Buccaneer joins the Royal Air Force

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

We may well find ourselves currently speeding headlong towards the end of another busy year, but from an Airfix new model development perspective, we still have much work to do and lots to tell you about. With a major new kit addition to the range due to arrive in our warehouse in the next couple of weeks, we intend to mark the occasion in some style here within Workbench, spending the next couple of editions looking at different development aspects of this major addition to the Airfix range. From this week's title, you will not be surprised to hear that the model in question is the second release from our 1/48th scale Blackburn Buccaneer tooling, this time presenting this mighty strike aircraft in Royal Air Force guise, a kit which we know is eagerly anticipated by so many modellers amongst our number.

For this reason, we will be spending the next two editions of the blog giving the RAF Buccaneer kit the Workbench welcome it deserves, by way of a little pre-Christmas treat. In this first update, we will be focusing on the design aspects of bringing this specific variant to the range, benefiting from the input of the kit's designer Paramjit and a selection of design images which have not been published previously. We will be looking at the new parts themselves and any challenges Paramjit faced when designing them, before moving on to look a little more closely at the FOUR scheme options which are included with this new kit.

In our follow-up edition next weekend, we will be showcasing the new box artwork produced in support of this significant new addition to the range, before moving on to look once more at the four scheme options included with this kit, using four beautifully built models to illustrate the details behind each one.

A major impending addition to the Airfix range, please join us as we blast into the Christmas holiday period in Buccaneering style, with more exclusive imagery than you could shake your scale sabre at!

Designed for the Navy, loved by the Royal Air Force

The preserved Buccaneer the Airfix team scanned at the start of this project was the beautiful aircraft cared for by members of the Ulster Aviation Society at their Maze Long Kesh site.

Although being part of the Airfix team is a real honour for us all here and being in a position to play our own small part in the continuing heritage of this famous brand is something we all cherish as an absolute privilege, we all know that when it comes to the launch of any new tooling project and despite our very best efforts, we will never be able to please every Airfix fan out there. Whether that be the choice of subject matter, or more usually, the scale in which any new kit has been released, we will always be getting on the wrong side of someone, unless of course, we have a cunning scale plan up our design sleeves. 

When we announced the new 1/72nd scale Blackburn Buccaneer tooling in back in 2019, although it was received with overwhelmingly positive support, there were some who lamented that fact that this aviation heavyweight had not been produced in the larger 1/48th scale. Their perfectly valid argument was that in this larger scale, the kit would not only better replicate the impressive proportions of this massive aeroplane, but would also produce a stunning centrepiece for any model display. Little did they know that we already had plans!

In truth, it really is vitally important that our design team introduce new projects which benefit several scales across the Airfix range, maintaining the legacy of our kits, whilst always having the interests of the modelling community at the forefront of our thinking. Of course, from a designers perspective, once research and design files are in place for any subject in any scale, there is always the possibility that such a kit could go on to be produced in a different scale, even though our designers would be quick to tell you that it's never a simple process and is most definitely not a computer exercise in simple up or down scaling!

For this reason, it could be argued that when our 1/48th scale Blackburn Buccaneer new tooling project was announced just three years after the 1/72nd scale kit was, it didn't come as a huge surprise across the hobby, even though this was extremely welcome news for us all. Modellers all over the world could now look forward to tackling this beast of a kit following its release and as this was first and foremost a naval strike aircraft, it was fitting that this initial release featured aircraft which served with the Fleet Air Arm. As we prepare to welcome the second release from this spectacular tooling, its time to acknowledge the Buccaneer's Royal Air Force career, an aircraft type which they initially felt was somewhat forced upon them, but one they quickly learned to appreciate the many impressive qualities of.

Box artwork produced in support of the RAF version of the 1/72nd scale Buccaneer, showing the aircraft in the environment where it excelled, low level and at high speed. Is it any wonder that the RAF's use of the Buccaneer continues to be a source of fascination for the modelling community.

