Aussie Buffalo in Singapore

By Tony Mollica

The RAAF operated 2 squadrons of Brewster Buffaloes in Singapore, alongside a single squadron operated by the RNZAF. The two Australian Squadrons, 21 and 453 lost many aircraft on the ground but acquitted themselves well during air combat against a numerically and materially superior enemy.

The aircraft that is the subject of this article, TD-F, was flown by F/O 'Mac' Read, who rammed an Oscar after expending all of his ammunition, and was subsequently killed.

The base kit for this conversion is the old Tamiya F2A-2 Buffalo in it's 1993 release which doesn't include the parts required to build a British specification Mk 1 machine. A number of after market products have been used, as well as a significant amount of scratch building, to convert and super detail this model.

Products Used:

Construction

Rather than onerously describe everything I did to build this model, I'll concentrate on the additional work I did to convert, improve or correct it. The kit itself is not bad, given its early 1970s vintage. It has a mix of raised and scribed panel lines, all of which were rescribed. The canopy itself is a little thick, and the Red Roo vacformed canopy greatly improves this area. There are some basic problems with the fuselage but it is possible to work around and correct these. Several changes are required to make a Mk 1, including addition of a second landing light, different cockpit, propeller and spinner. The forward fuselage also needs to be lengthened.

I always start at the cockpit. I added the reflector site from Tamiya Spitfire Vb - This is a British Reflector Gunsight, modified to fit the Buffalo. Refer to photo on p24 of 'Buffalo in Action'for a detail photo. I then added seatbelts and buckles from the Extratech set - I could not find a definitive photograph of a British Mk 1 seat with seatbelts. Therefore I was unsure whether to fit a Sutton Harness or American style seatbelt. I opted for the American seatbelt on the basis that a number of substitutions were made by Brewster when building these aircraft, due to non availability of supplies.

Instrument panels from Eduard Buffalo detail set were used. These had to be modified slightly to reflect a British Mk 1. Refer to photo on p24 of 'Buffalo in Action'. All cockpit sidewall detail was removed and replaced from scratch, as was the cockpit floor, which is really more like a frame than a floor. Wiring, oxygen bottles and the oxygen bottle storage rack were also built from scratch. I then built up a compass from a Waldron placard with a piece of carved sprue for the body. This was mounted into the cockpit floor. The opening in the rear cockpit bulkhead was cut open, as it is incorrectly molded solidly in the kit. Finally, the Tamiya cockpit canopy was replaced by the vacformed one supplied with the Red Roo conversion kits.

The first thing to do to the fuselage is to separate the cowling and lengthen the fuselage by 40 thou using plastic card, as described in the Red Roo set. This takes some care and time, but is well worth it. I the built the airframe on its inner surface, where it is visible through the cockpit or main wheel well. The kit contains a mixture of raised and engraved panel line, some of which I'd already destroyed, so I rescribed them all. The tailcone had to be replaced with the Red Roo item, which is correct for a Mk 1, and this is an easy fit. Just prior to fitting the cockpit, I built internal bulkhead just fore and aft of the main undercarriage bay.

I next turned my attention to the engine, which is crying out for more detail as the back of it is visible from the main undercarriage bay. In order to do this, I scratchbuilt the rear of the engine, and added engine mounts from copper wire. I moved the engine forward 40 thou in line with the added length of the cowling. I used the white metal propeller and resin spinner from Red Roo, but found the propeller blades a little thick so I ground them down with my motortool. I finished off by drilling out the exhausts and adding wiring to the engine. I also added the fuselage machine guns, which were made from plastic and fuse wire, to the top of the main undercarriage bay.

After all of this, the wings required a relatively minor amount of work. I rescribed (of course), added a Scratchbuilt second landing light as per the Red Roo instructions, added gun barrels and a pitot tube from hypodermic needles, sand drilled out squared up the spent ammunition ejection chutes.

Brake lines were very prominent on the Buffalo, so I added these from fuse wire. Next came the tyres, which were flattened to depict the weight of the aircraft, but were not bulged significantly as reference photos did not show this. The tail wheel well was boxed in with plastic card and the kit tail wheel was replaced with the resin Mk 1 tail wheel from the Red Roo kit. I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the patent application for the retractable undercarriage used in the Buffalo, by Jim Maas, the author of 'The Buffalo In Action'which proved to be very useful when detailing the undercarriage. I added plumbing to the main undercarriage bay and the main undercarriage actuator, which is missing from the kit.

Markings

It was painted according to profiles in Red Roo book using colours recommended in same. Refer to colours recommended on page 40-41 of 'Buffalo Down Under'. Note that Gary Byk proposes a number of possible colour matches for the light grey undersurface colour. I too have selected 'light gray' FS36493 as a likely choice, based on his recommendation. The following colours have been used:

Refer to the colour images adjacent to page 96 and the camouflage diagram on page 90 of 'Buffalo Down Under' for details of the scheme shown.

Decals from Aeromaster sheet 48-039 for Brewster Buffalo were used. Note that the only known photo of this aircraft is the third aircraft in line in the squadron line up in the top left corner of page 28 of 'Buffalo In Action'. This model was built prior to the Red Roo decal for this aircraft being released. The Aeromaster sheet is no longer available so I would recommend use of the Red Roo product.

References Used:

• F2A Buffalo In Action, Jim Maas, Squadron Signal Publications Inc, 1987.
  ISBN 0-89747-196-2
• Buffalo Down Under, The Modellers Guide to Australia's Inherited Fighter, Gary Byk,
  Red Roo Models, 1998.
• When the RAAF Flew Suicide Missions. The story of Australian Buffaloes in Malaya,
  Aussie Air Stories II.
• Various photographs and diagrams acquired from a variety of sources.
• Correspondence with Gary Byk, David Loughhead and Jim Maas.