they are - buddy refuelling pods, or small fuel tanks.

Is one of the pods a Martel datalink pod?

[Mike]

Is one of the pods a Martel datalink pod?

Have you got a pic there fella? I'm beginning to wonder if they're not older versions of the SNEB missile pods, as they have a similar shape Weapons & pods are not my strong point, sadly

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Have you got a pic there fella? I'm beginning to wonder if they're not older versions of the SNEB missile pods, as they have a similar shape Weapons & pods are not my strong point, sadly

Y'know... you would have thought that I could provide a link. There is a photograph of a Bucc carrying three Martels and a datalink pod that appears in all of the Buccaneer books, but can I find t on the net? Can I thump!

The datalink pod is slightly shorter than a Martel missile. It always looks as though it has been loaded back to front and the forward fairing is long and pointed while the rear fairing is quite bulbous.

SNEB rocket pods had a naval cousin, the 2" rocket pod. Whereas the SNEB had two rows of rockets ports, the 2" pod had three. These are very important for FAA models as I don't believe that the Navy ever used SNEB.

[Mike]

I'll post up some pics of the bits in question once I hit the workshop, which will probably provoke cries of "Oh, it's a xxxxxx" from those that know their Buccs intimately

[Dave Fleming]

Is one of the pods a Martel datalink pod?

The original S2B kit did have the Data Link Pod

I think the 'different pods' Mike mentions are alternate noses for the Martels so you can make them into Sea Eagles, radar or TV guided Martels

[Shaun]

Nice review Mike,

I've got a quick question about the LGB in the box art, which aircraft released it?, I allways though bombs fell downwards, not forwards?

Edited March 15, 2010 by Shaun

[Mike]

Nice review Mike,

I've got a quick question about the LGB in the box art, which aircraft released it?, I allways though bombs fell downwards, not forwards?

It was one of the new rocket-assisted launch units, powered by an experimental new fuel, code-named "artistic license".

[Col.]

Nice review Mike,

I've got a quick question about the LGB in the box art, which aircraft released it?, I allways though bombs fell downwards, not forwards?

"I'll hit the brakes and he'll fly right by!"

[Shaun]

code-named "artistic license".

I've heard of that project, but found it very hard to find anymore information about it, must be top secret?

Edited March 15, 2010 by Shaun

[Col.]

I've heard of that project, but found it very hard to find anymore information about it, must be top secret?

While the rumours paint an interesting picture it's difficult to draw any conclusions

[alex]

Thanks for the review, but well, once more I'm disappointed. A repop of a decades-old-airfix kit, still with raised panel lines and no detailing in the cockpit/wheel wells. Decals are nice, but - no. The only usable alternative is now the Bucc from CMR, at another price range (aside from the Matchbox-kit...). Or, wait until someone else wants to get a share of the cake. Maybe Trumpeter, Revell, Hobbyboss...

Alex

[Mike]

I have to disagree actually Alex. What's there is really nice, and as I said in the review, the gear bays aren't much trouble to detail if you feel the urge... as I said to a friend the other night, if 1:72 was my scale, that'd be pretty close to the top of the build pile right now

[keefr22]

Nice review Mike,

I've got a quick question about the LGB in the box art, which aircraft released it?, I allways though bombs fell downwards, not forwards?

Well, if the jet in the foreground is pitching up at 400 kts then the bomb would surely have some forward energy - like a LABS attack. Dunno if Buccs used LABS though....

Keef

[Enzo the Magnificent]

It was one of the new rocket-assisted launch units, powered by an experimental new fuel, code-named "artistic license".

I believe that a US version of the Paveway actually did have a rocket motor.

[kev67]

I have to disagree actually Alex. What's there is really nice, and as I said in the review, the gear bays aren't much trouble to detail if you feel the urge... as I said to a friend the other night, if 1:72 was my scale, that'd be pretty close to the top of the build pile right now

Quite agree, so what if its got raised panel lines and not that accurate in areas, this is what our hobby is all about you can't have every thing on a plate otherwise the hobby becomes boring I like to scratch build and improve the models I build, sanding the panel lines and re-scribing adding extra detail gives a sense of enjoyment, and that I have done my own bit to improve the kit to my best ability. And some people just prefer OOB models no scratch building or anything just enjoying building a model.