English Electric Canberra PR.9 (Airfix)
Some of the raw materials...
The lovely retirement scheme. Somehow I expected a larger sheet after paying full price!
I might use a bit of this kit if necessary - it's probably a better kit than Airfix.
First problem - vertical tail fillet radius wrong on Airfix - Xtrakit in foreground. Easy fix.
The Pavla wheel wells (dark grey) are highly detailed and are drop-in replacements.
The CMK flap parts require some modifications to the Airfix wing to get rid of that step.
Notice how much has been sanded away from the wing at top.
Now there's no step!
Beautiful detail - compare CMK at right, kit details at left.
Both CMK pieces in place - must remove lip of trailing edge from flap on Airfix wing. This lip is part of the lower flap (the part with the holes).
Airfix moulded the intake exhaust vent on wrong side of starboard nacelle. Need to make my own.
Here's what the vents should look like. Note the grates.
And here they are finished - with photoetch grates from 1:700 ship railing.
Pavla put a lot of detail into the resin cockpit. I've painted it Gunze H339 Engine Gray and added a black wash.
Instrument consoles are cut out of the Eduard photoetch pieces.
The Eduard PE was designed for a B(I).8 cockpit, so a little "bespoking" is necessary.
I think it will pass for a black cockpit. Dark and darker!
Ready for installation - Pavla have the wrong mark of ejection seat for the pilot. It is a MB 2CS, it should be 3CS.
I'll be posing the navigator's door (the nose) open. Need to add more detail to the inside of the nose, including a fold-out desk.
Inaccurate tailplane root fairing removed. Fillet radius at bottom of vertical fin reshaped as well.
Fuselage is together - the Pavla resin cockpit fit great with no sanding required.
And the wings are on - she's starting to look like a Canberra!
A little weight is necessary to keep her on her wheels. About 45 grams total, including the resin cockpit.
Out of the box, the SBS rudder didn't fit so well.
That's better! Just a little bit of sanding, easy adjustment.
Adding details that Airfix forgot - the crash strips and rain channels.
Another view.
Two crash strips up front as well.
Airfix completely goofed up the strengthening plates, so I made my own.
Here is where they'll go. The plates are made from 0.005" thick styrene.
And in place on the port side.
Working on those panel lines!
My cheap template to set the 10 degree dihedral on the tailplanes, compensated for the taper in both the vertical fin and the tailplane.
Working on the tailplane roots.
Starting to take shape.
Adding detail on the forward bomb bay fuel tank with Tamiya tape, sealed with Future.
The kit lights were too thin for the wing, so need to make my own. Here is what we start with.
Finally happy with those tailplane roots.
And the finished light after shaping and polishing.
Adding the wingtip RWR (Radar Warning Receivers) - XH134 had these modifications.
Start with two strips of 0.010" styrene.
Sand to proper shape for the rear camera bay strakes.
A few "small" sinkholes in the main gear doors!
Test-fitting the wheels. The gear legs are too long and the aircraft sits nose down more than it should.
Add the "lip" around the front of the round aperture.
Shortened and pinned the main gear legs - much better. Nose gear needs to be a tad shorter.
Notice where the tyres are in relation to the bottom of the fuselage.
Modifying the antenna to correct shape.
Engine faces painted up.
Hemp-ified! The British standard no longer calls this colour Hemp; it's now Camouflage Beige. I did some post shading.
Tail is Medium Sea Grey for the retirement scheme.
Underside is Light Aircraft Grey, again with some post shading.
Masking was a pain, but I think it came out OK.
A light wash on the gear and flap wells.
The top of the wing spar was sprayed with Alclad Dark Aluminum, followed by a coat of Future and the start of the Stickers!
The wing spar was left unpainted to allow NDT (non-destructive testing) to be done easily.
Stencils going on - from the Model Alliance Canberra stencil sheet.
Lots of stencils! But they really add to the model.
A light wash on the landing gear and flap bays.
I added a copy of Zoo Magazine for the pilot's reading pleasure - this was seen at an airshow in the UK.
Wheels on - I had to adjust the length of the gear legs to get the proper stance.
Canberras are usually quite level - using the kit legs as moulded would result in a very tail high bird.
