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bob mack
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Special Hobby 1/32 F2A-2 Buffalo Marines

November 29, 2013 · in Aviation · · 36 · 3.7K

yellow wings decals














great kit...no shake and bake but pure pleasure







Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

36 responses

  1. Very, very nice. Great finish & then as you say come some great decals.
    Someday you 32nd scale builders will have to tell the rest of us where you put these kits when they are done.

    • you know al this kit actually renders itself to 1/32 very well...the buffalo... mustang...p-39...FW and WW1 subjects and the like are great in this scale...this is about 13" x 10" not extravagant...i build all scales...a 1/72 b-17 or 24 is fine...Lord a 1/72 B-2 Spirit is 29" wide...1/144 is fine for those big bombers...1/72 or 1/48 for medium bombers fantastic...a 1/32 P-38 19" wingspan ...maybe one but if you want a lot of schemes do the others in 1/48...i'm not married to any one scale

  2. It looks beautiful, Bob. Very nice finish and I have read a lot about Yellow Wings Decals and it is nice to see them in action. I really like the pre-war and early-war markings. The panel lines and, it appears, panel shading look great and give an "in use" look without being beat up.

    • yellow wings must be handled with care...they can be a little brittle especially on the edges but they have beautiful color and release from the backer in seconds

  3. I've never done a Buffalo, but this one sure is nice. Great job, sir.

    • thank you for that craig...i know your a fan of the blue-grey scheme

      • Indeed I am, Bob...other than a straight "intermediate blue" overall paint job, I've always been partial to the blue over light gray/white application. Gloss Sea Blue just doesn't work for me for some reason. Maybe I should try one in FLAT dark blue and go from there. A thought, anyway.

  4. Bob, that Buffalo is simply gorgeous. You've done a great job making a chunky looking, little tub, into a beauty! Well done !

  5. Hello bob,

    A real beauty this Buffalo. These markings give it a touch of color that I really like.

    Best regards, Eric

    • thank you eric...your work is absolutely splendid and your figures incredible...that one guy is a dead ringer for hermann goering

  6. Bob, You did a Really nice job all around on your buffalo-the paint job and markings definitely hit the mark!

  7. Nice job done there Bob, that look of used but not abused , and the pre-war markings set it off great.

    • thank you simon...i think these things were repainted a lot more than us modellers care to believe...of course a marine in the islands had a hard time getting spark plugs

  8. Bob,

    This is a beautiful job on a very misunderstood airplane. You have made it look almost real. Your painting and weathering is outstanding. I went back to all of your other articles and they show Master work on everything you have submitted. Your figures are exceptional. I remember talking to a couple of old Marine and Navy pilots and they really liked the Buffalo to a point. They said it would have been a lot better if it had a higher vertical stabilizer. Overall though, thay said the Wildcat was much better. I was tempted to get this 1/32 kit but I chose instead to stick to the Tamiya 1/48. I built three of those. Again, this is outstanding and I really like what you have done.

    • thank you for the wonderful kudos frank...i have an icon on my desk top to your site and i visit all the time...and i really love your shop

  9. Bob, this build is as good as anything I've seen on this site since day one, very well done , I want one.
    N.

  10. Cute fat little, very much!

  11. Bee-ootiful Buff-lo. Well done indeed. That is a great kit, I've done 2, got to get to the F2A-3 and the Midway colors.

    BTW the great Marion Carl, Marine ace, said there was little to choose between the F2A-3 and the Wildcat. The F4F was a winner, but it was more to do with skill and tactics than performance. There were loud howls when the F4F-4 was issued, as overweight, slow and slow climbing as any Buffalo. BUT it could get to 25,000 feet and fight there, unlike any other U.S. aircraft of the time. Did you know- the F2A-3 had about the same range as the vaunted Mitsubishi Zero? Unfortunately that is what overloaded it.

    • in the book "baa baa black sheep" pappy loved the 2...he loved the mid wing said you could roll it in a phone booth but when they gold plated it with radios and extra weight with no increased horsepower they rendered it impotent...yet the finns achieved a 32 to 1 kill ratio...as you said until guadalcanal and the thach weave and such our success was only nominally better in the wildcat...it beat the wildcat out in the 1939 competition but that may have been politics and lobbying...there is no doubt if you sent out 13 only one came back but i have a feeling if Chennault had gotten buffalos he'd have had the same success...as frank said above "very misunderstood aircraft" and brewster was a horrible company

      • The XF2A-1 beat the Wildcat pretty fair and square, the XF4F wasn't that great, but Grumman fixed it later on. At that time Brewster was seen as a rising star, with great designers. They had the SBA scout bomber too, an advanced machine with potential. Like you said though, it turned out Brewster was a badly managed outfit with lousy facilities for production and testing, and they were really slow on the delivery end.
        The Finns did show what could be done with it, "Sky Pearl" indeed!

  12. Nice clean build. Your paint treatment is the best I've ever seen on this type of model aircraft, understated but perfect.

    • that is an awesome compliment mike...your subject matter absolutely fascinates me...obviously a lot of other people too...and the colors

  13. The work of a master craftsman on display here Bob. I think these flew along time before I was born! The attention to detail is stunning.

    • i haven't been on here much lately richard ...when i went in and looked at your work i was floored by the choppers and bike...talk about a master craftsman...honestly...and thank you for the compliment

  14. Cheers Bob, thanks very much! however I'm amateur at best. I had never picked an airbrush up before June this year. I have learnt a great deal from the good people of this website though, from people who really know what they are doing! Really grateful for everyone's advice.

  15. Just beautiful Bob! I love the pictures, thanks for showing us many poses. I've been looking at the long retraction struts for that landing gear, man, those things must've really telescoped and folded to fit in the "wells". That is one great little plane!

    • thank you very much gary...those struts were kind of a PITA...bad instructions and no real fitting points...you just kind of guess where to locate them and stick them...not rocket science but a little head scratching

  16. One word.. Beautiful! I'm working on the 1/48 scale version. I hope it turns out as well as yours did!

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