DONE @p.2 +++ 1:72 Brewster ‘Buffalo’ Mk. II; Royal Navy FAA 804 Sq.; Skaebrae, 1941

sandiego89 · July 13, 2026, 11:06:22 AM

That landing gear looks fragile! Better not bounce any landings when you play....ah I mean conduct positioning studies......

Dizzyfugu · July 14, 2026, 01:39:56 AM

Brewster's landing gear design was quite clever, because it was very simple - and effective.
On the Buffalo kits, the Matchbox landing gear is really fragile (separate covers, and delicate end parts to attach the wheels), while the Hobby Boss parts are pretty chunky and robust.
The Matchbox kit even has an "interior" inside of the landing gear wells, with body structure - the Hobby Boss model just comes with shallow "cups".

BTW, painting has started yesterday, I might post pics later.

Doug K · July 14, 2026, 01:01:38 PM

Very cool, I built a Western Desert FAA version a million years ago - it was the Matchbox one

Dizzyfugu · July 15, 2026, 12:13:34 AM

Quote from: Doug K on July 14, 2026, 01:01:38 PMVery cool, I built a Western Desert FAA version a million years ago - it was the Matchbox one

Oh, interesting! I did a Free French Buffalo for Northern Africa use long ago, also the Hobby Boss kit, when it came out.

Meanwhile... This Buffalo receives a quite classic standard FAA Dark Sea Grey/Dark Slate Grey from above, with "Sky Blue" undersides and contemporary markings. Inspiration came from a real-world FAA F4F of 804 NAS in 1941, which also featured a black port wing underside as an AA marking and red wheel discs. The camouflage pattern was adopted from the typical RAF Temperate Land scheme for the Buffalo, just with switched colors. These were Humbrol 224 (RN Dark Slate Grey) and 164 (Dark Sea Grey). For the Sky Blue I used a mix of Humbrol 23 (Duck Egg Blue) and 65 (RLM65), to create a tone that is a bit more bluish than Sky Type S (e.g. Humbrol 90) so that there is a slight color contrast to the planned fuselage band.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Dizzyfugu · July 16, 2026, 02:26:59 AM

Ah, the site is back online again!? Meanwhile... For the overpainted look of the black wing underside, I simply did that: acrylic black (Revell 06) was applied in streaks with a flat brush over the Humbrol 23 base and then treated with wet sandpaper to reveal the original color underneath and simulate wear and tear at the leading edges. Simple but effective! The cockpit interior and landing gear wells were painted in green zinc chromate primer, Humbrol 226, and the propeller spinner became black with a tip in Sky (Tamiya XF-21) to match the fuselage band decal.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Then a black ink washing was applied, as a perparation for some post-shading.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

At the moment things look good to get the Buffalo over the finish line this weekend, but I am still uncertain about eventual scenic pictures.

Dizzyfugu · July 16, 2026, 11:23:24 PM

I am pushing the build to create some time for the weekend, so that I might arrange a photo session and edit pics for Sunday. Background story has been completed, too. It's tight, but still appears in reach...

Meanhwile... Post-shading/weatharing was done, and one can understand why the FAA eventually dropped one of the tones for the upper camouflage towards the end of WWII - they are so similar, it's almost impossible to tell an actual pattern!

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The markings were puzzled together from various sources. The fuselage band and the fin flashes came from the Matchbox Buffalo's sheet, the asymmetrical underwing roundels from a Hobby Boss Dewoitine D.420 in RAF service. Fuselage and overwing roundels came from a Revell Spitfire, the light grey tactical code letter from a Hasegawa Spitfire. The serial number belonged in real life to an FAA F4U and came from an XtraDecal FAA aircraft sheet.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The FAA scheme suits the Bufallo really well!

NARSES2 · July 17, 2026, 03:01:44 AM

Coming along very nicely

Dizzyfugu · July 17, 2026, 11:09:29 PM

Finishing touches on the way- The Buffalo will be completed today, so I get it technically across the finish line. But let's see if I can achieve a bit more until the final bell rings tomorrow.

Dizzyfugu · July 18, 2026, 02:52:36 AM

So, here come preliminary "finished project" pics - more hopefully to come, together with the story about the FAA Buffalos.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

PR19_Kit · July 18, 2026, 03:53:58 AM

That's looking magnificent already Thomas!

NARSES2 · July 18, 2026, 06:03:32 AM

Super build

Dizzyfugu · July 18, 2026, 06:19:11 AM

Thank you. It's not "spectacular" and rather subtle as a whif, but within the short time frame the choice turned out to be good.

BTW, photo session completed , and I am pressing on with editing etc.. Here's an early exprimental peek at the Northern Atlantic

:

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Captain Canada · July 18, 2026, 06:45:35 AM

Very nice ! Looks great in those colours. That's an aeroplane I've yet to build.

Dizzyfugu · July 19, 2026, 05:29:00 AM

Final editing in progress!

Dizzyfugu · July 19, 2026, 07:56:52 AM

So, here we are with the still missing background story and the scenic pics!

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
In 1935, the U.S. Navy issued a requirement for a carrier-based fighter intended to replace the Grumman F3F biplane. The Brewster XF2A-1 monoplane, designed by a team led by Dayton T. Brown, was one of two aircraft designs that were initially considered. The XF4F-1 with a double-row radial engine was a "classic" biplane. The U.S. Navy competition was re-opened to allow another competitor, the XFNF-1, a navalized Seversky P-35 eliminated early on when the prototype could not reach more than 267 mph (430 km/h). Brewster's XF2A-1 first flew on 2 December 1937 and early test results showed it was far in advance of the Grumman biplane entry. While the XF4F-1 did not enter production, it later re-emerged as a monoplane, the Wildcat.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The new Brewster fighter had a modern look with a stubby fuselage, mid-set monoplane wings and a host of advanced features. It was all-metal, with flush-riveted, stressed aluminum construction, although control surfaces were still fabric-covered. The XF2A-1 also featured split flaps, a hydraulically operated retractable main undercarriage (and partially retractable tailwheel), and a streamlined framed canopy. However (as was still common at this time), the aircraft lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and pilot armor. Fuel capacity was only 160 US gal (610 L), stored in the fuselage. Powered by a 950 hp (710 kW) single-row Wright R-1820-22 Cyclone radial engine, it had a good initial climb rate of 2,750 ft/min (840 m/min) and a top speed of 277.5 mph (446.6 km/h).

