Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B by Airfix
1/72 scale
Kit No. A06022
Retail: $41.00
Decals: Two RAF versions
Comments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit (decals for instrument panels), optional position dive brakes, option for wings folded or unfolded, and external ordnance
History
The Blackburn (later Hawker Siddeley) Buccaneer S.2B was a two-seat, carrier- and land-based low-altitude strike aircraft, and a follow-on to the S.1, which had entered service with the Royal Navy in July 1962 with 801 Squadron, embarking aboard HMS Ark Royal in January 1963. Replacing the Supermarine Scimitar, the type was developed to meet a Royal Navy requirement first issued in the early 1950’s, and was the first aircraft designed specifically for low-altitude, high-speed penetration of enemy airspace. The Royal Navy initially selected the design, termed Blackburn B.103, as consistent with its requirements in 1955. The first prototype took its maiden flight on April 30, 1958.
The S.1, although effective in its intended role of low-level strike aircraft, was underpowered, and consequently unable to be launched from an aircraft carrier at maximum weight. As this was a critical limitation for a naval strike aircraft, the S.2 flew for the first time on May 17, 1963 powered by Rolls Royce Spey Mk 101 turbofans, offering superior thrust to the S.1’s de Havilland Gyron Junior turbojets (11,100 lbs. thrust compared to the Gyron’s 7, 100 lbs.). In addition to the improved powerplant, the S.2B was designed with enhanced weapons capability and could carry both anti-radar and anti-shipping missiles.
The Buccaneer, while not the most attractive aircraft, was largely unsung but highly effective. Its advanced design features included an area ruled “coke bottle” fuselage, and the use of a boundary layer control system (engine bleed air blown over the control surfaces) to allow maximum lift and thereby increase stability at lower speeds. This was a critical feature, as it allowed the aircraft to come in at slower, safer speeds during carrier landings. Its tail cone was vertically split and hinged so that it could be deployed as an air brake. The S.2 entered service with the Royal Navy in April 1965, equipping six Fleet Air Arm (FAA) squadrons and operating from the aircraft carriers Ark Royal, Eagle, and Victorious.
The Buccaneer remained in service with Royal Navy squadrons until 1969. At that time, faced with a lack of strike aircraft due to the cancellation of the TSR.2 and the American F-111K, the RAF began taking over the Royal Navy’s Buccaneer S.2’s beginning in 1969 as FAA air arm operations began to wind down. In addition, new S.2B’s with the ability to carry Martel TV-guided air-to-surface missiles were built from 1970-77 and others were converted to that standard. Five RAF squadrons, three of them in the maritime strike role, flew Buccaneers until the last was retired in March 1994. Some saw action in the 1991 Gulf War where they were highly effective as laser designator aircraft for both their own weapons and for those launched by Tornado units. The only exports went to South Africa, which received 16 S.50’s in 1965, fitted with auxiliary rocket boost engines.
Having enjoyed a successful, albeit relatively uneventful, career with the Royal Navy, the Buccaneer realized its true potential with the RAF and the South African Air Force, in whose hands it proved itself to be an immensely strong, maneuverable and reliable aircraft with a better speed, range and weapons carrying capability than many others. This was borne out during Operation Granby, the RAF bombing campaign during the first Gulf War. Here 12 Buccaneers were dispatched at 3 days’ notice, initially to laser designate targets for Tornado strike aircraft. Later in the campaign, they acted as both Tornado designators and bombers in their own right while carrying out missions dropping their own 1000 lb. laser guided bombs.
In all, the Buccaneer flew 216 Gulf sorties, destroying numerous bridges, aircraft shelters, runways, command bunkers, ammunition stores and even other aircraft. The Buccaneer was withdrawn from service, some would argue prematurely, in 1994 as a result of arms reduction talks and the subsequent rationalization of RAF assets. It was replaced in the maritime strike role by the arguably less capable but more modern Panavia Tornado multi-role aircraft.
The Kit
First released in 2020, Airfix’ Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B is injection molded in grey and consists of 144 parts, including 13 clear parts for the canopy, gunsight and other external details. It is based on the Buccaneer S.2C kit released the previous year, and includes new parts. Its paint guide is somewhat flawed, since there is no chart of any kind bearing paint manufacturer’s numbers, and offers only what may be Humbrol paint numbers sprinkled throughout the instructions.
There are nicely detailed three-part ejection seats for the cockpit, which relies on decals for both main and side panel instrumentation. The kit has a multi-part fuselage and the completed cockpit is cemented into a separate nose assembly, which features an instrument panel hood with raised details. There are also parts for intake trunking and internal wing detail, should modelers choose to depict the wings in the folded position. There is also a part revealing internal detail in the tail, if modelers opt to show the tail cone in the open position to display the air brakes deployed. The parts for the open airbrakes also have their own internal raised detail.
While the Buccaneer had a rotary central bomb bay, Airfix faithfully recreates it but curiously provides no weapons to complement it. The Buccaneer’s ordinance is limited to under wing stores. The only option here is whether to cement on the ventral panel that covers the bomb bay, which features engraved internal detail. There are detailed landing gear, a separately mounted arrestor hook, and two pilot figures included.
The under wing stores include auxiliary slipper tanks, a single AIM-9L Sidewinder short-range heat-seeking missile, two Paveway II laser guided bombs and two ECM pods. One of these is an AN/ALQ electronic jamming pod; the other is an AN/AVQ-23 Pave Spike laser designator pod, used to direct laser-guided bombs to the target in day-time under favorable visual conditions.
Markings
The kit includes decals for two aircraft. One is a Buccaneer S.2B of No. 208 Squadron, RAF Station Lossiemouth, based at Moray, Scotland in 1990. This aircraft, bearing an overall camouflage paint scheme Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green, is preserved at the Ulster Aviation Society in Northern Ireland. The second version is for a Buccaneer S.2B of No. 12 Squadron, also based at RAF Station Lossiemouth as of September 1993. There are also two large, detailed schematics showing the positions of the Buccaneer’s stencil data. Two large color plates are included to assist with decal placement for the two versions of decals provided. They call out colors in Humbrol numbers only.
Conclusion
While this is an exquisite, highly detailed kit of the most numerous variant of the navalized Buccaneer, it is a mystery as to why Airfix chose not to include weapons for the rotary bomb bay. Fortunately there is a panel to cover it if modelers so desire, and sufficient under wing stores for those who prefer not to build the Buccaneer in a “clean” configuration. Highly recommended.
References
- Combat Aircraft Since 1945 by Stewart Wilson; Copyright 2000 Stewart Wilson and Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd., Fyshwick, Australia.
- The Encyclopedia of World Air Power, Crescent Books, New York, 1980.
- https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/blackburn-buccaneer
- https://airandspace.si.edu/
- https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
