1/72 Airfix Blackburn Buccaneer S.2C XV154
R021/XV154 809 Squadron - HMS Ark Royal
- Subject:
Blackburn Buccaneer S Mk.2c
Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (1937-now)
No. 809 NAS R-021 | XV154
January 1972 Belize Overflight - HMS Ark Royal (R09)
BS381C:640- Scale:
- 1:72
- Status:
- Completed
- Started:
- May 4, 2020
- Completed:
- January 5, 2020
- Time spent:
- 30 hours
This is my entry build into the UAMF.org.uk Buccaneer Group Build.
The weapons set added will actually be a set of WE177 nuclear bombs cast by a friend a few years ago.
They were intended for the Vacform Nimrod I had but once my wife bought me this I really couldn't resist using them.
A friend of mine sent me the new Freightdog WE177A and bomb bay fairing set as a surprise but I had already painted the bomb bay and added the bulkhead and other bits so I took the WE177 dispensers and mounted them like conventional bombs instead.
Aircraft information:
The Hawker-Siddeley Buccaneer was developed by Blackburn for the Royal Navy in the 1950s and was produced by Hawker-Siddeley after that company was acquired. The Buccaneer was designed to attack enemy ships at low altitudes with nuclear and conventional bombs. The occasion was the Soviet Sverdlov-class light cruisers, which were seen as a particular threat to British trade. Instead of new British cruisers, they relied on aircraft that could attack such cruisers at low altitude from the aircraft carriers. The bomb load was carried in an internal bomb bay. A total of 211 machines were built for the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and South African Air Force from 1961-77. The Buccaneer flew with the Royal Navy from 1962-78,
The first Buccaneer S.1 had an underpowered engine and were therefore replaced by the S.2 version with a more powerful engine with lower consumption. In the Navy, Buccaneers flew from the Eagle , Ark Royal and Hermes . After the decommissioning of the last conventional carrier, the Ark Royal , the Buccaneer were handed over to the RAF, which used them until 1994, including in the Second Gulf War.