1:72 Blackburn Bucanner (wet decals)

Low over the water and over the desert

The Blackburn Buccaneer was designed for a single task: to cross the sea just above the waves below the radar horizon and deliver a weapon to an enemy ship. Hence the exceptionally strong structure, the rotary bomb bay in the fuselage and the system that blew engine air over the leading edges so that the machine held an acceptable landing speed on the deck. When the British carriers were retired, the Royal Air Force took the type over and committed it over Iraq as late as 1991.

Seven of the twelve subjects on the sheet are exactly those machines from the ferry flight from a base in Bahrain back to Scotland in March 1991. Each of them carried a female figure, a nickname and the name of a Scotch whisky on the nose, so together they make up one of the most colorful collections of painted aircraft in modern aviation. The remaining subjects show the type in its classic British form: two squadrons from the late 1970s, an aircraft in a gloss gray-blue finish from 1965 and an export machine of the South African Air Force.

What that means for the build:

• the gray-green desert version and the older naval finish are completely different
• the nose art is small and takes a magnifier and a sharp scalpel
• suitable for common models of the type in 1:72 scale

The package carries the printed sheet only; the model of the machine is obtained separately. Given the number of subjects, the set will cover several kits.

Anyone who wants to build the whole March 1991 ferry flight has material here for seven machines at once. The exact position of the artwork differs from machine to machine, so it is worth comparing the drawing with a period photograph before the scalpel lands on the first frame.