There are several excellent reviews circulating on the internet about 72nd scale Buccaneers, especially about the newly released CMR kit. It is not my intention to repeat all those reviews but to point out some issues with the available kits on the market. Hopefully it will provide you some help, in order to find the right Buccaneer kit for you.
This model is the most basic of the whole lot, this toyish heritage is also reflected by the horrible three colours it was moulded in. It does not have a retractable airbreak or bomb bay unlike CMR and Airfix. The cockpit is nearly non-existant, instead of the regular cockpit-"tub" there are only horizontal bars molded into the inner side of the kit to hold the awful ejection seats (which look like office chairs). Without a dashboard or the clear windshield on the navigators controls it looks more like a hole to me. Another downside is the wrongly shaped canopy. The canopy frame in the middle should slope back and should not be completely vertical. As it is a clear part you will have a rather hard time correcting this.
Smaller parts like the landing gear are better to be replaced, the refuelling probe however seems to be usable.
The kit depicts a Buccaneer that has the large bulged bomb bay.
The model lacks any sort of ordnance or pylons holding them, so you just get the bare airframe. The kit lacks of any finesse in the details, there aren't any vortex generators on the wings or any other petite detailing. The kit has those horrible trench lines which are more than a millimetre deep and wide.
Luckily the kit has only a minimum of scribed lines and surface detail.
I think the best idea to deal with it would be to putty all those lines and rescribe the kit all over.
My kit, which is a fairly old one with a small clear window at the back of the box, has the following marking options:
As the kit, the decals are very simplistic, printed out-register and contain only the most visible things like serials, roundels, Squadron badge and ejector seat markings.
The kit has been re-released by Revell of Germany/Matchbox label not too long ago with gulf war markings depicting "Fiona, Miss Jolly Roger" XW533/A.
Despite its simplistic nature it is accurately shaped, (except for the nosecone). The basic outlines of the kit are very accurate and with some detailing it can be turned into a nice replica. On the positive side the intakes are superior to those of the Airfix kit and there were several modellers who robbed their old Matchbox kit for the intakes to build the Airfix Bucc. As every vintage Matchbox kit you get a set of dummy-like pilot figures and a clear Matchbox flight display stand, (which apparently used to be a fashion these days).
The Airfix kit released in the mid 80ies has nothing to do with the old NA 39 kit which was re-boxed and circulated as "Buccaneer" SB1 until this kit was released.
The kit has raised panel lines and is a pretty typical specimen out of the not-too-long-ago Airfix era.
This kit no longer depicts the prototype but a fairly wide selection out of any operational type of the 80ies. Firstly you get a kit that is split horizontally with the nose and air brake separately. The nose however is too pointy and looks like a malformed lump of plastic. The air brake cannot be built open with some modification and additional detailing. The airwaves sheet AEC 72011 is addressed to help with this problem. There was another set from SAM Publishing that replaced the nosecone and the tail stabiliser.
Secondly you have a wide selection of loadout, there is one flat bomb bay door included and the bulged fuel tank commonly used by the RAF. Like the airbrake the parts are completely hollow on the inside. There are 4 Martel missiles included, you can choose to build them as anti-radar or TV guided Martels by glueing on the appropriate missile head. Another option would be to use the missiles as Sea Eagles. The kit also has the data link pod for TV missiles and a pair of slipper tanks.
The undercarriage is very toy like and as a child of its era, details are non existent again in the wheel wells, apart from some basic shapes. Aeroclub had released a set with small bits including white metal pieces for the arrestor hook to fix this problem as well.
The overall fit of the parts, apart from smaller things like missiles is very bad. This kit will constantly remind you that it was engineered in another millennium as you will need a lot of putty.
There are two identical softly-detailed Pilot figures supplied, both with their oxygen masks off.
In the 1989 release, which returned to the shops not too long ago you have the following marking options:
The decal sheet contains few stencils like no walk zones and other useful stuff but it is not as comprehensive as CMR, (more on the comparison later). Like all Airfix decals it is slightly out of register, something I noticed when I applied the roundels onto a dark sea grey surface. They all had a white excess ring, something that happens when the colours are not appropriately aligned. Very annoying.
This kit is the result of the very careful research of the CMR research team, and the able hands of the CMR kit makers. Out of curiosity I compared the kit with the plastic parts and realised that it is not copied but a completely new kit. The resin parts have lots of flesh and some distortions but nothing that could not be fixed. There were some criticisms on internet forums debating the high price and bad looks of some of the parts. It is true that CMR kits used to be troubled by microbubbles and malformed parts. My model is not free of it either but I think CMR did a lot to improve this. It is hard to believe that they would deliver a part that is completely unusable and if so, I think they would send out replacement parts free of charge.
There are three major versions that can be built out of the box:
You have a wide selection to model any individual air frame you like, which is reflected by the high number of optional parts.
I am not aware to what extension this kit line will be expanded, several other variants like a S1 were announced too. Currently there have been 2 kits released S2A and S2B and there will be a FAA 2/2C/2D soon.