The Buccaneer can actually trace its initial development history back to the 1950’s and the start of a massive naval expansion programme initiated by the Soviet Navy. Unable to match the spending power of the Soviets in upgrading the Royal Navy's surface fleet to meet the very real threat posed by the Soviet Navy's new Sverdlov Class Cruisers, Britain proposed the development of a capable new carrier based strike aircraft, one specifically developed to eliminate the threat posed by the new Soviet warships.

The aircraft which emerged from this project would be the first of its kind to be developed from the outset to operate as an ‘under radar coverage’ design and would need to provide excellent performance at low altitudes, as well as the capability to deliver nuclear munitions onto its intended target, should that be required. These formidable specifications would place extreme demands on any aircraft design, however, the new jet would need to achieve all this whilst possessing the capability of operating from the decks of one of Britain’s relatively small aircraft carriers - this was going to have to be one very special aeroplane indeed. 

Developed under a cloak of absolute secrecy, the favoured design was submitted by famous British naval aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft Limited and was referred to as the Blackburn Advanced Naval Aircraft (BANA), an acronym which would remain with the new aircraft throughout its service life, as it inherited the somewhat predictable nickname of the ‘Banana Jet’. Having said that, from certain angles, the appearance of the Buccaneer's generous, curving fuselage certainly does possess more than just a passing resemblance to a banana.

A rugged and extremely capable modern strike aircraft, to say the Navy were delighted with their new Buccaneer was an understatement, particularly when the later upgraded S.2 variant was introduced, which featured two 11,100 lb Rolls Royce Spey RB168-1A Mk 101 turbojets and an extremely welcome 40% thrust boost. Now the Navy's Buccaneer could really start to show what it could do.

A computer rendered image produced during the design phase of the new 1/48th scale Buccaneer, one showing an aircraft in Royal Air Force configuration and equipped with Sea Eagle anti-shipping missiles.

Unfortunately, this affection for the Buccaneer was not shared by the Royal Air Force, who dismissed any talk of taking the aircraft as a modern replacement for some of their ageing types almost out of hand. Was this because they didn't rate the aircraft, or simply because it was one designed specifically as a naval aeroplane and old inter-service rivalries? The high profile cancellation of the British Aircraft Corporation TSR.2 project saw the Buccaneer question being raised once more, but again, they overlooked the aircraft, choosing instead to secure American swing-wing General Dynamics F-111 strike jets, however, this program would also run into trouble later, leaving the RAF with a pressing need and few options available to them.

In the end, the decision was essentially taken out of their hands, with the Government of the day insisting that the only viable and affordable option for the Royal Air Force was for them to take the proven, British built Buccaneer as their Canberra replacement. Whilst they understandably had reservations and initially at least felt the aircraft was forced upon them, they would soon come to realise that this was no aviation makeweight and the Buccaneer was actually an exceptional strike aircraft, not to mention a capability upgrade.

Entering Royal Air Force squadron service some seven years after it had done so with the Royal Navy, an initial order for 26 newly built Buccaneers was placed with Blackburn Aircraft Limited, with the RAF machines possessing several differences from their seaborne counterparts and carrying the designation S.Mk.2B. It was also later decided that with the retirement of the Navy’s last big aircraft carriers, the RAF would inherit former Royal Navy Buccaneers as well, with the entire fleet of aircraft constantly reminding their new owners of their naval heritage. 

It's an interesting Buccaneer fact that even the new aircraft ordered for the RAF would retain the folding wings and arrester hooks required by the original Fleet Air Arm Buccaneers, as these features didn't detract from the performance of the aircraft. That being the case, it didn't really make sense to go to the expense of unnecessary re-development and all the associated production delays this would bring.

Buccaneers for the RAF - Just another design task

It's beginning to look a lot like a Buccaneer, well, at least from an Airfix designers perspective.

Having now posted over eight years of Workbench development blogs, readers will be well versed in both the various stages and the specific skillset an Airfix designer brings to bear on any modern new tooling project, so whilst we are going to be enthusiastically jumping onto this new Buccaneer opportunity for new details, we're not going to be covering old design ground here. Several previous articles regarding Buccaneer design work in both scales can be accessed via the main Workbench hub, but for this particular update, we wanted to ask designer Paramjit Sembhi a couple of RAF Buccaneer design specific questions. 