A coat of Alclad Clear Flat and she looks like almost ready for action!
Flaps added in the normal position that you see when parked.
The navigator has a fold-out desk to help with charts - or maybe an extra copy of Zoo magazine.
So I added the desk to the nose assembly.
Fuel dump and lower aft fuselage antennae in place.
Using scrap styrene to make the wingtip formation lights.
Slice off the very tip, and add to the wingtip.
Nose mounted - Pavla include the actuator strut. Nice touch.
ILS sensors added to vertical tail. Kit parts were way overscale, so I borrowed these from the spares box.
Aerial wire is added, and I'm calling this one done. More pictures to follow soon!
Comments
36 13 February 2017, 20:53
Bill GilmanThanks guys! It will be a bit of work - Airfix made some really goofy errors. Hard to explain, especially since their old, raised panel line Canberras are pretty good. We'll tart her up though!
13 February 2017, 21:19
Jay Mountain GoatThe cockpit and navigator's stations look like you've ripped them from an actual Canberra. By that I mean to say it looks really good. Shame the kit itself won't help you along though.
16 February 2017, 16:02
Nazid KimmieLove my Canberra's just finishing nearly.... my 1/48 Airfix B.2/B.20, overall not a bad kit - its not Tamiya-tight but not bad. But I really like the look of the PR9/B.57
17 February 2017, 03:59
Bill GilmanThe fuselage is together and I'm now in the process of adding a lot of details that Airfix either forgot, or got wrong. I know this is one of Hornby's earlier efforts, but they could have at least looked at an old Airfix Canberra for guidance - they wouldn't have done some of these silly things! But she's coming along. I uploaded several new photos. Cheers, Bill
20 February 2017, 00:33
Bill GilmanMore progress, have a look at the new photos. She's very close to getting her first coat of Hemp! Cheers, Bill
8 March 2017, 00:42
Alec KGreat progress Bill, and masterful narration! I had a similar "tail too high" problem in my recent build - I mean, by a LOT! Just amazes me that considering the complexity of model design, they can't get the legs' length correct... Good luck painting, and thanks for sharing 👍
8 March 2017, 02:54
Erik LeijdensVery beautiful progress Bill. Did not know the Airfix Canberra was that flawed.
8 March 2017, 06:19
Bill GilmanThanks, mates!
Gary - the red filler is Nitro-Stan Red Spot & Glazing Putty, an automotive product. I like it because it sands to a beautiful feather edge and is very smooth. The downside is that it shrinks a bit, and two applications are usually necessary.
Erik - the "old tool" Airfix Canberra was in some ways better than the new one. The new tool was one of the first under Hornby, and it has quite a few problems. None of them make it "unbuildable" and most are easily fixed. It fits really well, which can't be said for the Xtrakit. I think it will end up looking very good.
8 March 2017, 16:28
Gary BrantleyThanks for the info Bill. I've used a similar product several times as well. 👍
8 March 2017, 16:32
Łukasz GlińskiWatching and missing those kits, they disappeared so quickly from the shops...
8 March 2017, 20:39
Bill GilmanThe Cranberry has been painted, and I've started on the stickers! I ran into a bit of a problem here, though - the yellow stencils from the Airfix kit don't show up against the Hemp paint. They literally disappear. So I tried the stencils from the Xtrakit PR.9, and they disintegrated in the water. Just when I thought we were close to finishing this baby. Anyway, a friend in the UK is sending me an out-of-print Model Alliance sheet of PR.9 stencils. That should do the trick. In the meantime, I've uploaded some more photos that show the current progress. Cheers, Bill
24 March 2017, 17:55
Łukasz GlińskiLucky you - because of the decal friend 🙂 Could you give some more details regarding the faults of that kit? Would be very useful for the others I guess 🙂
24 March 2017, 20:31
Bill GilmanI think the major faults of the kit are the filet radius at the bottom of the leading edge of the vertical tail is wrong and needs to be reshaped (easy), the horizontal tailplane roots have no dihedral and need to be removed from the fuselage and the tailplanes lengthened inboard to compensate (not so easy), many of the panel lines (especially on the fuselage) are too heavy, wrong or missing (especially the strengthening plates), the cockpit as supplied by Airfix is that for the B(I).8 version, the landing gear struts are too long, many details are missing from the belly (like the crash strips and fuel tank attachment straps), the RWR antennae on the wingtips are missing, the forward RWR bullet on the tail is too big, the intake exhaust vent on the starboard nacelle is on the wrong side, air conditioner exhausts are missing from the underside, vortext generators on the vertical tail are in the wrong place, vortex generators on the underside of the wingtips are missing...what else? That's enough for now! On the bright side, the fit is quite good! 🙂
24 March 2017, 21:41
Bill Gilman@Clifford Keesler, thanks for asking. I'm feeling OK. My chemotherapy continues through July of this year. I'm in the maintenance phase now, since I'm in remission again. It's been over two years since the recurrence of the lymphoma and the start of treatment again. Long journey, but we keep plugging away at it - gotta kill every one of those bloody cancer cells!
