Airfix 1/48 E.E. Canberra B (I) 8
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Introduction
About ten years ago, I wrote to several model-making companies, suggesting
they build a series of 1/48 scale kits based around the British Canberra
and the American B-57. All thanked me for the suggestion but added, not
now.
So, was I happy when Classic Airframes introduced its 1/48 scale Canberra/B-57
models over the past couple years. And then as if to sweeten the pot,
Airfix introduced its 1/48 Canberra B (I) 8 recently. Yup, I’m really
happy now.
A Short History
 The
Canberra B (I) 8 was the second major series of the Canberra medium-sized
bomber produced by English Electric. The Canberra’s prototype first
flew in 1949 and was followed then by the first major series, the B.2
with its fishbowl canopy. Pilots soon complained about the poor visibility
during low level flights in the B.2, which resulted in the interim interdictor
version, the B (I) 8 (the I stands for interdictor). The newer version
had only two crew compared to three in the earlier models and also differed
by having a tear-drop shaped, non-opening canopy offset to the left, covering
the pilot. Also, the navigator now sat forward, in the nose behind a plexiglass
nose cone. Of 1,352 Canberra/B-57 airframes built, only 82 were the B
(I) 8, which first flew in 1954 and last flew for the RAF in 1972.
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon RA 7 Mk109 jet engines, the Canberra’s
maximum speed was 580 mph and it had a normal ceiling of 48,000 feet although
one set the world altitude record in 1957 by flying up to 70,310 feet.
The B (I) 8 could carry up to 8,000 pounds of bombs, rockets and missiles
and could also carry a package of 4 20mm cannon attached to the rear of
the closed bomb bay. The B (I) 8 could also carry a 4,000-pound U.S.-made
nuclear weapon in the bomb bay.
The Kit
 So,
what struck me first about Airfix’s Canberra B (I) 8? How about
the size of its box, nearly twice that of CA’s Canberra B.2. For
a moment I thought the Airfix model might actually be 1/32 scale because
of its box but no, it’s 1/48 scale, just like CA’s.
The sprues are big and the fuselage halves are practically full length,
measuring about 15-¼ inches (CA‘s fuselage halves are shorter
because they have separate front ends for the various Canberra/B-57 versions),
My math may be faulty but the seven sprues of medium gray styrene have
approximately 170 parts and a clear sprue has 8 more.
Examining the parts, I saw all look great, no sink holes, no blemishes
and no flow lines. Panel lines are lightly recessed and look good. Lots
of detail is molded into the parts. The cushions of the four-part ejection
seats have seat belts. The instrument panels look good. Exhaust tubes
are provided so you don’t get that empty see-through effect at the
rear of the engines. The flaps’ interior sections look great which
is good since they can positioned down as well as up. There’s not
much detail in the wheel wells but the interior of the bomb bay doors
show good framework.
 A
few items caught my eye, like everything on the F Sprue which is clearly
designed for the B (I) 8 version. At the top front of the fuselage is
a space that shows Airfix is thinking about using the fuselage as the
basis for future versions of this aircraft such as, perhaps, the B2, PR
9, T 17, B-57 and who knows what else. One item on the F sprue that isn’t
accurate is the control stick; the B (I) 8 had a control yoke. I should
mention that because the B (I) 8’s did not have canopies that opened,
the control stick issue might be one you can disregard as it may not be
that visible.
Two parts in particular that also got my attention were the rudder halves.
Each half carries 12 engraved horizontal lines and while I’m no
expert on Canberras, those I have seen in the metal (so to speak) and
in photos had nothing resembling the kit’s rudder. I suggest filling
these grooves with putty and then sanding them smooth for a more accurate
look.
The control surfaces are molded separately from the wings and stabilizers
so you can position them as you wish.
The Bomb Bay
 As
opposed to the American variant, the B-57, which had a rotary bomb bay,
the B (I) 8 had what some might consider a normal bomb bay with typical
bomb bay doors which the kit permits you to build opened or closed. However,
the instructions do not show how to position the open doors. From what
I saw by dry-fitting the pieces and examining as many photos of Canberra
bomb bays as I could find on the Internet, this is what I learned:
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In reality, the Canberra’s bomb bay doors retracted a bit
inside the bomb bay when they opened
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When you assemble the bomb bay roof Part 1B and front and rear bulkheads
Parts 2B and 3B, note the locations of the actuators on the bulkheads.
