So the premise is...., what if the RAF wanted their own version of a heavily armed bomber escort? The idea being that they transmit a `signal`, not too obvious, to lure the Luftwaffe night fighters close to them to be engaged by either themselves or Mosquito night fighters working in tandum?

Ok, so the backstory will need a little more work but first I needed an aircraft that was heavily armed, up gunned and had the range.

Back to my old friend, the Privateer.



Been working on this for a few days and so far have done some work on the cockpit and sprayed the main fuselage parts black.





More soon.

Nice ! I didn't know that revell had that kit....gonna have to ask my LHS if he can still get it !

Quote from: Captain Canada on January 07, 2012, 06:24:30 PM
Nice ! I didn't know that revell had that kit....gonna have to ask my LHS if he can still get it !

It's relatively easy to get here in the UK, quite often discounted to

What you'd ideally want, armament-wise, is a battery of long-barrelled 20mm cannons in the tail position and another lot under the nose firing backwards and downwards: those cover the two most common night-fighter approach paths and at least match (and maybe outrange) the fighter's guns.

That nose turret looks like it could operate upside down: maybe turn the nose section through 180 deg and lower it a bit so that it has rear arcs? It's not like you need the bomb-aimer's position anyway...

With that socking great bomb-bay you could install a 3.7 " AA gun AND its radar in there. Then you could really give the nightfighters some grief! 

They have the Privateer in Hobbycraft plus I've seen a few in TK Maxx

Yep, it's a recent reissue (if not last year then 2010).

I don't have my kit to hand, but could you fit that nose turret inside the bomb bay? Have it on a retractable mount so it can take off, and then deploy the turret once in flight. Upgun it to 20mm as Weaver said (I reckon you could get Oerlikons or Hispanos in there - maybe just a single one if there's no space for two) and it'd give the nightfighters a nasty shock. Same thing for the tail turret. Also add a Sperry ball turret if you have a spare - the Liberator had a retractable one, but apparently the Privateer didn't (again, I'd look but I don't have the kit to hand). While I love Kit's idea of a 3.7", firing it would probably break the plane in half!

Another possibility would be some kind of aerial mine, that could be released in a little cloud for the trailing nightfighter to fly into.

Oh, and this needs to be called the Destroyer NF.1.

Quote from: Weaver on January 08, 2012, 03:59:45 AM
That nose turret looks like it could operate upside down: maybe turn the nose section through 180 deg and lower it a bit so that it has rear arcs?

Weaver, thats genius. I was only thinking today that I need to come up with a defence against upward firing weaponary.

Obviously a couple of ball turrets were considered, but I`like to keep the weight down and to be honest, I just don`t have the ball turrets to hand.

Quote from: NARSES2 on January 08, 2012, 02:20:20 AM
It's relatively easy to get here in the UK, quite often discounted to

Got this from Modelzone and as you can see it`s reduced from £17 to £8.

Anyway, tonights progress report.

Some bad memories are starting to flood back to me with this kit, Massive trench line in the waist gun panel so that was dealt with first.





Wait for that to dry and then smooth off later.

Next was the need to answer how this aircraft would deal with upward firing weaponary a used by the Luftwaffe night fighters towards the second half of the war.



As Weaver suggested, the ball turret mount is upside down. Yep, thats right, the turret is gonna be where the bomb aimer would sit. That way he can train his guns down and slightly forward which is where the ideal German night fighter attack would commence allowing for deflection.

Next I needed to cut a hole just behind where the bomb bays are so that I can fit a barbette with two .50 cals which is controlled by an gunner looking downwards through a glass dome towards the rear.



Much to do, so little time.

Not too much done on this so far what with other builds going on, but did work on the underside turret, making sure that it was a nice tight fit with no gaps.

Would a Tsetse Mosquito nose fit over where the front turret used to be that would give it some punch. Actually ther probably wouldnt be enough space but it does give me an idea.

Shame the name Marauder is already taken as it would fit nicely and continue the piratical theme.

Was the name "Buccaneer" in use at the time?

If not this could be the original Bucc, & that wild twin-turbine low-rider could be the Bucc II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_SB2A_Buccaneer

It looks like there was although theres nothing to stop it being called the Buccaneer in British service as we called the Brewster the Bermuda.

Got back to work on this build tonight. Suddenly all the little irritations about this kit came flooding back.........,

.......... nose and tail sections just don`t fit well.............,



........ and don`t get me started on the wings............,



...... plus there is the added joy of the 3 piece cockpit canopy.........,



But I suppose it comes down to the question, am I enjoying myself?

The answer is simple..., yes!  (And thank god for filler)

So tonight I got the paints and brushes out and cracked on with the camo. Got a few bits that need to be re touched, but I tend to find thats the case with most brush painted models.

The wings are not glued in, just set in place as part of the mock up. (Also note the gaps. I have never ever had a straight forward perfect fit of the wings to fuselage on this kit and I can only assume it is a design fault with the mould).

Hopefully, I can give this American aircraft an RAF Bomber Command look and feel.