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1/48
Aeroclub
EE Canberra B2 |
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It’s a Vacform, but not the bad sort |
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I
picked this kit up of eBay a few
months back. I can’t recall how
much I paid for it but it retails here in the UK for about £45 which is not
exactly cheap & puts it beyond the means of many.
Added to that, the airframe is largely a vacform at which many of us will
throw up our hands & run off to build a1/72 injection Canberra instead! Several
variants could be built from this kit, given a little research & correct
decals. The fuselage halves are
provided with the short extension that featured on the early PR
variants to accommodate cameras & a little extra fuel.
Cockpit components are provided that could go towards a T
version I
was having problems with a Hasegawa
FGR2 Phantom, trying to incorporate a resin cockpit & seamless
intakes when, taking a break, I took this kit from the stash & opened it up
for a quick look. In the box were:
Before I knew it, I was busy
filing down the white metal cockpit components & assembling them within the
two halves of the front fuselage. The
ejection seats are particularly nice, being multi-part & include seat belt
& harness detail – very nice once painted.
You could elect to not bother painting & detailing the two rear crew
seats as they are virtually invisible but they must be fitted to provide
adequate nose weight! I painted
& added them as I intended providing the crew access door open. There are small windows on
the Canberra B2, above the rear crew positions.
Aeroclub have not provided these (citing moulding difficulties)
& invite you to cut your own, which I did, providing the glazing with PVA
later. However, the plastic is very
thick here & I suspect an acceptable result would be obtained by simply
using black decals to represent them. A
similar window provided on the starboard side needs to be filled on this
variant. Being a 1950’s vintage
British jet, the entire cockpit is black with a little colour added by the
ejector seats & a few switches & knobs. In short order, the halves of the front fuselage were together, at which time (the FGR2 forgotten) I set to cutting out the vacform components. I ran a black marker pen around the parts before following the lines with a sharp knife & breaking the parts away. These were then rubbed down using a piece of medium wet & dry wrapped around a sanding block (everyone has their own method here!).
With
this done, I was impatient to complete the fuselage. Aeroclub provide
some thin plastic strips that I used to reinforce the insides of the long upper
& lower fuselage joints (I could probably have done with thicker card; these
are major & very long joints). The
partial main wing spar, to which the u/c is later attached, must be passed
through a slot cut into each fuselage half at the wing root as must a similar
component for the tail planes. When
all this was set, I joined the two fuselage halves. Attaching
the cockpit module revealed a problem that split the vacform main fuselage
halves. Probably I suspect my fault
rather than Aeroclub.
A little filler solved the problem but I was left with a worrying
“bulge” at the joint, not present on the real thing! Now
to the wings. Aeroclub suggest attaching the wings before the resin intakes &
jet pipes but I didn’t fancy the inevitable filling & sanding of these
areas on a basically assembled 1/48 Canberra so I did all this before attaching
the wings. I also assembled &
attached the wing tip tanks, filling where necessary. The white metal undercarriage as previously stated assembles to the wing spar & also includes some injection components to box in the bays – a very sturdy assembly. All of this must be done before attaching the wings. Wings were attached as were the tail planes, with a little filler, PVA & CA glue used to fill some small gaps (I have used more filler on certain mainstream injection kits than this baby!).
Everything
rubbed down to my satisfaction & off to the paint shop.
I had decided upon the third of three options in the kit – a B2 of 617
squadron in the unusual & relatively short lived scheme of Medium Sea Grey
& Light Slate Grey over PRU Blue, all available in the Xtracolour
enamels range. I never prime so I wasn’t surprised to find a couple of
areas that required additional filling &/or rubbing down & touching up! Now
to the decals, which are printed by Fantasy
Print Shop & very nice. No
problem selecting & positioning the main markings, but a little ambiguity
with some of the stencilling; most are provided in black (according to the
instructions, for use on the over all silver machine option) & yellow (for
use on the black/Medium, Sea Grey option).
No guidance as to which to use on the option I had selected.
In the end I went with the yellow. After
decaling, I shot an over all coat of Humbrol gloss varnish.
Final
details were the clear canopies, white metal engine faces & cones & nose
gear. A query posted on the
discussion board failed to totally “nail” the correct colour for the landing
gear. The instructions &
consensus here appeared to point to black bays & legs with silver wheels
which is the way I went & is hopefully correct for an early Canberra before
innumerable upgrades & re-paints! A
brass rod to support the open crew door, tube for the pitot & tiny
navigation lights for the tips of the wing tanks & the Canberra was
complete! In
conclusion, a fantastic kit & not beyond the capabilities of any reasonably
confident modeller. I have a B(I)6
in the stash, which is basically similar, & Aeroclub are promising a
PR9 at some stage. Graham
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Photos and text © by Graham Tarran
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