As the new kit will need to feature additional parts to allow Royal Air Force operated Buccaneers to be modelled, we wanted to ask if this posed any problems for him at the design stage and if so, what they were?

Paramjit told us that whilst this second release from the new Buccaneer tooling clearly requires the inclusion of new parts to allow this variant of the aircraft to be built, these details were all included in the initial project brief and whilst he needed to keep them all separate from the main kit parts required for the first Fleet Air Arm release, this was more an exercise in tool plan layout skills, rather than bringing specific design challenges. 

As the initial release was Fleet Air Arm specific and kept us all guessing as to the potential future release of an RAF Buccaneer option, the new parts in question all clearly formed part of the overall design project, but just needed to be arranged within a completely separate component frame. This does seem rather obvious, however, as you can see from the images included, there are quite a lot of additional parts in the new RAF Buccaneer frame and designing these to all to fit in the same collection of parts did prove to be quite the challenge for Paramjit.

These fascinating images were supplied by Paramjit and show his tool layout plan for the new RAF Buccaneer parts, with the first image showing the new frame included with this eagerly anticipated new kit and the second illustrating how he managed to incorporate this rather large frame into an existing tool layout.

From a tooling production perspective, whilst it's not unheard of for a separate/future frame of parts to require the production of its own separate tool, this can be a very expensive option from a development perspective and if the frame in question can be incorporated into an existing tool, this is definitely the most cost effective way in which to proceed. As you can see from the images in this section, Paramjit did manage to include these new parts in the existing FAA Buccaneer tooling, but it was a close run thing and did prove to be the most pressing design challenge he faced in connection with this new release option.

You will see from the fascinating tool plan layout image featured above, Paramjit managed to include all the new RAF Buccaneer parts into an existing tool and how that tool has the option to produce both frames separately, if required. The main medium (plastic) feed gates will allow either or both frames to be produced during the manufacturing process, using turn-key feed gate access to allow or prevent the flow of molten plastic into the tool as required.

As fascinating as these complex tooling layout images are, Paramjit informed us that it isn't always possible for a designer to avoid having to use a completely separate tool for additional part frames on a project, but how this will be discussed and decided upon by the wider Airfix team on a case by case basis during their regular project reviews. In some instances, the need to utilise additional tooling expense may actually be the deciding factor as to whether a project will gain production approval or not. 

Although Workbench readers have gained a real appreciation for the skills possessed by the Airfix design team, Paramjit was quick to point out that a great deal of credit in most new tooling situations must go to our hard working researcher Luke, and how he helps guide the designers through each and every project they undertake. Working closely together, Luke and Paramjit knew exactly which components they would need to include for each variant of the Buccaneer, which considering the service lifespan of the aircraft and number of upgrades it benefited from, was no mean feat. From a variant option perspective, all the different component requirements formed part of the overall design phase, it was just where to arrange them as part of the tooling layout that was the real challenge.

Again speaking specifically about this impending RAF release of the Buccaneer, Paramjit told us that in addition to the tooling layout challenges he faced, he also remembers wading through lots of research information relating to specific weapons options for this new kit variant and how he needed the support not only of Luke, but also some trusted external experts in order to secure the details he needed for his design file work.

More fascinating Buccaneer kit imagery supplied by Paramjit, this time showing one of the later test frames for the RAF variant of the Buccaneer on his workbench, ready for checking and assembly. This is followed by a computer rendered representation of the full ordnance option suite the new RAF variant of the Buccaneer kit will have access to.

As Paramjit is a busy man, we didn't want to keep him too long, but couldn't let him go without asking him what he thinks modellers have to look forward to when they receive their new RAF Buccaneer kits?

As he has already moved on to a couple of significant new design projects since then, he reflected on his answer for a moment, before telling us that he genuinely hopes it will be the kit offering in its entirety. He knows that this variant of the Buccaneer in 1/48th scale has been sought after by the modelling community for some years now and he hopes that with the release of this new kit, many people will enjoy the experience of building this Royal Air Force variant of the aircraft. He also hopes that the high regard in which the Buccaneer is still held will make this new kit a fitting display centrepiece in many a model collection.

