Yellow Wings: 1/48th Tamiya F2A-1 Buffalo

In its day (1974) this kit was a gem. Featuring mostly engraved panel lines and good parts fit, the 1/48th Tamiya F2A-1 Buffalo set a standard to be envied (and one that would become well established in the coming years). The kit was re-released in the mid-90s and early 2000.

Notable Kit Features:

• Basic kit with few (and sturdy plastic) parts

• Cockpit has raised detail on sidewalls but decal for main instrument panel

• Decent engine detail

• Nicely engraved panel lines and good surface details

• Fabric control surfaces have texture

• Single piece cockpit glass

• Pilot figures included

Build Inspiration:

The yellow winged versions of the early US Navy types were a different and attractive finish for these Buffalo aircraft. Later in USN service, came the camouflage Buffalos in all gray followed by blue and gray schemes. I decided to build an early USN version although due to several countries operating these aircraft in various theatres (Dutch, RAF as well as Finnish) it was a tough choice! (I ended up picking up another of these original 1/48th Tamiya F2A-1 Buffalo kits several years later, just so I could build another variant.)

Heads-Up Report:

• Some pin marks present (mostly in the interior)

• Single-piece cockpit glass means a closed canopy for your project (unless you want to modify with a cut)

• The Buffalo has a lot of greenhouse style glass as well as a ventral window (so prepare to mask)

• The cowl fit seems to require careful fitting as well as some smoothing sanding

• Original release has parts & decals for RAF, Dutch & USN version

Kit Additions / Modifications:

• This kit was built Out-of-the-box

• The only modification was the flattening of the tires to give them a bit of weight-on

Finishing:

The paint scheme for this 1/48th Tamiya F2A-1 Buffalo aircraft takes a bit of masking. Starting with the canopy and ventral windows. That was a project in itself. The base aluminium lacquer was sprayed on first and allowed to dry. I then painted the white tail surfaces and nose cone as well as the upper yellow wings. I decided to do the near-black wing walks next as the green stripes would intersect these. After that completely dried, I masked off the wing and fuselage stripes, in addition to the cowl, to give them a shot of green. The yellow and green were custom mixed to come as close as I could to the research of the day on the correct tones. Next the gloss coat was sprayed in preparation for the decals. I made a minor change from the kit decals to model Lt. Thatch's #13 F2A-1 from VF-3 flown off the USS Saratoga, however the Felix the Cat decal as well as the tail markings disintegrated on me, so I am missing some details here. Years later I came across the proper decals (Print Scale 48-075 "Brewster F2A Buffalo Aces") so I have the decals to correct this whenever I get around to fixing this. (I also noted the number decals are starting to yellow on me :(

The After-Build Report:

For a mid-70's kit this 1/48th Tamiya F2A-1 Buffalo is holding up very well. Note that Tamiya's 1993 release of the kit doesn't have the additional parts to build anything but a US Navy version, so beware of that if you are looking to build a B-339 or 239/439 version. (You will want the 2004 B-339 Pacific Theatre release instead or the original.) I still recommend this nice little kit all these years later despite some lack of detail and minor inaccuracies. The other real competition stems from the Classic Airframes /Special Hobby 1/48 Brewster Buffalo series. These releases are more sub-type specific and will net you a more accurate version, however note that these are limited run kits with resin and PE (which is how they get superior detail. :)

Completed build #134 - May 2011 using the 1/48th scale Tamiya #61031 kit.

Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers