1:32 BUFFALO B-339C/MkI

A gunsight that passes through the windscreen

The Buffalo had its cockpit set high in a barrel-shaped fuselage and the pilot aimed through a tubular telescope whose end protruded out through the windscreen into the airflow. That penetration is small on a model but impossible to overlook: around it the glass has to be clean and the frame crisp, otherwise the detail is lost under a load of paint.

Inside the cockpit other things draw attention too, because the glazing has many panes and behind them the view opens onto the tube structure and the ammunition boxes. The inner film therefore belongs to the job just as much as the outer one; only when the frame carries its own shade inside the cockpit does the space under the canopy look deeper than it really is.

Set contents

The box holds film for the many-paned canopy, supplied separately for the view from outside and for the same edge from the cockpit. Two insignia stencils are enclosed, with which the symbol is applied straight onto the surface, and a sheet of decals for numerical and letter markings. The cut is prepared for a plastic model in the large scale.

The export examples flew with Dutch units in the East Indies and with Commonwealth squadrons over Malaya, and their reputation was contradictory: against Japanese fighters they came off worse, but in the Burmese sky they did better than expected. The models therefore tend to be in varied camouflage schemes, where sprayed insignia come into their own.

Briefly on the work

Mask the area around the gunsight penetration with a separate strip. A pre-cut piece does not always fit such a small opening perfectly, and trimming with a sharp knife is faster than a repair later.