Canberra Guide

Building the
English Electric Canberra

Brett Green
The English Electric Canberra in Scale

Building the new Airfix 1/48 scale Canberra B(I).8
Building Classic Airframes’ 1/48 scale Canberra T.17
Building Xtrakit’s 1/72 scale Canberra PR.9
High Planes and Classic Airframes Canberras “at a glance”
This is a free downloadable PDF booklet available online from HyperScale

http://www.hyperscale.com
Great Models Webstore presents HyperScale Resource Guide
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Copyright © 2008 by Brett Green
Building the English Electric Canberra page 2

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Welcome to the latest downloadable HyperScale Resource Guide.
The aim of this document is to offer a one-stop guide for modeling a recent and interesting kit release. The focus of
this guide is the new Airfix Canberra B(I).8..
The downloadable PDF format will permit modelers to print the booklet and use it as a workbench reference while
building your Canberra.
I would like to thank David from Hannants; The Aviation Workshop for Model Alliance decals; Alistair from A2Zee
Models and Classic Airframes for their support. I am also pleased to showcase Mick Evans’ High Planes Canberra
B.20 and Phil Hale’s 1/48 scale Classic Airframes B-57B Canberra.
I do hope that you will enjoy HyperScale’s latest Resource Guide.
Brett Green
June, 2008
Table of Contents
THE ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA IN SCALE ...................................... 4
AIRFIX 1/48 SCALE CANBERRA B(I).8 ........................................................ 5

In the Box ........................................................................................................................................5
Building the 1/48 scale Airfix Canberra B(I).8 .........................................................................7
Painting and Markings..................................................................................................................8
XTRAKIT 1/72 SCALE CANBERRA PR.9.................................................... 13
In the Box ......................................................................................................................................13
Construction .................................................................................................................................14
Painting and Markings................................................................................................................17
HIGH PLANES 1/72 SCALE CANBERRA MK.20 ........................................ 20
BUILDING CLASSIC AIRFRAMES’ 1/48 SCALE CANBERRA T.17........... 21

Painting and Markings................................................................................................................24
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................27
1/48 SCALE CANBERRA B.MK.2 & B-57B................................................ 27
CANBERRA T.4 COCKPIT “CRAWLAROUND” ......................................... 29

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The English Electric Canberra in scale
Canberra Kit Summary
Brand Scale Variant Comments

Airfix 1/48 Canberra B(I).8 PROS: Accurate outline. Relatively easy to
build. Good surface detail. Ample ordnance
and options including open bomb bay,
separate control surfaces and underwing
weapons.
CONS: Very thick sprue connectors. Decal

issues
Classic 1/48 Canberra B.2 PROS: Accurate outline. Excellent interior
Airframes Canberra T.17 detail. Very fine surface features. High
Canberra TT.18 quality decals.
B-57B Canberra
CONS: Limited run nature of kit demands
extra time and effort to align parts (previous
experience required); small wing tip tanks
(B.2)
Aeroclub 1/48 Canberra B.6 PROS: Very accurate. Decent detail.
CONS: Vacuum formed, short run plastic

and white metal parts will need care in
preparation and extra detailing in places.
Mostly vacform so previous experience with
this medium is recommended
Xtrakit 1/72 Canberra PR.9 PROS: Accurate outline and surface detail.
Good level of detail. Generally good fit. High
quality decals.
CONS: Limited run nature of kit means that

extra time will be required to test fit and
align parts before committing to glue.
Ejector pins in wheel wells. One-piece
canopy
High 1/72 Canberra B.2 PROS: Accurate outline and surface detail.
Planes Canberra Mk.20 Highly detailed resin parts. Good decals.
Canberra Mk.21
Canberra B(I).8 CONS: Low-pressure injection moulded parts
Canberra B(I).12 require a lot of work to prepare for
Canberra T.Mk.4 assembly. For experienced modellers only.
RB-57D Canberra
RB-57D-2 Canberra
Copyright © 2008 by Brett Green. First published 2008. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of
private study, research or review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system or transmitted by
any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed by email to
editor@hyperscale.com

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Airfix 1/48 scale Canberra B(I).8
Above: Airfix has chosen to launch its 1/48 scale Canberra series with the Interdiction variant, the B(I).8.
The Canberra B(I).8 was designed for the are perfectly smooth, with recessed panel lines
interdiction role, resulting in a number of changes throughout and no sink marks to be seen anywhere.
from the original B.2 production version. These The plastic of the main parts is unusually thick,
included a revised "fighter" style cockpit and especially the fuselage halves. Although this will
canopy with improved visibility, the ability to carry impose a weight penalty, it will also reduce the
a wide range of ordnance, plus an optional Boulton chance of distortion and warpage during assembly.
Paul gun pack with four 20mm Hispano cannon. Ejector pin marks on major and minor parts have
been mainly positioned to be hidden when the
Airfix continues its new production push with a new model is built. The only exception that I can find is
1/48 scale Canberra B(I)8. This is the first time that the interiors of the main gear doors, which do have
a 1/48 scale injection moulded kit of the B(I)8 has a couple of faint circles, but the undercarriage legs
been available. should cover these. Some of the sprue attachment
points are very thick though, so care will be
required when removing parts and cleaning up the
In the Box waste to avoid gouging the plastic.
Detail is a little soft on the wheels, and the

Airfix's 1/48 scale Canberra B(I)8 comprises 145 demarcation between the hubs and tyres is very
parts in grey coloured plastic, 8 clear plastic parts faint.
and a large decal sheet covering three markings
options for the RAF, RNZAF and South Africa. The only peculiarity worthy of mention is the deep
Parts are supplied to build either a B(I)8 or a B(I)12 engraved surface detail on the rudder. I was able to
variant, although not all the camera options are recently drop in and check out the Canberra at the
provided for the B(I)12. Temora Aviation Museum, confirming that there is
no surface detail on the control surfaces except
Moulding quality is up to the same high standard as some slight dimpling on the rudder. I will be filling
Airfix's recent Nimrod, and the surface detail and sanding the engraved lines on the kit rudder.
appears slightly finer to my eye. The plastic parts

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dot screen method, which is visible when viewed