There are several items to address the deficiencies of the plastic kits, as the Cottage Industry discarded the nearly hopeless Matchbox kit a major part of the items were designed for the Airfix kit. Due to budget restrictions I can only review the few accessory parts I have at hand (This list reflects the availability of parts by the time of writing in 2006):
RESIN PARTS
SAM Resin Nosecone, Tail and refuelling probe
SAM "Gulf war armament set" contains 1 LGB, 4 Pylons with AN/ALQ-101(V)-10 electronic countermeasures pod, AN/ASQ-153 Pave Spike laser designator and additional wing fairings http://www.guidelinepublications.co.uk/acatalog/samtools.html
AES72010 AEROCLUB Buddy refueling pod
AES72062 Airwaves S2B Mk. 6SB Ejection seats
PHOTOETCHED PARTS
AEC72215 AIRWAVES wing-fold set
AEC 72011 Airwaves Buccaneer detail set, contains cockpit details, engine fans and air-brake interiors
WHITE-METAL PARTS
ABV092 AEROCLUB nose- and main landing gear, refuelling probe and arrestor hook
AEROCLUB S2B Mk. 6SB Ejection seats
(Note: Both sets add on a moderate level of detail but white metal castings lack sharpness and crisp detail in general. If you really want the best details compare them with CMR parts)
MISC
ABC011 AEROCLUB Buccaneer canopy
DECALS
For decals visit this list at http://www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk, it has been generated by Andy White
All models are accurately shaped and do stick to the scale plans very well.
If you just want to finish a Buccaneer quickly, (within one weekend), pick the Matchbox kit. It was made for young modellers so the fit of parts should be excellent. If you don't care for rivet counting or details this is your kit, it looks like a Bucc when finished. Another option would be buying the Corgi die-cast model but this would be considered as cheating among modellers :-).
Unlike Airfix and CMR the Matchbox kits hull is split vertically instead horizontally. Unless you are up to the challenge or need the intakes avoid this kit, if you want to get finished in time. The Airfix kit however isn't much better, as it has raised details and has to be rescribed extensively. Adding to that, the kit is known for its bad fit and lousy details, although better detailed then the Matchbox "toy". One dear colleage of mine Jan Forsgren, a highly skilled swedish modeller from the IPMS Stockholm, told me he had to spent so much time with the Airfix kit because it was awful and needed a lot of correcting. After reading through his Buccaneer reviews and watching the pictures it looked reminiscent to the time when Aircraft modelling was more like shaping a piece of Balsa-wood, (which was well before MY time). However he claimed it was the only way he could deal with the kit. Both plastic kits are only recommended if you are not faint of the heart and have a lot of time, if your intention are to bring the up to the current standard of modelling.
The CMR kit is one of the best and comprehensive resin kits I have ever seen, I can only thank Volker Helms for his generosity to grant me a review sample. The CMR kit is light-years away from the old generation plastic kits, basically you would have to make the difficult decision if that is worth 57 quid for you. If you can hunt it down in the span of 40 up to 50 pounds I think this would be an acceptable price and quite a bargain. People say this is quite a lot for a small 72nd scale jet but they tend to forget that this kit is "complete" even for Pro-modellers. No need to buy photo-etched parts, vacu canopies or aftermarket decals. If I sum up what I had to buy for one plastic kit, (the kit themselves either Airfix or Matchbox had collectors price on them for a long time). I think I would be better off with spending a bit more money with the end result (hopefully) way better and less work and time involved in the progress of building and piecing all things I had to collect together. I have never seen a better researched kit with all the instructions, showing a multitude of real Buccaneer pictures and diagrams. The instructions point out exactly which parts can be used in combination and there are hell lots of them. This results an excess of high quality parts that can be used on other modelling projects of yours, so you can think it comes with a "weapons-set" for free.
But even with perfect research the kit requires modelling skills above average, excess resin has to be trimmed and filed here and there and the fit of the hull halfs is not going to be the best I am afraid. As mentioned before there are also a lot of typical CMR micro-bubbles and smaller distortions on the kit. This and the high price had put off much of the customership that would have had bought one.
Though a very popular subject amongst modellers, the Buccaneer remains a specialists subject, we can only hope that another kit producer like Revell or Trumpeter will pick up this subject but due to the speciality of this niche and limited use of the Buccaneer (only UK and South Africa operated this type, ~211 airframes built) this seems to be unlikely for the near future.
What seems to be predictable is that the Airfix will pop up every 4 to 5 years in a new boxing (if a new investor buys the mould of the now bankrupt company) and new decals, along with the Matchbox kit which will likely circulate in a Revell boxing from time to time.
There are however persistent rumours about Trumpeter doing a new Buccaneer in 48th scale. If this is going to happen, we will surely have a new plastic 72nd Buccaneer too, as Trumpeter releases most subjects in both scales (Vigilante, Wyvern ... to name a few).
For me it is hard to believe that there will be any kit to top the details and finesse of CMR but I can understand modellers who give it a miss because of the high price.
I would like to thank Volker Helms who is the donor of the CMR kit and Jan Forsgren who sent me scale plans and got me introduced into the subject of Buccaneers.
Till Huber, Berlin
Warpaint No. 02 (with scale plans)
Aeroguide No. 05 (with scale plans)
World Aircraft Files No. 31
Buccaneer the last british bomber, Tim Laming 1998 ISBN: 1852604786
SAM Volume 6 Issue 3 March 2000 (Airfix kit built with Matchbox intakes)