1/72 SAAF Canberra
Morne Meyer’s outstanding Canberra inspired me to share mine. This is the 1/72 “little brother” to Morne’s 1/48 model. I think this was the first new tool kit that Hornby did after their takeover of Airfix. The shapes are good,it assembles easily, and it came with high quality decals for three different planes, including the SAAF example that I built. The panel lines are a little deep and the cockpit area is built with inserts that need some work to fair in properly (hopefully this means that a “fishbowl” canopy Canberra is coming!). I painted it with Tamiya “Gloss Aluminum” lacquer straight from the rattle can. While it is nowhere near the hulking chunk of plastic that the 1/48 kit is, it is still a fairly substantial model and is a stubborn tail sitter. Every space fwd. of the main gear is filled with lead and bits of steel to get it to sit on its gear.
4 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Morne Meyer said on October 3, 2014
Wow John!!! You did an awesome job on her. 453 was flown from Britain via the Canary Islands and Luanda, Angola to South Africa in 3 days. The Canberras kept their NMF up until their operational deployment to Angola. These Canberras also had a gun pack in their rear bomb bay. Well done!!!
John Healy said on October 3, 2014
Thanks Morne! Were the gun packs fixed in place? I thought they were removable.
Morne Meyer said on October 3, 2014
The gun pack was removable. It was not used much.
bob mack said on October 3, 2014
that’s a beauty
John Healy said on October 3, 2014
Thank you Bob!
Simon Whitney said on October 3, 2014
Looks nice John.
John Healy said on October 3, 2014
Thanks Simon!
Craig Abrahamson said on October 3, 2014
Nicely finished, sir.
John Healy said on October 3, 2014
Thanks Craig! Can’t beat Tamiya spray paint.
Rick Wilkes said on October 3, 2014
Well done John, great looking model
John Healy said on October 3, 2014
Thank you Rick!
Frank Cronin said on October 3, 2014
John,
Really nice I like what you have done here.
John Healy said on October 3, 2014
Thanks Frank!
Mike Grant said on October 3, 2014
Looks like a beautiful finish, John. I know what you mean about the heavy panel lines on the kit, although they don’t look too bad in your pics. Nice work.
John Healy said on October 4, 2014
Thank you, Mike! Overall it’s a nice model.
Bernd Müller said on October 4, 2014
Great Canberra, with a perfect paintjob, the SAAF markings look really cool, something different. I guess the 1/72 Canberras will save much space, if you will do other versions.
Well done !
John Healy said on October 4, 2014
Thanks Bernd! They did a new tool PR.9 that I’d like to build too. It would be nice if they did some of the fishbowl canopy variants and an American B-57 kit too. The older Airfix and Italeri kits aren’t too bad, but I’d still like new molds for these a/c.
Bernd Müller said on October 4, 2014
Hi, John i hope for these variants too, with these type of canopy, they look still very futuristic. RoG has released the Matchbox moulding with new and very good decals.
Got the B-57G from Italeri in the stash, its a nice kit, after i have seen, the new Italeri recessed panels, the older raised looks better, while subtle !
George Williams said on October 5, 2014
I like the finish on this Canberra, it really suits it.
John Healy said on October 6, 2014
I agree. Canberras look best in silver.
Ray Theron said on January 25, 2018
Great build, John! I remember seeing one flying overhead on its way to Ysterplaat AFB when I was a junior instructor (PF) in the AA Artillery Defence School at Youngsfield.
John Healy said on January 26, 2018
I’m glad you enjoyed seeing it, Ray.