1:72 Brewster Bison Mk Ic; RAAF 82 Squadron, New Guinea, 1944

Dizzyfugu · August 19, 2014, 11:41:02 AM

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

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

Some Background:
The Brewster F3A Bison was an American fighter aircraft which saw limited service in World War II. It was in improved successor to the F2A Buffalo, a naval fighter which had won a competition against the Grumman F4F Wildcat in 1939 and became the U.S. Navy's first monoplane fighter aircraft. Although superior to the Grumman F3F biplane it replaced and the early F4Fs, the Buffalo turned out to be a disappointment because the weight of added equipment was not balanced by an increase in horsepower.

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

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

Several nations, including Finland, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, ordered the Buffalo. Of all the users, the Finns were the most successful with their Buffalos, flying them in combat against early Soviet fighters with excellent results. That encouraged Brewster to develop a more advanced, purely land-based version that would surpass the "B-339" export model's performance – especially for the Pacific theatre where the F2A proved to be totally inferior to Japanese types like the agile Ki-43 and A6M.

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

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

The modified prototype, internally called Type 340, still based on the F2A-3, flew in late 1942. It primarily featured an uprated R-1820 radial engine and a longer fuselage to compensate for a slightly elongated nose – also as a measure to improve directional stability. The cockpit canopy had been changed into a frameless design, too. Armament was only marginally improved: the F2A's four 0.5" machine guns were retained, but all of them went into the reinforced wings. As a novelty, though, wet wing hardpoints for heavier loads and drop tanks were added, as well as attachments for unguided missiles – up to six of them could be carried.

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

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

In due course of the tests it became clear that more aerodynamic refinements had to be made. Landing speed had become excessive (even for a land-based aircraft) and aerial handling was poor. Hence, all wing surfaced were enlarged and finally in summer 1943, when production was about to start, the modifications had become so severe (about 60% of the airframe had been redesigned) that the Type 340 received a new designation – the F4A 'Bison' (the F3A code had I the meantime been allocated to F4U Corsairs that were built a Brewster).

At that time, initial orders had only come from the Australian Air Force, from New Zealand and the Netherlands for its East Indies Air Force. The USA would not order it, since more capable – but bigger – aircraft like the F4U and F6F were already in production and service, so the F4A designation was quickly dropped and the export versions called the Bison Mk. I.

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

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

The initial production batch for the Netherlands was delivered to Australia, though, since the ML-KNIL had become integrated into the Commonwealth forces in the Pacific. The first Bison Mk. Is were delivered in May 1943 to RAAF No. 79 Squadron, when the squadron was established as a fighter unit equipped with Supermarine Spitfires and Brewster Bisons. No. 82 Squadron followed in August 1943.
A totally of only 72 Bisons were built, because the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation more and more drifted into serious trouble. The service aircraft saw constant field modifications, though, with better air filters and modified armament – the original four 0.5" machine guns (Mk. Ia) were soon modified to two machine guns plus two Australia-built 20mm Hispano cannons (Mk. 1b) and eventually to a full four 20mm cannons (Mk. 1c), which were successfully used in the ground attack role.

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

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

Anyway, the Bison had already stretched the Buffalo's potential, so the type was retired from front line service in early 1945 and relegated to the training role.

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

General characteristics:
Crew: one
Length: 27 ft 1/2 in (8.28 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 7 1/2 in (11.48 m)
Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.88 m)
Wing area: 260 ft² (24.2 m²)
Empty weight: 5,895 lb (2,674 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,975 lb (3,617 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 8,762 lb (3,974 kg)

Powerplant:
1 × Wright R-1820-86 Cyclone 9 9-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,425 hp (1,063 kW)

Performance:
Maximum speed: 347 mph (302 kn; 560 km/h)
Cruise speed: 198 mph (172 kn; 320 km/h)
Range: 1.242 mi (1.085 nmi; 2.000 km)
Service ceiling: 39.300 ft (12.000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,940 ft/min (14.9 m/s)

Armament:
A mix of 0.787" (20mm) Hispano cannons with 60 RPG plus 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns with 200 RPG in the outer wings; hardpoints under the outer wings for bombs of up to 500 lb caliber, drop tanks or six unguided rockets.

