More Bang for your Bucc

When last I posted on this project, I was getting through a very difficult phase of its construction. A lot of filler and rubbing down later, and the build was beginning to come together. To illustrate this, here are some photos of it at this complex stage.


Part of the brief was a nice selection of Airwaves photo-etched parts, and a pair of Heritage resin jet intakes. These additional parts have made an important difference to the final finish, I feel.

Royal Navy aircraft are always kept in pretty clean condition so I was loathe to add too much weathering. I opted for a paint discolouration, to take away from that die-cast metal model look.

At first sight, the Airfix decals closely resemble postage stamps. They turned out to be a little tricky to fit because they are so thin - which came as some surprise! But, treated properly they went down without problem and pick up the surface detail remarkably well. Over the decals went a round of varnishes and washes and then I applied the last coat, a satin varnish.


Adding the folding wings was more straightforward than I thought. The photo etched wing folds were an excellent fit - though it would help to have three hands....


It's not a flawless kit - the fuselage is very tough to bring together, some parts are overly thick, and the decals were a challenge - but it was unexpectedly rewarding on the whole. I'd do it again just for that reason.