When you install the bomb bay doors later, you must align their front
and rear attachments points with those actuators, which means sliding
the doors up inside the bomb bay some, just like the real doors
-
 The
edges of the kit’s bomb bay doors appear a tad thicker than
what’s noticeable in the photos so, you might want to taper
the kit’s doors with a bit of sanding along the exposed edges
if you plan to show them open
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While the instructions call for the bomb bay to painted black, the
few pictures I found of actual bomb bays show otherwise. One appears
to be NMF and a couple are dark green. In all photos, the door interiors
are dark green, not the aluminum called for in the instructions
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Finally, you might notice in some photos that a lot of framework
is visible across the top of the bomb bay. However, Part 6B eventually
hides much of the bomb bay roof once it’s installed so don’t
rush to scratch build a lot of frames that you’ll end up covering
anyway.
Want to glue the doors shut to avoid all of the above? Sorry to say,
you will still have some work to do. In dry-fitting one bay door in the
closed position, I saw its straight edge wasn’t conforming tightly
to the tapered fuselage. So I figure I will have to do the following:
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Before joining the fuselage halves, I will glue some lengths of
sheet styrene along the edges of the bomb bay to serve as long tabs
I can glue the bay doors to later. Those tabs will also serve as backing
wherever I need to apply gap-filling super-glue or putty
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I will glue just the rear of each door to the fuselage and let it
set well because each door will have to be flexed slightly when its
front end is glued in place, perhaps a few days later
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Once the doors are set, I will dry-fit the fuselage halves and sand
as necessary to make everything fit nicely. If gaps show between the
doors and the fuselage halves when the fuselage is glued together,
I will resort to my usual fill and sand routine.
 I
should mention that when I fitted the fuselage halves, sans bomb bay doors,
they fit well, so well that I wonder if I will need to tend to the joints
at all.
Now for Something That’s Very Clear
Well, after that short discussion of the gray styrene parts, let’s
look at--or through--the clear parts which are packaged in a plastic bag.
All are very clear and appear fine. The nose unit, as you can see in the
photo of the clear sprue, represents not just the clear nose piece but
part of the forward fuselage as well and that adds about another inch
to the length of the model. By the way, if you are tempted to glue the
canopy in an open position, don’t. The B (I) 8’s had no opening
canopies so glue it shut like the instructions show.
Aside from the nose, windscreen and canopy, the clear pieces include
a gun sight, wingtip lights, a small navigator’s cabin window and
what appears to be a rather rudimentary bombsite.
Instructions and Decals
 The
kit has a 16-page instruction book which notes at one point that you need
10 grams of weight to keep this model off its tail but Part 41A does fit
under the tail, just like the real jack stands that kept the real planes’
tails off the ground.
The instructions show the nose gear doors can be positioned opened or
closed. To me that indicates the model can be built gear up or down although
the instructions don’t indicate that you can do nothing but build
the main gear down. I did dry-fit the main gear doors on one wing and
saw the fit is not tight so expect some filling and sanding if you want
to build the gear up.
I should note that the crew entry hatch is also positionable.
While the instructions do a fine job of noting what colors to paint
the various pieces, nowhere do they show what color each number represents
although the numbers relate to Humbrol paints. That’s fine if you
use Humbrol but if you use any other line of paints, you will need to
do some cross-referencing--see the reference section at the end of this
article.
The instructions--and a fine large sheet of waterslide decals--permit
you to build one of three versions of this Canberra, as detailed in a
three-panel, four-color guide:
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One that served with Royal Air Force No. 16 Squadron, at Laarbruch,
Germany in 1972
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Another that served with Royal New Zealand Air Force No. 14 Squadron
at Ohakea in 1968
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Another that served with the South African Air Force No. 12 Squadron
at Waterkloof from 1969 to 1975
The first two variants have topsides that are painted dark sea gray
and dark green while their undersides are silver or, I suppose, natural
metal finish.
The South African version is painted entirely silver or, again, I suppose
NMF.