The new parts which allow this variant of Buccaneer to be built not only include a selection of weapon and equipment options carried by Royal Air Force Buccaneers but also the distinctive bulged bomb bay and modified shoulder mounted external fuel tank these aircraft featured. The new kit will help to tell the story of this incredible aircraft at the opposite end of its service career, hopefully providing a fitting scale tribute to its legacy in the process.

The same basic kit, but very different in presentation, this fantastic second release from our 1/48th scale Blackburn Buccaneer tooling is inbound and should touch down in our warehouse over the next couple of weeks. We would like to thank Paramjit for his input into this project update and for supplying us with such an appealing set of supporting images.

RAF Buccaneers - Dressed for success!

A Buccaneer blank canvas - what scheme options have we included with this first Royal Air Force release of our 1/48th scale Blackburn Buccaneer tooling?

Because we knew so many people were looking forward to getting their hands on the new Royal Air Force variant of our 1/48th scale Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B kit, we wanted to do something just that little bit different from a scheme option perspective this time and include alternative markings from throughout the long career of the RAF Buccaneer. With no fewer than FOUR appealing options available, we have schemes covered from the classic, through to the unusual, featuring examples of the first and last in service, with a Sky Pirate thrown in for good measure.  

Let's take a closer look at the scheme options which will be temping us in just a couple of week's time:

Scheme A - Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XW527/527, No.12 Squadron Royal Air Force, Lossiemouth, Scotland, 1993.

For an aircraft the Royal Air Force didn’t really want, the Buccaneer proved to be an exceptionally capable machine and by the time it was eventually scheduled for retirement, they were extremely reluctant to let it go. Although in truth they did end up with the naval aircraft they had originally dismissed, it didn’t take long before the camouflaged Buccaneers of the RAF began to show why this was definitely not a second choice aircraft type in any way.

One of the most impressive attributes the RAF's new Buccaneers possessed was their great inherent strength, with the fact that these aircraft had been designed specifically to withstand the rigours of operation from the deck of a small British aircraft carrier only serving to enhance their land based operability. The Buccaneer was very much at home when operating at low altitude and at high speed, with the aircraft being extremely stable in this environment, providing both pilot and navigator with a great deal of confidence in their mount. As a team, a Buccaneer crew worked as one, ensuring that the workload was shared, but always placing their aircraft in the optimum position from where to launch an attack, if required.

New built Buccaneers for service with the Royal Air Force benefited from an enhanced maritime strike capability, with the ability to carry both anti-radar and anti-shipping missiles, specifically as the retirement of the Royal Navy's large carriers meant that they would now be required to provide surface vessel protection for the Navy from shore bases. These aircraft could deliver both the Martel anti-radiation and Sea Eagle sea-skimming anti-shipping missiles, both of which were stand-off munitions and fired at quite some range from its target, thus greatly increasing the survivability of the attacking aircraft. These new build Buccaneers for the Royal Air Force carried the variant title S.2B, however, former Fleet Air Arm Buccaneers which went on to serve with the RAF would also undergo some limited upgrade rework and were subsequently referred to as Buccaneer S.2As. Around 36 former Fleet Air Arm Buccaneers would be converted to this standard.

Full scheme details for this beautiful wrap around camouflage version of RAF Buccaneer marking presentation.

Buccaneer XW527 was one of the first newly built aircraft produced for the Royal Air Force, delivered at the end of June 1970 and going on to enjoy a long and successful service career. A quick internet search for this aircraft will reveal a large number of images which confirm her status as a particularly hard working RAF Buccaneer, from taking part in the 'Lime Jug 70' exercise in the November of her delivery year, to taking part in the Queen's Silver Jubilee review at RAF Finningley at the end of July 1977.