24 March 2017, 21:50
Łukasz GlińskiThanks for your exhaustive info Bill, that's very helpful. Fingers crossed for both of your fights! (Cranberry & chemiotherapy)
26 March 2017, 18:48
Bart Goesaertwe wish you good luck and the best in the fight with the tiny cells and hope you can overcome....
Keep on fighting Bill
27 March 2017, 10:17
Jose CostaGreat Work Bill, excellent!!! Hope you get those little bastards out of you soon, completely. Nice to see U again "in action" 😄
27 March 2017, 10:57
Bill GilmanThe Cranberry PR.9 is finished! I've added a few of the last assembly photos, plus one picture of the finished model. More pictures will be posted soon. Cheers, Bill.
6 April 2017, 20:57
Bill GilmanThanks, mates! I'm setting up the photo shoot now, so more pictures of the finished model will be here soon! 🙂
7 April 2017, 18:32
Bill GilmanThanks, mates! The rest of the photos are now on-line. Enjoy! Cheers, Bill
7 April 2017, 23:19
Wilfried BogaertsWonderful work Uncle. IMHO this aircraft looks beautiful in any paint scheme, camo, black, raspberry ripple, NMF, target tug, ... even the bright orange Luftwaffe version, but this is one of the most elegant!
9 April 2017, 08:33
Bill GilmanThanks mates! Since these photos were posted I fixed the slight "nose-down" attitude that the model shows. I've learned that the main gear legs in the Airfix kit are too long. I took them off (a rather delicate operation I might add) and shortened them a bit and now she looks much better. I wish I had known that while I was building the kit, as it would have made it a lot easier! Cheers, Bill
1 August 2021, 18:20
Choppa NuttaWell done Bill !!
an excellent job, all the extra effort paid off splendidly ! 🙂
1 August 2021, 20:50
Bill GilmanThanks everyone! I was surprised that the new tool Airfix Canberra needed so much work, but it came out nice and looks great in my display case. Cheers, Bill
2 August 2021, 18:00
Daniel KlinkHi Bill well deserved, and yes many of the new toolings by Airfix needs a lot of attention and seems to be released in a kind of rush resp. in a hurry!
Their new Blenheims and Me 262 does have some really fit issues as well!
So you can be proud twice with this result!
2 August 2021, 18:03
CuajeteWow... very good job and a fantastic result.
I especially like pic 73.
Congrats!
2 August 2021, 18:13
Bill GilmanIf you like head-on shots, take a look at my F-8 Crusader album picture 59. Cheers, Bill
2 August 2021, 18:18
Bill GilmanThanks mates. I love it when these old threads get revived. I should take some new photos now that I've fixed the length of the main gear struts though. The sit of the model is now much better. Not sure how Airfix got that wrong, especially when they got it right on their old tool Canberra. Cheers, Bill
10 April 2022, 14:50
Michael KohlNice that this one shows up again and brings it to my attention. Like it a lot.
10 April 2022, 17:16
Bill Gilman@WhiteGlint - yeah, I really like those head-on shots, especially with flaps down, etc. Cheers Bill
11 April 2022, 14:09
Album info
With the help of some aftermarket, and (maybe) a bit or two of the Xtrakit offering, perhaps we can get a realistic replica of the last recce variant of the Cranberry. But then, maybe not. The Airfix kit will be a challenge, as Hornby managed to make a lot of mistakes.