Exterior detail is good. In addition to the separate very close up, but the effect is less obvious this time
entry door, the model features positionable flaps, - perhaps due to the darker colours.
elevators and rudder, plus boxed-in wheel wells.
The large bomb bay has separate doors and

may be posed open. Nearly two entire
sprues are dedicated to bombs and rockets.
Cockpit detail appears a bit basic in the box,

but does look much better after careful
painting. However, the seats will benefit
from some extra detailing or replacement.
Three nicely detailed crew figures are
supplied in typical Airfix style. Airfix has
supplied a fighter-style control stick, but the
B(I).8 should actually have a control yoke.
Clear parts include the canopy (supplied in

two clear pieces and one grey), nose cone
and wing tip navigation lights. The nose
cone is moulded with the side observation ABOVE: The cockpit detail looks a little basic in the box, but all the main
windows, so there will be minimal risk of structural features are there.
smearing glue on the clear sections. BELOW: Some extra straps from lead foil were added to the seats before
Although the canopy has been moulded painting
separately and can theoretically be posed
open, the instructions correctly advise that it
should only be secured in the closed
position. Canberra canopies were fixed shut
for all variants except the PR.9.
The transparencies are nice and clear.
Instructions are supplied in a 16 page

stapled A4 booklet. Construction is covered
in 39 illustrated steps. A separate full-colour
foldout sheet is provided for stencil
placement and four-views of each of the
three marking options.
The three options are:

BELOW: Following painting, the interior parts look much more convincing.
Very little of the dark cockpit will be visible beneath the small sealed canopy
1. Canberra B(I)8, 16 Sqn RAF, in any case.
Laarbuch Germany, 1972. This
aircraft is finished in Dark Green
and Dark Sea Grey with lower
surfaces in silver.
2. Canberra B(I)12 of 14 Sqn,

RNZAF at Ohkea, New Zealand in
1968. Finish is the same as above.
3. Canberra B(I) 12 of 12 Sqn SAAF,

Waterfloof South Africa, 1969-
1975. This aircraft is finished in
overall High Speed Silver.
The decal sheet is large and very glossy.

Saturation of the colours looks good. Non-
primary colours have been printed using a

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Building the 1/48 scale Airfix plastic in my Waldron Punch and Die set. The
cockpit interior was painted “scale black’ – a 50/50
Canberra B(I).8 mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF-63 German
Grey. Details were picked out with a fine brush.
Construction started by removing the larger parts
from their sprues. The sprue connections are some of I was not aware of the incorrect fighter control stick,
the biggest that I have ever seen on a mainstream kit, so this was glued in place. It should be replaced with
and many are in locations that will leave large, a bomber-stye control yoke for complete accuracy.
visible scars if extreme care is not taken. I
recommend sawing the larger parts off their sprue I was a bit doubtful about the likely success of the
connectors, followed by careful clean-up with a instructions’ suggestion of gluing the fuselage upper
hobby knife. cockpit insert to the top of the cockpit parts before
attaching this entire sub-assembly to the inside of the
I basically followed the sequence laid out by the kit starboard fuselage, but it resulted in an excellent fit.
instructions. Although it is a large kit, it is quite
straightforward to build. The very nature of this tail-heavy model means that
plenty of nose weight would be required. I packed as
The cockpit parts were assembled but the seats were many small lead sinkers as I could under the floor and
left off at this early stage. I added some extra straps behind the rear cockpit bulkhead.
to both seats from lead foil, and also an overhead
pull-handle from fuse wire. Reference photos The bomb bay was fitted even though it would never
showed a red circle on the front of the headrest be seen, as it would be sealed due to the installation of
(probably a warning attached to a pin that arms the the lower fuselage gun packs.
pull-handle). This as formed using a piece of scrap
Above: There is only limited space in the forward fuselage Above: The canopy insert was glued to one side of the
for nose weight. All this space was employed to pack different fuselage per the instructions. The fit was perfect on this side,
sized lead sinkers, but it was still not enough. but some time and care was required.
Above: Some fiddling is necessary before the canopy insert

snaps into place when the fuselage halves are brought
Above: The plastic on the Airfix Canberra is very thick, and together. The fit is very good.
there are plenty of locating pins. These ensure a very positive
fit and minimal distortion of the large plastic parts.

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The fuselage halves were now brought together.

Some fiddling was necessary to squeeze the port The balance of assembly was remarkably fast.
side of the fuselage underneath the overhanging Although there is only a slightly raised locating
canopy insert, but after a few seconds it literally guide on the each side of the fuselage, the wings
clicked into place. The thick plastic of the fuselage fitted positively and with the appropriate degree of
offered a generous mating surface, and the long dihedral. The ailerons needed just a tiny amount of
parts aligned perfectly. sanding to fit into their recesses. The tabbed
horizontal tail planes fitted snugly thanks to tight
I covered the rudder halves with super glue. This locating holes. I was concerned about the likely fit
acted as filler for the prominent recessed panel of the long separate bomb bay doors but they, too,
lines. A spot of Zap A Gap accelerant set the super were glued in place with no gaps or steps.
glue instantly, and the rudder halves were sanded
smooth. The jet intakes and exhausts are split horizontally
into two parts each. These also fitted well, with
no gaps and only a small step between the
intakes and the bulge on the wing. This was
later dealt with using Milliput and Tamiya
Abrasive Paper.
With all the main airframe elements no in

place, I placed two fingers in the main wheel
well and balanced the model on my hand. The
tail sank backwards – more nose weight would
be needed! Before closing the ordnance bay, I
super glued two large lead sinkers on the
forward bulkhead. The model was now pretty
much balanced.
ABOVE: There are virtually no gaps anywhere on my model,

The clear parts were masked with Tamiya tape
but there are a few steps between the jet intakes, jet exhausts and installed prior to painting. A few tiny gaps
and wings. were filled with Micro Krystal Kleer. This
white glue was applied with the tip of a
BELOW: With the wings and tail planes glued in place, it was
clear that the nose weight would not be sufficient to keep the
toothpick and the excess immediately wiped
nose wheel on the ground. I applied two of my largest sinkers in off with a moist fingertip. A small step on the
the front of the bomb bay to provide some more help.. port side of the nose was eliminated by 30
seconds of sanding.
The few remaining steps and gaps were now

filled with Milliput and sanded. After this
round of finishing, there were still a few
suspicious marks on the upper fuselage seam
line. These were filled with Tamiya Surfacer
and sanded flat when dry.
Painting and Markings
BELOW: The rudder features deeply recessed horizontal panel The interior colour for the nose cone and
lines. This does not match the smooth surface of the real canopy were first sprayed onto the clear parts.
Canberra rudder, so the recessed lines were filled with super These were sprayed with my “scale black” mix,
glue and sanded flat.
which revealed a few areas under the canopy
where earlier gluing and sanding had
eliminated panel lines. These panel lines were
rescribed using self-adhesive Dymo tape as a
guide. For the curved panel directly under the
cockpit, the Dymo tape was cut to the
appropriate shallow crescent before it was
stuck to the fuselage halves.