She is presented here in the attractive wrap around camouflage scheme adopted by so many Buccaneers in RAF service, a scheme she was still wearing when the last RAF Buccaneers were withdrawn from service in March 1994. Although she is presented in the colours of No.12 Squadron in this scheme option, the last pictures of the aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth have it wearing No.16 Squadron markings, another of the RAF units which operated the Buccaneer extensively. She definitely represents one of the longest serving and hardest working of all the RAF's Buccaneers.

It's thought that the nose section of this aircraft remains in good order, the prized possession of an Italian aviation enthusiast.

Scheme B - Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XW544, No.15 Squadron Royal Air Force, Laarbruch, Germany, 1971.

Now unquestionably one of the most famous Buccaneers in the UK, XW544 is presented here in the first operational scheme Royal Air Force Buccaneers wore during their service career, including smart full colour roundels. This aircraft was delivered to the Royal Air Force in 1972, initially entering service with No.15 Squadron at Laarbruch that same year, before moving on to No.16 squadron in 1979 and returning back to No.15 Squadron in 1982.

It appears that this particular ship proved rather temperamental in RAF service, spending many hours in various maintenance hangars due to her being plagued by persistent fuel leaks and after just ten years of service and with only 2227:10 hours flight time logged, she was withdrawn from service. Flown to RAF Shawbury for storage, the aircraft had her engines removed, in addition to losing various pieces of equipment taken from her cockpit, all items required to keep the remaining RAF Buccaneer fleet flying.

In 1984, the aircraft was transported the short distance to RAF Cosford, where she served under the care of No.2 School of Technical Training, remaining their for the next ten years, until the eventual retirement of the RAF's last remaining Buccaneers. Following this development, she was no longer required by the SoTT and was sold to a local scrap metal dealer, transported to his premises in Shawbury and stored outdoors on her belly, awaiting her fate.

An early scheme representation of RAF Buccaneer markings, the start of a long and successful career in RAF service.

Thankfully, XW544 was discovered laying in this sorry state by a group of Buccaneer enthusiasts, who managed to raise enough money between them to purchase the airframe. Because of the sorry state they found her in, she actually underwent a programme of rudimentary preservation whilst still on site, in an attempt to ensure she did not deteriorate any further. Eventually, the aircraft was transported to a new home at Bruntingthorpe Airfield, where her future began to look much brighter, especially when she became the subject of a concerted attempt to restore her to ground running condition. 

A proud achievement for all those connected with this project, XW544 performed her first engine run in almost 25 years during May 2008 and three years later, performed her first public fast taxi runs at one of Bruntingthorpe's famous Cold Wat Jets events, in conjunction with two other preserved Buccaneers. After spending a happy and successful 16 years at Bruntingthorpe, changes at the airfield saw the Buccaneer hitting the road once more , this time to a new home at the former RAF Kemble, an airfield steeped in post war jet aviation heritage. 

Cotswold Airport was seen as an ideal fit for the group’s ambitious future plans, with this exciting development also seeing the groups volunteer force providing active care for aircraft already based at the airfield – two Canberra PR.9s, a Hunter T.7 and a Folland Gnat. All The Buccaneer Aviation Group had to do now is to arrange for XW544 and their second Buccaneer to be transported to Kemble safely, a costly exercise which benefited from significant public support.

Now firmly established as one of the major attractions at Cotswold Airport, when Buccaneer XW544 isn't charming the nation's photographers at one of TBAG's regular nightshoot events, she can be found blasting down the runway at the former RAF Kemble, a living tribute to the Royal Air Force career of the mighty Buccaneer.

 
Scheme C - Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XV352, No.208 Squadron Royal Air Force, Operation Red Flag, 1977.

By far and away one of the most interesting schemes an RAF Buccaneer ever wore, this option is presented sporting a temporary desert camouflage scheme applied in advance of the aircraft's participation in the Red Flag exercises in the Nevada desert during 1977.

The Red Flag exercises were established in November 1975 to provide USAF crews with a realistic combat training environment to better prepare their personnel for conflict, operating some aircraft specifically in a manner to simulate known enemy tactics and providing the most challenging mission profiles for their most capable pilots. 

