1/48 Aeroclub EE Canberra B2  

It’s a Vacform, but not the bad sort

by Graham Tarran

--------------------

 

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:

  • Two large white vacform sheets carrying the main fuselage halves & upper & lower wings, so only six vacform components in total. 

  • Two clear vacformed acetate sheets, each carrying a cockpit canopy & two bomb aimer’s blisters.

  • Injection moulded front fuselage halves, wing tanks, tail planes, main wing & tail plane spars, rudder, undercarriage doors, crew entry door, nose gear bay & cockpit bulkheads

  • Resin main wheels, jet intakes & jet pipes.

  • Innumerable white metal components covering the interior, undercarriage, engine faces etc. 

  • Very nice looking decal sheet.

Click on images below to see larger images

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!).

Click on images below to see larger images

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

Click on images below to see larger images

Photos and text © by Graham Tarran