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The wheel bays and flap wells were weathered with a I scanned the Airfix colour guide and enlarged it to
thin sprayed mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF- 1/48 scale in Photoshop. I also converted the plans to
64 Red Brown before being masked. black and white, and increased the contrast so that the
camouflage demarcation was more obvious. The
The first camouflage colour to be applied was black plans were printed in sections (one page for each
to the lower surfaces. Once again, the scale black wing, one for the tail planes and one for the fuselage
blend was used here – a 50/50 mix of Tamiya Flat – this is one big model!) before they were cut out and
Black and German Grey. Once dry, the lower surfaces applied to the model using masking tape and the
were masked with overlapping edges, and
tape. Note that the Blu-Tack beneath. The
upper surface Blu-Tack served two
camouflage wraps good purposes. It
around the leading secured the large paper
edges of the wings and masks, stopping them
the tail planes on these from flapping around
interdiction machines, under the force of the
so the wings masks airbrush; and it also
were fitted to suit. held the masks slightly
off the surface of the
These post-war plastic permitting the
Canberras were suggestion of a
finished in upper feathered demarcation
surface colours of line in places.
Dark Sea Grey and ABOVE: I liked the clear separate nose cone incorporating the front side
windows. These were masked with Tamiya tape.
Dark Green. I wanted Gunze Mr Colour RAF
a bit of contrast, so I Dark Green lacquer
used Tamiya’s AS-10 Ocean Grey from the spray can paint was mixed with around 50% lacquer thinners
as the base colour representing Dark Sea Grey. The and sprayed in several misting coats between the
paint was decanted from the can into a glass jar, then paper masks. Two coats of Future polish, also applied
poured into the paint cup of my Aztek A470 airbrush. with the Aztek airbrush and thinned with 10%
Coverage of this lacquer paint was smooth and isopropylene alcohol, delivered a nice high gloss in
opaque. preparation for decals.

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The markings were sourced from Model Alliance

Decals' MA-48146, BAC Canberra B(I).8 and PR.9 The Airfix stencil markings tended to silver despite
Part II. Kit decals were used for the stencils. the glossy surface and the application of every decal
solution known to man. Eventually, some of the
The white of the giant wing roundels appeared decals were sliced or overpainted to reduce the
slightly translucent resulting in a faint mottled effect. silvering problem. Also, although they looked good
I made round masks by cutting self-adhesive Post-It on their backing sheet, many of the yellow stencil
Notes with my Olfa circle cutter, masked the red and markings seemed to be printed in two layers, with one
blue sections of the roundels, and resprayed the white layer being noticeably translucent. I do hope that
sections. This process was repeated for the fin flashes Airfix can eventually address the problems that seem
(the circle masks were replaced b straight masking to have beset their recent decals, as they are not up to
tape though, with the tack reduced to avoid lifting the the same high standards as the rest of the kits.
decals).
Light weathering followed two thin coats of Polly
With the main decals in place, I was not entirely Scale Flat acrylic. These aircraft seemed to be kept in
happy with the camouflage pattern. I therefore fairly clean condition, so minimal highlighting of
masked some of the markings and resprayed sections control surface hinge lines, selected panel lines and a
of the camouflage over several sessions until I was bit of general grime sufficed for this project.
satisfied.
Above: The canopy and nose were sprayed black to Above: : Wheel wells and flap wells were painted and
represent the interior colour. Scribing restored some panel weathered before the first coat of camouflage.
lines that had previously been eliminated during filling and
sanding. Self-adhesive Dymo tape was used as a scribing
guide.
Above: The bottom of the model was painted “scale black” – Above: The camouflage diagrams in the kit instructions
in this case a 50/50 mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF- were scanned and enlarged to 1/48 scale. They were then
63 German Grey. Demarcation lines along the fuselage printed and cut out before being applied over the top of the
sides, tailplanes and wing leading edges (with wrap around Tamiya Ocean Grey base colour using a combination of
camouflage) were masked with Tamiya tape. Tamiya tape and Blu-Tack. This is a fairly fast and simple
method of obtaining hard-edged camouflage on larger
models.

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Ordnance and undercarriage parts were painted, weight to keep the front wheel on the ground! It was a
weathered and installed on the model. close thing though, as the nose wheel was suspended
a few millimetres off the ground. Two small sinkers
When it was time to finally set the model on its were glued into the open nose wheel bay. These were
undercarriage, I was horrified to see the Canberra sufficient to finally force the model onto its nose
slowly tip backwards. There was still not enough nose wheel.
ABOVE: Mr Color RAF Dark Green lacquer was heavily thinned ABOVE: The result is a nice, hard-edged camouflage
and sprayed in light coats over the paper camouflage masks. demarcation. I was not entirely happy with the pattern though, so I
resprayed several areas in three or four subsequent sessions. It is
never too late to fix your mistakes!
RIGHT: The
white of the
Model
Alliance
decals was
translucent,
resulting in
a blotchy
mottled
effect. I
masked the
red and blue
of the roundels (the masks were cut from self-adhesive Post-It
Notes using an Olfa Circle Cutter), and resprayed the white
section of the decal with Tamiya XF-2 Flat White for a bright and ABOVE: With the decals settled down, the model received two thin
opaque finish. I gave the fin flashes similar treatment. coats of Polly Scale Flat acrylic.
ABOVE: These Canberras seemed to be maintained in fairy clean condition, so additional weathering was minimal. Control surface
hinge lines and selected panel lines were highlighted with a very thin mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF-64 Red Brown. The
recessed lines and access hatches were also treated to a wash of Tamiya X-18 Semi-Gloss Black, heavily thinned with water.

ABOVE: The wheel hubs are not very well defined against the
ABOVE: Ordnance and other detail parts were painted and
tyres, so I once again resorted to masks cut from Post-It Notes
using my Olfa Circle Cutter. The small blobs of Blu-Tack are weathered before installation
masking off the small hole in the centre of the masks.
BELOW: Kit decals were used for the stencils. They tended to BELOW: When the model was completely finished, it still did
silver despite application of every setting solution known to man. A not confidently sit on its nose wheel. Two small lead sinkers
brown square was painted on the top of the fuselage. I assume that were therefore glued into the nose wheel bay. My Canberra now
this was some sort of di-electric panel. weighs a ton, but it does sit on its own three wheels without
further assistance.
ABOVE: This combination of ordnance is apparently not typical, but it looks impressively daunting!
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Xtrakit 1/72 scale Canberra PR.9
In the Box
Xtrakit's new 1/72 scale Canberra PR.9 was to the fuselage before the wings are fitted. If the
released in late 2007. It is a limited run kit and wheel wells are left to dry on the fuselage, they
therefore does not have locating pins or tabs. should act as large and effective wing spars.
Extra care is required to clean up the short-run
mouldings and to make sure that all the parts are The model requires extra weight up front to help
properly aligned before committing to glue. the nose wheel stay on the ground, but there is
plenty of space in the nose to allow this.
The kit comprises 66 parts in grey plastic, two in
grey resin, seven parts in clear and markings for The nose is supplied as two separate halves,
two aircraft. suggesting possible bomber variants in the future.
The plastic parts are manufactured to a very high Cockpit detail is very good. The instrument
standard. The grey styrene is cleanly moulded, panels and side consoles are moulded in injected
glossy and well detailed with fine, crisp recessed plastic with raised and recessed details. I was
panel lines and selected raised detail (e.g. vortex pleased to see two resin seats included in this
generators) as appropriate. The only imperfection release, as the pilot's seat is likely to be the only
on my sample is one large ejector pin in each feature visible in the Canberra's dark cockpit with
main wheel well. its narrow opening. Undercarriage detail is good
too. I particularly like the nose wheel with the
There are some raised ejector pins on the inner mud guard moulded to the tyre.
surfaces of some parts. These will not be visible
on the finished model, but those on the mating Engine fan and exhaust detail is also depicted.
surfaces of the wings and tailplanes will need to
be sliced off so that they do not interfere with fit. Clear parts are very thin and free from distortion.
There is a little flash (thin excess plastic) that They look a little cloudy on the sprue but they
needs to be removed from some parts. shine after a bath in Future floor polish. The
canopy is provided as a single part, so if you
Parts breakdown is quite conventional. Wings are want to display the cockpit you will have to
supplied as full-span top and bottom halves. The spend a few minutes carefully cutting the part
wheel wells are separate parts that may be glued