In 1977, the Royal Air Force were invited to take part in the exercises, the first overseas Air Force to do so, with that honour being bestowed on ten Buccaneers from No.208 Squadron and a pair of Vulcans from RAF Scampton. The Buccaneer crews were well versed in practicing this type of flying, so this was more an exercise in aircraft serviceability and overseas deployment for them, rather than a competition, however, the aircraft would go on to acquit themselves extremely well in both regards.

Sporting their temporary desert camouflage scheme, the aircraft proved difficult for both US ground controllers and interceptor fighters hoping to score a simulated victory against them. Indeed, it was claimed that the Buccaneers flew so low to the desert floor that the only way US fighters stood a chance of seeing one was by looking for the dust cloud blown up by the aircraft's engine efflux as they passed low over the desert floor, and there was absolutely no way that a US fighter pilot was going to fly that low to investigate.

There are even reports that RAF Buccaneer pilots flew so impressively during the exercises that some controllers left their stations to give them a round of applause as they exited their assigned attack flightpaths. One thing which isn't open for debate is how the success of the RAF's Red Flag Buccaneer deployment resulted in the Americans initiating a full analysis of RAF tactics, from 'an enemy perspective', a direct result of how successful their missions had been. Clearly, they were more than a little disappointed by the interception performance of their own fighter aircraft.

In this scale, it will be difficult to overlook this Red Flag scheme, as it just looks so good on this larger kit representation of the Buccaneer.

Making her first flight in April 1968, Buccaneer S.2B XV352 was constructed for the Royal Air Force, but was initially allocated to the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down for use in extensive weapons trials work. She was later delivered to No.208 Squadron at RAF Honington in March 1977 and would be one of the ten aircraft sent to take part in the Red Flag exercises at Nellis Air Force Base that same year, where the unit displayed the prowess of the RAF's Buccaneer squadrons.

She would go on to serve with both No.12 Squadron and No.237 OCU at Lossiemouth and in keeping with her growing operational stature, would also take part in the Gulf War of 1991, where she flew twelve operational combat missions, sporting the name Tamdhu as one of the famous aviation Sky Pirates.

Following the withdrawal of the Buccaneer from RAF service in March 1944, the aircraft was flown to RAF St Athan for scrapping, however, the nose and forward fuselage section was subsequently saved and purchased by a private collector. This surviving section of the aircraft is currently on display at the excellent RAF Manston History Museum, another former RAF Buccaneer with an illustrious history. 

  
Scheme D - Blackburn Buccaneer S.2B XW547/R, Guinness Girl/Pauline, No.12 Squadron Royal Air Force, Operation Granby/Desert Storm, Muharraq Airport, Bahrain, 1991.

The final scheme option available with the release of this impressive new kit serves to commemorate the time when the RAF's Buccaneers went to war, a full 22 years after the type entered service. The opening exchanges of the first Gulf War were carried out by coalition air forces on 17th January 1991, with a strong force initially attempting to neutralise the potential threat posed by the Iraqi Air Force, shooting down anything which dared to get airborne to challenge them, whilst at the same time using airfield denial munitions to render their operating bases unserviceable. This task proved particularly difficult, not only because the layout of enemy airfields was so vast, but also by the effectiveness of the anti-aircraft defensive fire they encountered.

Once satisfied they had effectively removed the threat of the enemy's air force, RAF bombing operations moved to what they had expected to be safer medium altitudes, using iron bombs to take out their identified targets, however, they continued to be targeted by accurate anti-aircraft fire and bombing inaccuracy was becoming a concern to military officials as a result - the continued loss of aircraft prompted immediate action to be taken.

At that time, the RAF's last remaining Buccaneer jets had been replaced in the main strike role by the Tornado and in the swansong of its operational career, the last 30 or so airframes were all based at RAF Lossiemouth, mainly operating in a maritime strike role, with the exception of No.237 OCU, which maintained a reserve operational role providing laser target designation support for other RAF strike aircraft, using the AN/AVQ-23E Pave Spike electro-optical laser designation targeting pod with which it was equipped. This and the other two remaining Buccaneer units, were all based at RAF Lossiemouth at that time and as the Gulf erupted into conflict, the Station Commander was told by officials that the services of his staff and their ageing aircraft would not be required.

