The Brewster Buffalo was the RAF main fighter in Malaya when the Japanese invasion began. Poorly matched against the more agile Japanese fighters, the Buffalos were destroyed in numbers either on the ground or in the air. Whatever remains after the island fotress capitulated was either rebased at Sumatra of Burma.

The Tamiya Buffalo was first produced in 1974 and was reboxed and reissued recently with a Malaya campaign decal option for an aircraft stationed at Seletar airbase, Singapore during the war.


this is clearly depicted on the boxart and is quite correct a representation of the plane art as detailed in the book Buffalos over Singapore.


clearly showing its age, the parts are adequate and come in 3 main sprue, one of which holds the clear parts.

The details are a bit soft compared to today's kits and there is some inconsistencies showing, I am sure due to constraints in the production budget. The recess lines at the front fuselage was met with raised panel lines at the back and is quite similar to Tamiya's 32 scale tomcat.








there is a choice of either American or British plane and the pilot option is also available thouogh the details are really soft and require some cleanup.


the framework of the canopy is nearly invisible and I was a little disappointed that
they were not in separate panels which most new kits are for a 48 scale bird.



The bird was completed in 4 sittings in whatever spare time I could muster this last 3 months. Most of the tedious work went into the modification of the pilot figure to a seated on and the separation of the cockpit glazing panels.









Tamiya excelled in the ease of construction in their kits and this is no exception. The parts came together quickly and there was only some minor filling to the fuselage.
The entire kit was basecoated with Tamiya semi gloss black and finished with Gunze RAF colours. After a light toning spray in the centre of all the different coloured patches, a coat of Futures was applied and Raw Umber turpentine wash was coated after decals were applied. Before the oils dried, a clean brush was used and streaked along the airflow direction to create interest.
Some pinhole washes were added with thicker coats and also with lamp black.
One final coat of futures was applied and minor wear and tear was simulated with a HB pencil.









The glazing separation was the trickiest part and this was done carefully with a razor saw from Crazy Modeller. The kit came with a masking set to colour the canopy and extra care is needed as the material is soft and easily distorted. A bit of adjustment is also needed because the parts are not in perfect symmetry.

All in all, this is still a must build if your interest is in the Malaya campaign. Big T has a passion for Malaya and this is evident in their recent release of the Repulse in 700 scale, completing the collection for Force Z in that scale. Hopefully they will soon come out with the Tropical Hurricane mk2C and the Blenheims to complete the main RAF planes.

Thanks for reading.

Loo

LCK,

Nice one. Good weathering effect. Still calling em' as Buffalo Wings. How's the fit anyway? I got 4 of those in my inventory.

Sarge.

Buddy Badri,
the overall fit is fine with the exception of the canopy. Details are nothing to shout about and you will need some minor putty right behind the seat, back wheel well and around the join of the canopy to the fuselage.
Some sanding of the propellers are required as the 2 half molds are not sitting properly.
Fit of wings and stabilisers to the fuselage are spot on. Fit of top half and bottom half of wings need some love and care as if you can get the gun 'hole' to align, the other panel lines won't.
There is one big problem is that from the bottom, you can stare right into the front wheel wells right to the top of the fuselage. I left that alone as this was orignally supposed to be an OOB built.

4 kits you say? Planning a diorama are we? :rolleyes:

Nice build Loo,

I like the weathering and the pose of the pilot. I had the same kit but gave it away to a friend who was interested in the Malaya campaign.

Nice preview of the kit too. With it, any builders in future will be able to rectify the pitfalls of the kit.

Richard.

nicely done... love the weathering on it. just curious, why not just leave out the pilot altogether to show the cockpit details?

Jimbo,
the cockpit details are nothing to shout about as I did not upgrade them. Its OOB and the decals are overscaled and rather simplistic. Yoou can see it in the pics. The gauge rings are all in white and too big.

Nice work as usual Loo. Looks like you will have a nice bird for show during the Prop event. Only one comment; the pilot looks a bit "pucat" in the pictures :D . Maybe its suntan lotion? ;)

Ha Ha! That's why they're called "Orang Putih" :lol:

Either that or he's thinking of all the time to start a war it had to be during his service. I think a lot of people look like that just before going into battle for the first time.

Richard.

either that or he is scared shitless thinking about his comrades going down way too easily in these slow Buffalos. :lol:

wah LOO.. already start work for MGB08 ah.. very nice.. any idea are any of this actually based in Malaya, and any decal for it....

If I'm not mistaken they were also based in our very own Sungai Besi Airbase, for a short while before they had to vamoose. Loo may have better reference of it.

Richard.

Thomas,
I have enough references of the Malaya based units. The book titled Buffaloes over Singapore is very complete down to each plane, numbers and what happened to them.

Loo

Most impressive Buffalo.....Would not mind sourcing the same kit and building a diorama of their action in Malaya.....

If I do get around to find the kit in time .....would you be able to provide some reference on their habitat for a diorama of sorts .......?

Once again nice one !! keep them coming.......

Rgds and a Great 2008!
Mr b

b,

Let me know if you found the kit, I'm interested too, maybe we can do a group dio like what we have done for the MIFV dio last merdeka.

superb!

Tom

Will do there was a few of them in Indonesia when I was there...............

will be in touch

rgds
mr b

Guys,
I do have the references to do the airfield dio if you are interested but I do not have any spare kits to go around. I only still have one more kit to be made into a wreck scene later when I am old and grey! :lol:

Loo

The shop in indonesia does have buffalos left I called and checked.....I think its a go ....once I confirm with Tom....

Thanks again
rgds
mr b

Loo,
Sorry for hijacking your thread... but I think It's go for the Dio for MGB08, but we need your expertise of the construction of airfield later... OK?

b,
please secure the Buffalos...

Bud,
you got 4 right... wanna join the fun? can spare any of it?

Guys,
Any of you wanna join the fun, you can tumpang Mr B to order the Buffalos.. Provided he can find enough Buffalo in Indon, or we will hijack it from Bud... :D

Yes Loo sorry for the hijacking :)

I will try tom not too sure how to work the payment .....as they do not have an online payment gateway.....

Tuan Bud .....join the fun .....man! ......n if u want to let go 2 from your heard let us know.......

rgds
mr b

B,

I can let go one but this one comes with Airwaves PE sets. If you interested, let me know. I'll get it out for you.

By the way, the JKT trip WORTH IT!!

Sarge

Guys, (thomas,Brian,Bud)
I am compiling some data for your reference to assist. This includes marking numbers pics. Will contact you guys soon

Loo