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open with a razor saw. If

you do this though, keep in
mind that this is a hinged
canopy, not
sliding. You will have to cut
the canopy at the front
windscreen and the rear
hinge line if you want to
display the cockpit.
The inclusion of the ventral

camera ports on a clear part
is a nice touch. Small
windows and wing tip
navigation lights are
included too. Markings are
supplied for two aircraft:
Comprehensive low
visibility stencil markings ABOVE: The nose cone is supplied in two separate halves. I departed from the
instructions and glued the nose halves to the main fuselage halves to ensure the best
are included. possible alignment of the fuselage sides.
BELOW: The plastic cockpit parts are supplemented with resin ejection seats. Detail is
adequate inside the black cockpit
Construction
Before starting the model, I

spent about an hour and
fifteen minutes removing
the plastic parts from the
sprues and cleaning them of
any remaining attachment
points and flash.
I disregarded the sequence

suggested by the
instructions and started by
gluing each nose cone to
each fuselage half. This
gives a better chance for a
close fit around the cross
section of the fuselage. The
fit was almost perfect.
Next I assembled the cockpit components. These The pilot's cockpit and the forward wheel well
are very nicely detailed. It is a shame that are cleverly designed as a single element. This is
everything other than the pilot's seat will be easy to line up inside the fuselage. No trimming
effectively hidden inside the small opening of the or adjustment was required.
black cockpit.
The wing halves were glued and clamped. They In some cases, the parts were rotated and sprayed
were allowed to set while the fuselage assembly again to paint the spots covered with Blu-Tack
proceeded. (mainly the undercarriage legs and retraction
struts). The process was repeated, this time in
I like to pre-paint as much of the model as dark grey (substituting as a scale black), for
possible, especially elements such as the wheel cockpit components.
wells and undercarriage. I attached all the silver
parts to small boxes using Blu-Tack. This makes Nose weight is essential for this model. As the
the small parts easier to handle, and avoids navigator's position would be completely
getting paint on my hands and fingerprints on the invisible, I elected not to install it. I used the
parts. extra space in the forward fuselage for more nose
weight.

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Above: All parts needing silver paint were sprayed in one

Above: With no locating pin or tabs, it is important to take batch. The parts have been attached to small boxes using
positive steps for exact alignment. Here, Tamiya tape and Blu-Tack, ensuring that small parts are not lost in the
clamps are used to secure the wings while the glue sets. process.
Above: Canberra models all require plenty of nose weight,

and the Xtrakit PR.9 is no exception. Fortunately, with no Above: The ventral camera fairings are moulded as part of
clear nose cover, there is ample room to pack lead fishing a clear plastic panel. This was glued to one fuselage half
sinkers. before both sides were joined.
Above: The fit of the fuselage halves was good, even with Above: Test fitting showed that there would be some gaps
the clear panel in the bottom. I glued the wheel wells to the at the wing root. The inside edges of the wings were
fuselage to act as a positive locating position for the wings. bevelled at the wing roots, which greatly improved their fit
against the fuselage halves.
I am sure that there is enough room in the nose

for sufficient weight even if the navigator's
position is installed, but this was quicker and The same amount of weight was installed in the
easier. starboard side of the nose too. This is more than
enough to keep the nose wheel firmly grounded.

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Deviating from the instructions again, I glued the were set at the correct height. I had to do this a
clear ventral camera panel into one side of the couple of times before gluing the wheel wells in
fuselage prior to joining the halves. There was a place. The fit along the fuselage seams is pretty
bit of extra flash that had to be carefully cut out nice even before any putty is applied.
of the opening to permit a snug fit for the clear
part. With care, a good fit can be achieved in this The bottom seam line is good too. I just needed
area. to sand the edges of the clear camera panel to
bring them in line with the rest of the fuselage.
The fuselage halves were brought together, first
gluing and clamping the large tail section and The wings needed a bit of fiddling to improve the
progressively moving forward with Tamiya Extra fit. I sanded the mating surfaces at the wing root,
Thin Liquid Cement and Tamiya tape, ensuring then thinned the inside of the top wing halves as
that the long fuselage seam was properly aligned. indicated in the hatched area in the photo below.
Even without locating pins, the fuselage join was This permitted the top wing half to fit properly
a good fit. between the top of the wheel bay and the shallow
wing root recess in the fuselage.
With the fuselage assembled, it was time to think
about the wings. I have found that the slight Once this very minor surgery was performed, the
dihedral of the Canberra's wide wings has been fit at the wing roots was very good, with only
tricky to accurately portray on other models, so I minor gaps at the top and slightly larger gaps at
decided to use the plastic wheel wells as wing the bottom. Even so, these could quickly be
spars to help set the correct angle. dispatched with an application of Milliput.
First, the wheel wells were tacked to the fuselage I was very happy with the dihedral angle, and the
sides inside the wing root with two tiny spots of join at the wing root seemed robust.
super glue. This permitted me to test fit the wings
over the wheel wells and make sure that they I had intended to reinforce the tailplane join with
Above: Fit of the model was generally good. Above: Some filler was required along major seams, at the
wing roots and at the back of the jet intakes.
Above: Fit at the lower surfaces was also good. Milliput was Above: The canopy was masked with Tamiya Masking
my putty of choice for this job. Tape.