Beside having markings to depict the three versions, the decal sheet
has stencils common to all three. Overall, the semi-gloss decals appear
perfectly in register and look great.
 At
first, I thought that the undersides of the first and second versions
should be another color, perhaps black or light gray, not silver, but
information on https://www.bywat.co.uk/canb03.html
reads: “Colour schemes for the B (I) 8 started with European grey/green
top surface with black undersides, but around 1965 the undersides were
re-finished in silver.“
So there you have it, for the aircraft depicted in the years mentioned
in the instructions, the undersides of the RAF and the RNZAF aircraft
were silver. Now if they’re NMF or silver paint, I have not yet
been able to determine.
A digression here--although I have seen many kits of modern RAF aircraft
call for dark sea gray and dark green topside colors, the photos I have
seen of Canberras show much much more contrast between their grays and
greens than are shown on the color guide. Also, in the pictures, the undersides
look gray compared to the silver that’s evident on the silver tip
tanks.
And while mentioning the tip tanks, I notice in photos that some Canberras
had no tip tanks. Others had all-NMF tip tanks and then there are those
that flew with tip tanks painted like the Airfix instructions show, with
camouflaged upper surfaces.
Ordnance
If you want a kit with ordnance, then this one’s for you. Not
that any one Canberra carried all these weapons at one time, you are given
four bombs destined for the bomb bay, two larger bombs that fit on wing
pylons, two rockets, four rocket pods and a quad 20mm gun pack that fits
at the rear of the closed bomb bay doors. Four hard points can be attached
under the wings.
The instructions don’t tell what any of the weapons are except
for the 20mm gun pack. From what I’ve researched on the Internet,
the bombs in the bomb bay appear to be 750-pound bombs, those slung under
the wings may be 1,000-pound bombs and the two missiles appear to be Nord
AS-30 air-to-ground missiles although a Canberra website states that the
Mk 15 was the variant carrying the AS-30’s.
Conclusion and Comparison
 Despite
my concerns about the rudder and bomb bay doors, this is a very good kit
and will build up as a super-looking model. In dry-fitting many pieces,
I’m impressed with their fit and look forward to building the kit
when I have time, whenever that may occur.
I’m sure that some are wondering if I can compare the Airfix Canberra
with the Canberra/B-57 versions produced by Classic Airframes. Well, since
I have built neither, my impressions are limited to only what I have seen
and fondled in the Airfix kit and a CA Canberra B.2 kit I bought.
First, the Airfix kit is loaded with ordnance while the CA kit has none
although I have not seen pictures of any B.2’s with underwing ordnance.
Also, the CA’s bomb bay is molded shut.
Second, the control surfaces on the Airfix kit can be positioned while
those on the CA models are molded in place.
Third, the CA kit has a tremendous wealth of detail in its resin pieces
for the cockpit but most won’t be seen once the fuselage is assembled.
If you’re like me and have the Airfix kit and CA‘s B.2 kit,
you might be able to help the Airfix kit by doing a few things. The B.2
kit has both a control stick and a control yoke and since its instructions
indicate you can use either, hey, there’s a control yoke for your
B (I) 8! And since the CA kit’s navigator’s seat won’t
be seen once the fuselage is assembled and since the Airfix‘s pilot‘s
seat is okay but not as detailed as the CA seat, well….you get the
picture (if you wonder about the B (I) 8’s navigator’s seat,
it wasn’t an ejection seat and not very visible when the fuselage
is assembled). Also, if you’re wondering if the same type of ejection
seat was used in both the B.2 and the B (I) 8, the answer is yes, according
to ejection seat
website.
Fourth: Airfix has the edge when it comes to decals in that is has more
stencils.
Finally, I believe both will build up to be good-looking models but
I think the Airfix will be the easier build even though it has more than
twice as many parts as the CA kit. The Airfix wings and fuselage parts
have locator pins and holes while the CA parts do not, which some people
like me will handle by gluing styrene strips into the fuselage halves
to aid in joining them together.
You’ll do right by buying the Airfix kit which has an MSRP of
$50.75 and it will look great on one of your shelves. It is a fine model.
Research
For information and photos about all types of Canberras:
For a look at the bomb bay:
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