As the usual squadron training duties continued throughout January, the situation was so normal that the two operational squadrons were allowed out on training detachments, with No.12 Squadron operating from Gibraltar and No.208 Squadron calling RAF St Mawgan their temporary home, however, things were about to change. After just three days of offensive operations in the Gulf, developments dictated that the services of these venerable old jets would now be needed in the combat zone and Lossiemouth had just three days to prepare for a historic operational deployment. The very specific capabilities of these Cold War warriors was now needed in the Gulf as a matter of urgency and RAF Lossiemouth would become a hive of activity as a consequence.

Full scheme details showing what has to be considered one of the most significant preserved Royal Air Force aircraft in the country today, Gulf War veteran XW547.

The subject of this scheme, XW547 has to be regarded as one of the most famous of the Royal Air Force Buccaneers, ordered as one of the initial batch of 26 S.2B airframes produced for the RAF and taken on charge in November 1972. She underwent an almost immediate equipment upgrade prior to being delivered to No.15 Squadron at Laarbruch later that same month and during a long career, would also see spells operating in the markings of Nos. 12 and 216 Squadrons, as well as No.237 OCU.

By early 1991, XW547 was with No.12 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth and being hastily prepared for deployment to Bahrain in support of Operation Granby, British military operations in the first Gulf War. Wearing her distinctive desert Alkali Removable Temporary Finish, she made the transit flight from Scotland to the Gulf region on 27th January 1991, where she would go on to fly eleven combat missions for a total of 100 hours and 15 minutes flight time in theatre.

During her time in the Gulf, XW547 would benefit from several non-standard additions to her presentation, including the painting of mission markings on her starboard forward fuselage, under the cockpit. Ten black bomb markings denoted the missions where the aircraft flew designator sorties for other attack aircraft, whilst the single red bomb stencil marked the single 1000lb laser guided bomb the aircraft dropped in theatre.

The starboard side also carried some typically risqué artwork of this deployment and the names Guinness Girl, Pauline and 'The Macallan' painted on the aircraft, which all went to make her a most interesting aircraft.

On her return from the Gulf, XW547 was retired from No.12 Squadron and later flown to RAF Shawbury for storage and possible future use as an instructional airframe. In early 1993, she would be transported the short distance by road to the RAF Museum site at Cosford earmarked for preservation, the first of the RAF's Gulf War veteran aircraft to be protected in this manner. Several years later, she would be transported to the main RAF Museum site at Hendon, where she can still be found on public display to this day, resplendent in her Gulf War paint finish and complete with her rather unique nose artwork.

All four of these schemes effectively document the impressive Royal Air Force career of the mighty Blackburn Buccaneer in a presentation sense, leaving us with the incredibly difficult task of selecting the one in which to finish our new model. The one thing we can console ourselves with is that the Buccaneer will look great in whichever option we decide to go with and in this scale, will certainly cut an imposing profile as part of our model collection.

Just one final computer rendered Buccaneer image to keep us primed for our final project update in the next edition of Workbench. 

In next week's edition of Workbench, we will be returning to the subject of our new Buccaneer kit, this time to exclusively share the new box artwork produced in support of its release, whilst also looking a little more closely at the aircraft's Gulf War contribution. We will also be showcasing a selection of built model images, with a model finished in each of the four scheme options we have just featured above. Will we also have a little Buccaneer competition for you all? - Well, you'll have to wait and see on that score.

Finally, we would like to thank Paramjit for spending time with us this week and especially for allowing us to include the RAF Buccaneer tooling detail images which provide such a fascinating insight into his impressive Buccaneering design exploits.

We are afraid that's all we have for you in this latest edition, but we will be back next Friday with more project development updates and the very latest Airfix kit exclusives. In the meantime, we are always keen to hear your views on all things Airfix and in particular, any thoughts and opinions you may have regarding our Workbench blog. If you would like to drop us a quick line, could we please ask that you use our workbench@airfix.com email for all correspondence. 

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