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brass pins, but the kit's method of locating the I used Milliput White exclusively. I like this very
horizontal stabilisers on a small ledge seemed to fine two-part epoxy filler because I can remove
work pretty well. Once again, the fit at the top most of the excess with a moist fingertip while
seam was very good indeed. the putty is still pliable. Although it takes more
time to mix a two-part putty than squeezing the
There was mercifully little filling required. The filler straight from the tube, the Milliput remains
main areas were some narrow gaps at the wing workable for around 30-30 minutes, and it does
roots (above and below), underneath the tail save a lot of sanding later on.
planes and a few minor issues at the fuselage
seam (partly of my own making). Just a few small applications of Tamiya Surfacer
and the model was ready for paint.
The join between the engine nacelles and the
intake needed the most putty. There was no gap, At this stage I dipped the canopy in Future. As
but a noticeable step on both nacelles. expected the canopy, although slightly cloudy
straight from the box, positively sparkles after its
Future bath.
Above: The entire model was primed Above: The lower surfaces were Above: The sheen of the Xtracrylix
with Tamiya Grey Primer to check for sprayed Light Aircraft Grey and coat was further glossed with Future
any lingering imperfections. The tail masked in preparation for the upper Floor Polish, applied direct from my
was sprayed Grey and masked surface colour, Xtracrylix Hemp. Testor Aztek airbrush.
Left: Markings were

sourced from Model
Alliance’s 1/72 scale
Limited Edition decals for
the Canberra PR.9
Retirement Scheme, item
number MAS-729032. The
decals performed
flawlessly, which is just as
well as there are an awful
lot of them!
colours. I have found that Xtracrylix paints

Painting and Markings perform best over a primer coat, which acts as a
"key" for the slippery acrylic camouflage colours.
Painting
With the canopy installed and masked, and the
various other openings plugged, the model was
I used Xtracrylix acrylic paints for this job, as I treated to two coats of Tamiya Grey Primer
really like their interpretation of modern RAF

___________________________________________________________________________
applied straight from the can. The primer was number MAS-729032. Before starting on the
buffed with Micro Mesh 6000 cloth after each larger markings, however, I decided to tackle the
coat. stencils.
Xtracrylix XA1015 Light Aircraft Grey was The stencils are supplied on the Xtrakit decal
applied very thinly to the lower surfaces. A hair sheet. There are many of these markings, and
dryer was used to speed the drying process - my some are very small. The effort is worthwhile
last remaining use for this particular appliance. A though, especially the wing walks and the
second coat delivered even coverage. The fin was colourful cluster of stencils around the nose. I
sprayed XA1003 RAF Medium Sea Grey. After a spent almost three hours applying the stencil
few hours, the entire fin plus the camouflage markings alone.
demarcation on the fuselage, wings and engine
nacelles was masked with Tamiya tape and the The metal strip running along the mid span of
same painting process was repeated on the upper each wing was represented with strips of self-
surfaces using Xtracrylix XA1016 RAF Hemp. adhesive aluminium foil.
My trusty Testor Aztek A470 airbrush fitted with The Model Alliance decals came next. The
the fine Tan coloured tip was used for all individual unit markings were each supplied in
painting. two parts - a white backing and the
black/coloured detail. The large winged bomb on
I also used Xtracrylix thinners this time, which the tail settled down well under a coat of Micro
worked very well. I have used Windex in the past Sol. In fact, all the decals - kit markings as well
too, but other alcohol based thinners do not work as Model Alliance - performed perfectly.
with Xtracrylix.
Two coats of Future, mixed with around 10% Finishing Touches

alcohol, provided a nice glossy base for the
decals.
The model was given a top coat of Polly Scale
Flat. A single application over the gloss finish
resulted in a slight sheen, which seemed
Decals appropriate for this aircraft.
Alistair from A2Zee Models kindly supplied the As this was a presentation scheme, weathering
1/72 scale Model Alliance Limited Edition decals was kept to a minimum. I did spray my
for the Canberra PR.9 Retirement Scheme, item customary thinned black/brown mix along the
Above: Xtrakit’s 1/72 scale PR.9 authentically conveys the nose-down “sit” of the Canberra.

___________________________________________________________________________
recesses of the engine nacelles where they met sprue and installed them on the top of the fin, but
the wings, but I decided against wider use. they were so delicate and difficult to handle that I
Instead, I simply applied a very thin wash of decided not to bother with any more.
Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black to the control surface
hinge lines and the panel lines. This offers just
the slightest hint of the structural layout of the Conclusion
airframe.
The small windows and ports in the forward Xtrakit's late version Canberra PR.9 fills an
fuselage were filled with Micro Krystal Kleer. important gap in the 1/72 scale model line-up. It
is a very nice kit - well detailed, accurate and it is
The undercarriage was painted and quickly quite easy to build too, thanks to sensible parts
assembled. The attachment points are positive breakdown and the minimal use of multi-media
and robust. The sit of the aircraft looks right parts.
when the model is sitting on its wheels too.
Being a limited run kit means that this Canberra
The various vane and blade antennas and masts has no locating pins, so extra time will be
were painted and installed before rigging the long required to test fit and align parts before
aerial wire. Smoke coloured nylon monofilament committing to glue. Make sure you clean up all
was used for this job. the parts of any flash before assembly too.
The fin and the trailing surfaces on the real If you make this small extra effort though,
Canberra PR.9 were fitted with short, fine trailing Xtrakit's 1/72 scale Canberra PR.9 will not
antennas (at least I assume that they are present much more of a challenge than most
antennas). I cut three of these from stretched mainstream kits.

___________________________________________________________________________
High Planes 1/72 scale Canberra Mk.20

at a glance…
Right: This is Mick Evans’ High

Planes limited-run RAAF Canberra
Mk.20 kit.
High Planes Models 1/72 scale GAF

Canberra Ml.20 kit contains 16 plastic
injection moulded parts, 24 resin
moulded parts, 2 frets of etched metal,
2 sets of vac formed clear parts, and a
decal sheet.
High Planes Models offers a large

selection of Canberra variants as
short-run 1/72 scale kits. The
Australian B.20 was the first to be
released
Mick’s Canberra was painted using

Xtracolour’s Extra Dark Sea Grey and
Dark Green enamels.
BELOW: These are low-pressure, injection moulded kits which are BELOW: The resin parts are crisply moulded and offer a very
well detailed but do require previous experience and significantly nice level of detail. Some parts contain small air bubbles, but
extra time for cleanup and alignment. these are in non-critical areas and are easily filled. The cockpit
is completely moulded in resin.
BELOW: The detail on the plastic parts is excellent. The small BELOW: The wet transfers in the initial kit had problems, but
pop-up speed brakes on the upper, and lower surfaces of the wings these were replaced with conventional waterslide decals in
are finely represented, as are all the hatches around the nose. subsequent releases.

