Now this is really a
nice kit. It’s very simple to build and actually transforms into a rather
large aircraft in 48th scale – it dwarfs an F-15E! The kit
captures the simplicity and elegance of the real aircraft very well. Only a few
problems to report :
-
Bomb bay could
do with a bit more detail
-
A ton
(relatively speaking) of lead sinkers is required in the nose to prevent
tail sitting. Luckily the kit undercarriage is sturdy enough to carry all
this weight
-
The cockpit
detail is simple but mostly hidden when assembled. However, the pilot’s
seat is quite visible so needs extra detailing in the form of seat belts and
ejection handles
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images below to see larger images
As a South African Air
Force (SAAF) enthusiast, I just had to build a late colour scheme Canberra
as used operationally in the SWA (Namibia)-Angola border war of the 80s.
Only one Canberra was lost (shot down) during combat operations. The SAAF
received its Canberras in overall silver finish but quickly changed to
overall PRU blue for border operations. Canberras were mostly fitted with
alpha bomb cages in the bomb bays for anti personnel missions over enemy
bases. I decided to go for a mix of bombs in the bomb bay and rocket pods
on the wings. I think I got the bomb bay configuration wrong – should be
six bombs – two rows of three each. The kit provides dropped flaps.
The
Canberra is a neat bird on the ground with retracted flaps but I left mine
in the lowered position to add a bit more interest.
PRU blue was
approximated using a mix of Model Master FS35164 (30 parts), Tamiya X-2 gloss
white (10 parts) and Tamiya X-14 blue (10 parts) followed by a thinned overspray
of 50/50 FS35164/X-2. Warning triangles came from MAV Decals as the kit ones
were not correct for this colour scheme. The serial number was care of my
printer at home. The few kit decals I used were rubbish. They would not even bed
down using Tamiya super thin glue (my aggressive decal solvent !). Come on
Airfix – don’t let the decals spoil an otherwise good attempt at a scale
replica. Weathering was done with dark grey pastels. Everything sealed off with
matt varnish.
Other bits and pieces added were the
various antennae fitted to the SAAF Canberras.
Next up – the Airfix B-57 in
Vietnam colours.
Malcolm Reid
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images below to see larger images
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