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The aircraft was then tested in 1938 in the Langley Research Center full-scale wind tunnel, where it was determined that certain factors were contributing to parasitic drag. Based on the tests, improvements were made to the cowling streamlining and carburetor and oil cooler intakes and the Buffalo's speed rose to 304 mph (489 km/h) at 16,000 ft (4,900 m) without any increase in power. Other manufacturers took notice of this 10% increase in speed and efficiency, and wind tunnel tests became standard procedure in the US. However, with only a single-stage supercharger, high-altitude performance fell off rapidly. Fuselage armament was one fixed .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun with 200 rounds and one fixed .30 in (7.62 mm) AN Browning machine gun with 600 rounds, both in the nose.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Service testing of the XF2A-1 prototype began in January 1938 and in June, production started on the F2A-1. Production aircraft were powered by 940 hp (700 kW) Wright R-1820-34 engines and had larger fins. The added weight of two additional .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning wing guns and other equipment specified by the Navy for combat operations reduced the initial rate of climb to 2,600 ft/min (790 m/min). Plagued by production difficulties, Brewster delivered only 11 F2A-1 aircraft to the Navy, from an original order of 51, and a second production run of fifty more aircraft was not accepted by the US Navy, in favor of an improved F2A-2. The remainder of the first order was later diverted to the Finnish Air Force in modified, de-navalized form under the export designation Model 239 Forty F2A-1s from the second production run were passed to the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm which was at that time in shortage of fighters capable of operating from small escort carriers in the Northern Atlantic, where supply convoys from America to the UK required aerial protection in the vicinity of the Continental Europe. Some of these machines were financed by American and Canadian communities and carried their sponsors' origin as a tagline under the cockpit glazing.

The FAA's machines received the designation 'Buffalo Mk. II' and were basically naval F2A-1s with upgrades. They were still powered by the R-1820-34 Cyclone but fitted with a cuffed Curtiss-Wright constant speed propeller (from the USN's F2A-2 variant) which somewhat helped to compensate for the lack of engine power. All guns were upgraded to 0.5" caliber to improve firepower and simplify logistics, and the Buffalo Mk. II was furthermore retrofitted with shackles under the outer wings for single bombs of up to 100 lb weight.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

While the aircraft's overall performance was still not impressive the Buffalo had an excellent turn radius and could make an 180° turn in half the time of a more modern fighter like the German Bf 109E. In practice the Buffalo Mk. IIs quickly lost their antenna mast in front of the cockpit, which caused vibrations at certain flight speeds. As a makeshift solution the wire antenna from the fin was now mounted to a stub mast on the left wing, and an external gun camera was frequently mounted to the former mast attachment point on the right side of the hull. Other unique modifications included an armored headrest to better protect the pilot from the rear, and the underwing hardpoints were plumbed to attach 75 gal. drop tanks or smaller fixed slipper tanks with 60 gl. each, primarily intended to improve loiter time and patrol range.

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Brewster 'Buffalo' Mk. II; 'A/JS853 (City of Winnipeg)' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm 804 Naval Air Squadron, flight leader Lieutenant Commander (A) George Forsythe; RNAS Skaebrae (Orkney Islands), early 1941 (What-if/Hobby Boss kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Even though they remained fully carrier-capable the FAA operated its Buffalo Mk. II's mostly from land bases. These machines were outfitted with bigger tail wheels with a pressurized tire, because the original small tailwheel offered poor handling on concrete runways.
The biggest achievement of the outdated aircraft occurred on 25 December 1940, when two of NAS 804's Buffalos shot down a Junkers Ju 88 off Scapa Flow. In April 1941 the machines were assigned to operate from catapult-armed ships (CAM ships and fighter catapult ships) until this role was taken over by the RAF's Merchant Ship Fighter Unit in May 1942. After that era the Buffaloes were finally retired from frontline service and relegated to training duties.

General characteristics:
Crew: one
Length: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m)
Height: 12 ft 0 in (3.66 m)
Wing area: 209 sq ft (19.4 m²)
Airfoil: Root: NACA 23018; Tip: NACA 23009
Empty weight: 3,785 lb (1.719 kg)
Gross weight: 5,055 lb (2.296 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 5,370 lb (2,437 kg)

Powerplant:
1× Wright R-1820-34 Cyclone 9-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine,
delivering 940 hp (700 kW) and driving a 3-bladed constant speed propeller

Performance:
Maximum speed: 313 mph (504 km/h, 270 kn) at 18.000 ft
Cruise speed: 161 mph (259 km/h, 140 kn)
Maximum range: 1,545 mi (2.490 km, 1.330 nmi)
Combat range: 965 mi (1,553 km, 839 nmi)
Service ceiling: 33,200 ft (10,100 m)
Initial climb rate: 3.060 ft/min (15,57 m/s) at sea level

Armament:
4× 0.5" (12.7 mm) Browning M2 machine guns with 200 rounds per gun, two above the engine,
synchronized to fire through the propeller disc, and one in each outer wing
2× underwing racks for bombs of up to 100 lb (45 kg) or drop tanks of up to 75 gal. size.