___________________________________________________________________________
Building Classic Airframes’ 1/48 scale

Canberra T.17
complete fuselage halves, perfectly aligned where the

Introduction nose meets the main fuselage part with no gaps or steps
whatsoever.
Classic Airframes released the first of their Canberra

family, the B.2, in April 2006. This was followed by a
T.17, a TT.18 and a B-57B over the following year or so.
The parts breakdown of these kits are similar. Being

limited run offerings, extra time is needed to prepare and
test fit the parts. It is also helpful to have some previous
experience with limited run kits.
Let’s examine construction of Classic Airframes’

Canberra T.17 step by step.
I started by cutting off all the plastic parts and cleaning up

the sprue connector points. This did not take long as there
are only 42 parts, although some of these are very large.
ABOVE: Like all recent Classic Airframes kits, The Canberra
family is endowed with well detailed resin parts for the cockpit and
Next, I took to the resin casting blocks with my Dremel wheel wells.
motor tool fitted with a grinder bit. I ran an extension
cord outside, brought along a container of water to keep BELOW: The cockpit parts look good when carefully painted and
weathered, but most of this detail will be hidden under the sealed
the resin parts wet (to reduce dust), donned a respirator canopy and inside the black-painted front office. I have painted this
mask and started work. Properly prepared and with this Mk.20 cockpit in “scale black” – actually a dark grey shade.
power tool, the casting blocks were off in no time at all.
Even with the resin parts damped down, however, there is
a lot of flying resin dust so, if you plan to use a motor tool
for this job, I strongly recommend that you do so outside
and wearing some form of face mask.
Construction
Before starting the cockpit, I glued the port-side fuselage

half to the port-side nose; and the starboard-side fuselage
half to the starboard side nose. The result was two

___________________________________________________________________________
Next was the cockpit. This is made up of a

well-detailed jumble of resin and plastic parts,
including two ejector seats.
The interior parts received a coat of Tamiya

German Grey (acting as "scale black"),
followed by streaking and staining. This was
achieved with a thin mix of Tamiya Flat Black
and Red Brown applied with the Testor Aztek
airbrush fitted with the fine (tan coloured) tip.
Structural details and natural shadow areas
were then further deepened with a selectively
applied black oil wash.
Details on the instrument panels and side

ABOVE: Large lead sinkers were used to keep the model’s nose on the
consoles were picked out in white, yellow and ground. There is plenty of room in the long, sealed nose of the Canberra
red paint. Instrument lenses were filled in with T.17.
semi-gloss black and dial detail added using BELOW: The tops of the resin wheel wells must be ground down to permit
white paint applied with a sharpened the wing halves to fit together properly.
toothpick. I decided not to install the
navigator's Martin-Baker ejection seat just in
case I needed to add extra nose weight later.
I then glued the cockpit floor to the front

bottom lip of the rear bulkhead. This wheel
well / bulkhead / floor assembly was glued to
the port sidewall. Now, the pilot's position
was slid, without glue, into the opening under
the instrument panel. I test fitted the
instrument panel bulkhead on the sidewall
and, when I was happy with the position, I
simply ran liquid glue along the join on the
sidewall.
BELOW: The kit has no locating tabs or pins, so copious amounts of tape
Test fitting showed that the cockpit floor was help keep the main parts in place while the glue dries. Note that the
a bit too wide to permit the forward fuselage fuselage wing roots have been fitted with short brass rods to act as
strengthening spars. The corresponding area on the facing areas of the
halves to meet, so the side of the floor was wing have been drilled out to accommodate the spars
thinned and trimmed until a gap-free result
was possible. This is not difficult, just an
exercise in trimming, sanding, test-fitting and
repeating until the fuselage halves met along
the centreline.
One of the blessings of that bulbous nose is

the additional space available for nose weight.
I thought I had plenty of weight in the front of
my first Canberra, but in the end it was not
enough. I would not make the same mistake
this time. I super-glued nine big lead fishing
sinkers into the fuselage - three in the nose
and six behind the rear cockpit bulkhead. This
proved to be adequate.
Once the excess resin was removed from the top of
With the cockpit, nose gear and lead weights the resin gear bays, they fitted inside the thick
installed, the fuselage halves were brought together. Canberra wings without further preparation.
Trailing edges looked a little thick so I scraped the
insides and gave them a sanding before assembling
the wings. The big wing halves mated up quite well
considering the absence of locating aids. I had a

___________________________________________________________________________
little overhang (top wing over bottom wing assembly to improve the appearance of this area.
"overbite") on one wing, but it was easily sanded to
shape. I sanded the trailing edges again after I glued the bottom intake half to each wing, then
glued the top half in place. In retrospect, I
realised I would have been better off gluing
the top half to the top wing first. Some
trimming and shimming was required to get
the intakes to fit properly, but this extra
effort meant that very little filler was needed
once the parts were glued in place.
Classic Airframes supplies two plastic wing

spar rods to secure the big wings to the
fuselage. The holes for the spars in both the
wings and the fuselage were partially flashed
over, so I reamed them out with a sharp
hobby knife. The top of the wing joining
surface was sanded to remove a slight ridge.
This added a valuable extra degree or so of
ABOVE: Overall fit is very good. Some filler was required along seam lines dihedral.
and at the wing root, with the only major problem being a fairly deep step
alongside the engine intakes.
I replaced the plastic spars with brass tube.
BELOW: These steps were filled with Milliput, then sanded back with coarse The spars were passed through the fuselage
Tamiya Abrasive Paper and MasterCasters’ foam sanders.
and attached to the wings to either end using
super glue, effectively tacking them in place.
Tamiya Extra Thin Liquid Cement was then
flowed into the upper and lower seams at the
wing root. The fit was once again very good,
with almost no gaps and absolutely no steps
on the upper surface, and only narrow gaps
at the lower joins.
At this stage, the angled horizontal tail

surfaces were assembled. Holes were drilled
for brass rod spars, and these were also
secured to the fuselage using super glue.
Tamiya Liquid Cement finished the job once
the correct dihedral was set.
While the glue on the main airframe set, I

BELOW: White primer was sprayed over the tail in preparation for a coat of modified the nose gear strut. Without
red paint. Red offers notoriously poor coverage, so the white base coat modification, the nose gear sits too high,
helps ensure a uniform and opaque coating. White primer has also been
used to make sure that there are no seam lines or other imperfections giving the front of the Canberra a slightly
remaining. stalky appearance. I cut off the top of the
gear leg above the oleo collar (about 3/8" of
leg plus the locating pin), and sliced off the
retraction strut. The top of the remaining
nose gear was drilled out and a short length
of brass tube was inserted as a replacement
locating pin.
I also cut off the locating pins for the wheels

and drilled out holes for replacement brass
pins.
The fit of the new resin fuselage tail cone

proved to be slightly tricky. First, I managed
to glue the part on crooked. I cut the rear of
the resin part off and re-glued it at the
correct angle. There was also a fairly large