The kit and its assembly:
This whif idea had been lingering for some months, and the most limiting factor had been to find a suitable and priceworthy donation kit for a major conversion. Eventually I found a cheap Matchbox kit, and surgery started, and the project received some more inspiration by a similar project (with the same name!) from fellow model builder sequoiaranger at whatifmodelers.com.

The original idea of both builds was to create an 'improved Buffalo' – but the projects ended up in very different interpretations. I decided to stick close to the original layout and dimensions, with a simple single-row radial, but I added anything I could think of except for a new landing gear.
From the Matchbox Buffalo, actually only the fuselage and the inner parts of the wings remained!

Consequently, many donation parts were implanted, including...
· A new canopy from a late F4U (Italeri)
· Engine cowling and wheels from a Curtiss SC-1 (Smer)
· Propeller from a B-17 (Airfix)
· Outer wings and fin from a Supermarine Attacker (Novo)
· Stabilizers from a BAC Strikemaster (Matchbox)

Basic idea was to add a slightly longer engine, and counter that with a plug at the rear fuselage – and my Bison received a 5mm insert behind the cockpit. The new canopy necessitated a new spine, which was sculpted with 2C putty and blends well into the tubby contours and the new fin. The latter's square shape was carried over onto all other wing surfcaess (with a slightly bigger span, for balance proportions), which creates a very different and more modern look – actually, my Bison reminds a lot of the F4F or even the F6F now?

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) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

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) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In order to compensate for the slightly longer fuselage the landing gear was modified so that the front rests a bit higher, keeping the angle on the ground. The tail wheel became fully retractable, too, as a modern feature.

Armament was changed/pimped with Hispano cannons and HVARs plus launch rails from Pavla.

Painting and markings:
I wanted to give the Bison an unusual look, at least compared to the Buffalo and its typical liveries.
The Bison would be sent into the Pacific theatre, and browsing through the decals I settled for Australia.
This offered a wide range of options, and I went for a mix of RAF and RAAF colors: upper sides in Dark Green and Ocean Grey, lower sides in unique RAAF Sky Blue – colors I found on RAAF Spitfires.

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) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

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) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting was done with Modelmaster enamals on the upper sides, using tones from the Authentic range, and the undersides were painted with Humbrol 65. Some weathering with lighter shades of these basic tones were added, as well as light black ink wash.

Decals were puzzled together – roundels come from an Airfix Ventura, an MPM Spitfire, a Bilek Whirlwind and from aftermarket sheets from TL Modellbau.

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

Logan Hartke · August 19, 2014, 11:52:00 AM

Best looking Buffalo derivative I've ever seen! Great work!

Cheers,

Logan

Gondor · August 19, 2014, 12:38:36 PM

Looks great

Gondor

TallEng · August 19, 2014, 01:25:19 PM

That's nice!

It has a certain Grummanesqe look to it as well,

Nice work on the weathered paintwork too

Regards
Keith

buzzbomb · August 19, 2014, 05:14:41 PM

tubby and gritty.

nice work

Dizzyfugu · August 20, 2014, 12:16:30 AM

Thank you!

Hotte · August 20, 2014, 01:16:52 AM

Wunderbar

Hotte

zenrat · August 20, 2014, 01:32:55 AM

Neat.

NARSES2 · August 20, 2014, 07:05:36 AM

Yet another Dizzyfugus build

It looks sooooo right to me

And yes I made the word up as I stated to run out of superlatives

Dizzyfugu · August 21, 2014, 12:46:09 AM

Thanks a lot - it's a pleasure!

Old Wombat · August 21, 2014, 07:11:29 AM

Brewster, without being Buffalo. Very good job, Dizz!

CSMO · August 21, 2014, 07:20:09 AM

Another rugged, ragged warrior from the Southwest pacific theater of operations. Well done, sir!

Adios, Larry.

comrade harps · August 21, 2014, 05:33:09 PM

I thought there might be some Wildcat in there.

Convincing.

Dizzyfugu · August 21, 2014, 11:37:42 PM

Thanks a lot. Yes, it looks a lot like a Wildcat - but that had not been the intention. But the square wings and the canopy with the solid spine behind immediately call up F4F associations. But, baysically, why not - in the end the Buffalo won against the Wildcat, but the latter turned out to have much more potential. Personally, I like to think of the Bison as a mini F6F?

springheel jack · August 23, 2014, 02:33:24 AM

Great model and, as usual, fantastic photos