Brewster "Bison" Phoenix Re-build

[sequoiaranger]

I had forgotten that I had not "finished" the promised Bison backstory, so here it is!

Backstory:

When the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation received its first Navy contract to build the F2A Brewster Buffalo naval carrier fighter it was delighted to have successfully transitioned from building fine carriages to military aircraft. Several nations bought the B-339 export fighter version, but the US Navy wasn't enthralled with their aircraft. When inefficiencies, corruption, ties to the Bolivian mafia, and contract disputes led the Navy to switch to the Grumman Wildcat for carrier fighters, Brewster sought to make an improved Buffalo that would woo the Navy back.

Though the core of this new fighter was "Buffalo", a larger more powerful engine, four-bladed propeller, increased length, increased wingspan and armament were incorporated into the now-named "Bison". The Navy was reluctant to embrace this new fighter despite obvious improvements, so BEGGED Grumman to convert their floatplane Gander to the wheeled Hellcat for Navy consideration!

Despite the internal problems that still plagued the Brewster corporation, the Marine-Luchtvaartdienst  (Dutch Naval Air Service) bought the initial 32 pre-production B-539 Bisons for their hybrid aircraft carrier Molucca, enroute to the Netherlands East Indies to help curb Japanese expansionist desires. When only 29 Bisons showed up in Djakarta (and three were discovered in Bolivia) the US Navy seized Brewster and eventually dissolved the company. The Dutch were delighted with the new, modern, powerful fighters that replaced their navalized Fokker D. XXI's, and began transitional training just before the war started.

The Netherlands East Indies military officer corps was almost exclusively ethnically Dutch. Non-Dutch Indonesian officers or pilots were rare. A promising young native officer, Gede Ubud became the first pilot of Balinese descent to join a Naval fighter squadron, and was assigned to the Molucca.

Gede went to war when a combined Anglo-Dutch force surprised a Japanese convoy escorted by cruiser-carriers Tone and Chikuma, and shot down two floatplane fighters. When the Allied carrier force struck the Japanese land base at Truk, Gede was jumped by a Ki-43 Hayabusa and he dove to low level to escape, skimming over the waves and "jinking" to throw off the Japanese pilot's aim. A deliberate snap turn to port had the following Hayabusa dip a wingtip into the water, cartwheel and sink. Gede claimed a kill. Even though he was RUNNING AWAY and his guns had not been fired, Gede declared it was HIS ACTIONS that prompted the destruction of the enemy plane. The kill was accepted, but in a good-natured jibe the kill marking was painted turned-around by the ground crew. Another Ki-43 fell to his guns as the Molucca fled from Indonesia to base in Ceylon. When the Molucca headed west with a polyglot Allied carrier fleet towards the Arabian Sea to confront a Saxo-Nipponese force, Gede encountered German See Stukas from the carrier Graf Zeppelin on a Wednesday. Wearing his traditional headband and "lucky" greenish uniform (green is lucky to wear on Wednesdays in Balinese culture) he shot one of those down for his official "ace" status. Unfortunately, on his Thursday sortie (wearing the same uniform—now not so lucky) a seagoing Heinkel He-100T closed in on Gede's tail and Bali's first fighter ace crashed into the sea.

[note: I was given a tour of Ubud, Bali, by Gede, my tour guide. Thus I honor Bali and Gede with my Bison!]

[AURI]

Awesome  btw, I'm Balinese

[royabulgaf]

What did you use for the cowling, and the lengthened wings?

[Dizzyfugu]

A lovely idea, like it very much. I might try to beef up a vintage Matchbox Buffalo, too - I have a Helldiver engine somewhere in my junk pile... 

[Dizzyfugu]

Thread revival, since things get serious here. Got hands on a Matchbox Buffalo, and started to convert it into my take on the "Bison".
Will differ considerably, though, e. g. with a late R-1820 (from a Curtiss SC-1) instead of the long R-2600. Other mods: Rear fuselage plug (5mm only), new tail surfaces, new wing tips (square shape, slightly extended), probably new canopy (from an F4U!). Might end up in RAAF colors.

[Dizzyfugu]

1:72 Brewster 'Bison' Mk. Ic, aircraft 'FA-S/A-51-41' of 82 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Morotai/New Guinea, August 1944 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

More to come soon in a separate post.

[PR19_Kit]

Hehehe, that's a comical looking one Thomas. But very plausible nonetheless. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Reminds a lot of the F4F now! But it has lost a lot of its tubby Buffalo-ness - almost anything but the core fuselage and the inner wings is new!