___________________________________________________________________________
gap between the top of the resin part and the bottom coat of Tamiya Grey Primer straight from the can.
of the fin. This was filled with Milliput, and sanded This highlighted a few lumpy areas that needed a bit
to shape when the two-part epoxy putty had cured. more attention with the sanding stick.
A few places on the airframe required putty, Next, these repaired areas and the entire tail were
including the upper fuselage seam and the front of covered with Tamiya's Fine White Primer, also
the nose; a step on one side of each engine intake; from the spray can. Red is notoriously difficult to
and the engine tail cones. Before painting, the wing spray, and I wanted a nice even coat of white
tip tanks were assembled and installed, and the underneath to ensure even coverage.
canopy was masked and glued to the fuselage. All
the remaining dangly bits would be installed at the Despite this careful preparation, the red acrylic
last moment. paint on the tail cracked and crazed. There was no
alternative but to sand the tail back to its white
Before painting, I drilled out locating holes for the undercoat. Once this messy task was complete I
various antennae and masts. I also drilled out three repainted the tail, this time using lacquer spray paint
holes around each jet intake to depict the starter (Tamiya TS-49 Bright Red) decanted into the paint
cartridge vents. The holes were filled with Krystal cup of my Aztek airbrush. This delivered a high
Kleer, resulting in a recessed circle - a close enough gloss, even finish. The only problem was that it was
representation for my purposes. The sundry resin not the same shade of red as the Squadron flashes
scoops and vents on the lower fuselage were on the kit decals. Ah well, can't have everything...
installed at this stage too.
The lower surface now received a coat of Tamiya
AS-2 Light Grey IJN. This seemed to be a
Painting and Markings reasonable match for RAF Light Aircraft Grey. The
fast, smooth finish straight from Tamiya cans is a
real Godsend on these big models.
The assembled model was sprayed with an overall
Above: I took the opportunity to revise Above: Self-adhesive Post-It Notes

Above: The decals were damaged by the colours during repairs. A new batch were used to mask the Pale Roundel
rampant setting solution during of Roundel Pink was mixed up and Blue sections of the markings.
application. sprayed in the centre of the roundels.
Left: While I had the paint mixed and

fresh, the fuselage roundels also
received this treatment.

___________________________________________________________________________
The two rectangles above the navigator's position

The camouflage demarcation lines on the lower were masked and sprayed black to represent
fuselage and engine nacelles were masked with windows. The larger rectangle slightly aft - a
Tamiya tape, then Gunze acrylic H336 Hemp was dielectric antenna panel - was painted Tamiya XF-
applied as the upper surface camouflage. Gunze 55 Deck Tan. At this time I also painted the bases of
paints are usually quite glossy when dry, but this the aerial masts black and re-masked the canopy to
colour was dead flat. spray the white line of sealing tape.
The entire airframe now received a coat of

Future floor polish to provide a glossy surface
for decals. During spraying, a thick glob of
Future ran down the rear fuselage. I stupidly
wiped the area with a cloth dampened in
Windex, and promptly stripped the paint in the
area. More running repairs...
The yellow wing walkway lines were time

consuming to cut to shape and position on the
model, but I love the way they break up the
broad surfaces of the wings.
Once all the decals were down, I applied

Micro Sol. To my horror, the upper wing
decals crazed quite noticeably when the Micro
Sol had dried. I brushed a coat of Solvaset
ABOVE: Canberras displayed a characteristic weathering pattern on the over the top to see if this would settle the
forward fuselage. The dirty stains behind the cockpit and under the wings crazing, but it had no effect. In desperation, I
are the result of starter charges fitted in the sides of the jet intakes.
finally brushed Mr Mark Softer (no, it is not a
BELOW: The nose gear was shortened to deliver the correct sit, and typo, that really is the product's name) onto
reinforced with brass tube.
the two decals. This stuff is really aggressive
and, as I should have guessed, it actually
melted a few spots into the decals.
I had little choice other than to sand the decals

back as far as possible without damaging the
surrounding camouflage, and re-paint the
markings.
As it turned out this was not entirely a bad

thing as the pink in the kit decals is a bit
insipid. I mixed up a brighter batch of pink
using Tamiya acrylic Red and White. This
was sprayed onto the centre of the upper wing
roundels. While I was at it, for the sake of
consistency, I resprayed the pink on the
BELOW: The single-colour camouflage finish was subtly mottled with
different shades to lend some variety. fuselage roundels and fin flash too.
Weathering
While searching for reference on the Internet,

I was fortunate to find a great photo of this
specific aircraft, serial WD955, on
airliners.net.
The photograph showed a peculiar pattern of

heavy weathering on the fuselage aft of the
cockpit and on the lower fuselage. My best
guess is that smoke from the inboard starter

___________________________________________________________________________
cartridges created the heavy staining (maybe mixed distinctive yellow wing walks. Even so, I needed to
with dirt and condensation on the surface), while do something to break up that vast expanse of
the bottom of the wing and the open inner gear Hemp. I decided to try something different. After
doors generated a mild venturi effect, funnelling the spraying a couple of coats of Polly Scale Flat over
filth along the lower fuselage. There is also an the completed paint job, I applied a mottle of Gunze
obvious stain running along the engine nacelle from Hemp over the top. This mottle was fractionally
the starter cartridge vent. paler than the varnished paint of the same colour,
and also had a very slightly different gloss level. I
I filled the airbrush paint cup with a very thin mix was pretty satisfied with the result.
of Tamiya Flat Black and Red Brown, carefully
building up fine lines of this dirty mix to duplicate The final step of weathering was to add a few tiny
the pattern of weathering in the reference photo. I "chips" around the fasteners on various nose panels
also added some heavy weathering on the bottom of using a silver artist's pencil.
the fuselage and underneath the wings, especially
between the engine nacelles. More streaking was The distinctive weathering pattern is first sprayed
added below the tail surfaces and, ever so lightly, onto the forward fuselage and engine nacelles.
on selected panels around the nose. The same mix
was used to create some random streaks and spots The addition of some subtle panel highlighting and
on the wings and fuselage. Panel lines on the nose a flat coat makes a big difference to the effect.
and the engine nacelles, plus control surface hinge
lines, were subtly emphasized with a thin wash of The undercarriage was assembled and secured to
Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black acrylic applied with a the model at this time. I was pleased to find that the
fine brush. shortened nose gear leg greatly improved the sit of
the model. Now it hunches down authentically over
I wanted to avoid geometrically dividing the wing its nose gear.
by highlighting panel lines. I felt that this would be
unrealistic, and would also distract from the Various antenna masts and aerials were painted and
Above: Classic Airframes’ 1/48 scale Canberra T.17 and Mk.20 are seen together here.

___________________________________________________________________________
glued in place. I installed a few extra devices that I posts on the port side of the forward fuselage. E-Z
found in reference photos, although they were not Line was used for this job.
mentioned in the instructions. These included two
fine "T" aerials underneath the fuselage fabricated
from fine copper wire; and two blade antennas - one Conclusion
under the forward nose and one on top of the rear
fuselage. These were sourced from spare antennas
included in the Classic Airframes kit. The reference Classic Airframes' 1/48 scale Canberra T.17 was a
photo of WD955 also seemed to show a pitot tube lot of fun to build.
on the side of the forward fuselage. I robbed a pitot
from an old Hobbycraft Bf 109 kit for this job. Detail is impressive, construction is challenging in
places but was never frustrating, and this late
Finally, the photo suggested that this aircraft was version certainly presents a different facade
fitted with "disco lights" - rotating orange beacons compared to the earlier B.2 and TT.18 kits. When
above and below the rear fuselage. I chucked a short confronted with a photo of my model, a friend of
length of Cutting Edge clear orange rod in my mine declared that the aircraft looked like a "wart
Dremel Motor Tool and shaped the top into a dome nosed witch". I actually think it looks pretty
using progressively finer grades of sanding sticks. attractive, but even if you don't agree, you can't say
When I was satisfied with the basic shape, I cut the it is not interesting!
light off to an appropriate height and dipped the part
in Future for a brilliant shine. This process was If you don't mind a bit of parts preparation and can
repeated for the second light. anticipate problems before you commit to glue, you
should have few problems building any of Classic
The final job was rigging the antenna wire from my Airframes' 1/48 scale Canberra family.
pre-drilled hole at the top of the fin to the two aerial

___________________________________________________________________________
Classic Airframes’ 1/48 scale

Canberra B.Mk.2 & B-57B
at a glance…
Right: This is my Classic Airframes Canberra B.Mk.2

finished as an RAAF Canberra Mk.20. This variant
different in only fairly minor external details such as
avionics fit and the style of engine starter bullets. The
Aussie Canberra featured the earlier style of elongated
intake bullet, These were fashioned by shaping two
lengths of scrap sprue.
I used High Planes' 1/48 scale decal sheet number

4806 - RAAF Canberra Mk.20. I particularly wanted to
finish my Canberra as a Vietnam War bomber.
BELOW: Construction of the Classic Airframes B.2 / Mk.20 kit is BELOW: Some extra details such as avionics, aerial wires and
essentially the same as the T.17, but there is less room for nose “disco lights” have been added to Classic Airframes kit.
weight.
BELOW: Phil Hale built Classic Airframes’ 1/48 scale B-57B BELOW: Four camouflage schemes included - one Vietnam
Canberra. Once again, this model needs plenty of nose weight. SEA camouflage, one natural metal, one grey and orange Air
Apart from the distinctive tandem two-seat cockpit, assembly is National Guard, and an overall gloss black scheme.
similar to the other Classic Airframes Canberras.

___________________________________________________________________________
Canberra T.4 Cockpit “Crawlaround”

The photos on this page illustrate an ex-RAAF Canberra T. Mk.4 at the Australian Aviation Museum
located at Bankstown Airport in Sydney, Australia.
The cockpit is not totally complete, but the equipment is original.
This short "crawlaround" offers an insight into the dark jumble of equipment in the Canberra cockpit. It
should be noted that it is quite difficult to discern detail even when inside the cockpit, let alone when
viewing through the closed canopy of a 1/48 scale model!
ABOVE: Canberra T. Mk.4 instrument panel. The cockpit decor is ABOVE: Starboard sidewall & right side of the instrument panel.
strictly flat black. The top of the open hatch can be seen at the bottom of the
photo.
BELOW: The incomplete port sidewall beside the navigator's RIGHT: Navigator's
position. The blue harness can be seen over the seat. The seat at the rear port
navigator sits directly behind the pilot side of the cockpit
BELOW: The view from the navigator's seat. Note the table directly BELOW: he starboard rear sidewall.
forward of the navigator.

___________________________________________________________________________

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Building the

English Electric Canberra

The English Electric Canberra in Scale

This is a free downloadable PDF booklet available online from HyperScale

Copyright © 2008 by Brett Green

Building the English Electric Canberra page 2

Welcome to the latest downloadable HyperScale Resource Guide.

I do hope that you will enjoy HyperScale’s latest Resource Guide.

THE ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA IN SCALE ...................................... 4

AIRFIX 1/48 SCALE CANBERRA B(I).8 ........................................................ 5

Building the 1/48 scale Airfix Canberra B(I).8 .........................................................................7

Painting and Markings..................................................................................................................8

XTRAKIT 1/72 SCALE CANBERRA PR.9.................................................... 13

In the Box ......................................................................................................................................13

Painting and Markings................................................................................................................17

HIGH PLANES 1/72 SCALE CANBERRA MK.20 ........................................ 20

BUILDING CLASSIC AIRFRAMES’ 1/48 SCALE CANBERRA T.17........... 21

1/48 SCALE CANBERRA B.MK.2 & B-57B................................................ 27

CANBERRA T.4 COCKPIT “CRAWLAROUND” ......................................... 29

Building the English Electric Canberra page 3

The English Electric Canberra in scale

Canberra Kit Summary

Brand Scale Variant Comments

CONS: Very thick sprue connectors. Decal

CONS: Vacuum formed, short run plastic

CONS: Limited run nature of kit means that

Building the English Electric Canberra page 4

Airfix 1/48 scale Canberra B(I).8

Detail is a little soft on the wheels, and the

Building the English Electric Canberra page 5

dot screen method, which is visible when viewed

The large bomb bay has separate doors and

Cockpit detail appears a bit basic in the box,

Clear parts include the canopy (supplied in

The transparencies are nice and clear.

Instructions are supplied in a 16 page

The three options are:

2. Canberra B(I)12 of 14 Sqn,

3. Canberra B(I) 12 of 12 Sqn SAAF,

The decal sheet is large and very glossy.

Building the English Electric Canberra page 6

Above: Some fiddling is necessary before the canopy insert

Building the English Electric Canberra page 7

The fuselage halves were now brought together.

With all the main airframe elements no in

ABOVE: There are virtually no gaps anywhere on my model,

The few remaining steps and gaps were now

Painting and Markings

Building the English Electric Canberra page 8

Building the English Electric Canberra page 9

The markings were sourced from Model Alliance

Building the English Electric Canberra page 10

Building the English Electric Canberra page 11

Xtrakit 1/72 scale Canberra PR.9

Building the English Electric Canberra page 13

open with a razor saw. If

The inclusion of the ventral

Before starting the model, I

I disregarded the sequence

Building the English Electric Canberra page 14

Above: All parts needing silver paint were sprayed in one

Above: Canberra models all require plenty of nose weight,

I am sure that there is enough room in the nose