USN Classic Fatty - Matchbox Buffalo (OOB)

[Faust]

It’s not just loser cars that I like. I also like loser airplanes. For all the great aircraft that have served the US Navy over the course of its lifetime, there have also been a few… well… flops. The word “flop” really seems appropriate when you consider the Brewster F2A Buffalo. Sure, it was the first USN monoplane, so you have to cut it some slack… but still.

I have several 1/72 Buffalos, like the Farpro Japan and ancient Revell. However, it will come as no surprise if you’ve ever visited my site, that I’ve always wanted the Matchbox. It’s been hard to find, and the first time I’ve seen one since I was a kid was this year at the HeritageCon show in Hamilton, Ontario. Of course I got it, and it won a poll I ran to see which was the kit most people wanted to see reviewed.

So, check out this classic bit of Matchbox engineering, and remember, it doesn’t get any better than this!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/matchbox-1-72-brewster-buffalo-oob/

[Mike999]

Another great review of a kit that normally wouldn't interest me much. Thanks. I do share your interest in "flying turkeys," those aircraft left far behind in the slip-stream of aviation history, usually for good reasons.

Which reminds me...all those Buffalo orders put the Brewster production lines way behind on their next product, the SB2A Buccaneer/Bermuda.  Which was a good thing, since the overweight, underpowered and fragile SB2A was one of the worst aircraft ever built.  Being a little more polite, the Pima Air Museum labels it "perhaps the least successful Allied aircraft of World War II." 

Australia was lucky and able to cancel its whole order for Bermudas.  Which it replaced with the Vultee Vengeance, maybe a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.  Nobody was ever crazy enough to use the SB2A  in combat.  The US Navy, Army and RAF only put them to work as target tugs and rear-area hacks.  The US Marines employed them as night-fighter trainers, but only in the safe confines of Florida. Quite a few went from the production line straight to the scrapyard.

The cover of Steve Ginter's book is sort of a visual metaphor for the Buc's career:

[Faust]

 Wow... I'd never heard of the Buccaneer, and then I was able to find a YouTube video of a training film for it!

Shame it sucked so hard; it's actually a somewhat pretty aircraft!

I tell ya, Brewster is the AMC of plane makers. No, that's not fair, because AMC tried...

[Snake45]

For some reason, I've always liked the Buffalo, but have never owned much less built a model of it in any scale. Perhaps I should remedy that at some point in the future. I'm a fan of the simplicity of the old Matchbox kits. 

[peteski]

15 hours ago, Snake45 said:

For some reason, I've always liked the Buffalo, but have never owned much less built a model of it in any scale. Perhaps I should remedy that at some point in the future. I'm a fan of the simplicity of the old Matchbox kits. 

And they were molded in multiple colors (a fact they touted on the box). I also liked that clear window in the bottom of the box showing those multi-colored parts trees.  And then of course there were those clear display stands with the M-shaped base and a ball-joint, so the model could be positioned any way you wanted it.

I build a bunch of WWII airplane kits from Matchbox as a teen, and this thread has brought back some fond memories.

[Snake45]

8 hours ago, peteski said:

And they were molded in multiple colors (a fact they touted on the box). I also liked that clear window in the bottom of the box showing those multi-colored parts trees.  And then of course there were those clear display stands with the M-shaped base and a ball-joint, so the model could be positioned any way you wanted it.

I build a bunch of WWII airplane kits from Matchbox as a teen, and this thread has brought back some fond memories.

I own a bunch of the Matchbox kits, but haven't built them all. The ones I can remember building are the P-51D, F4U-4 Corsair, Mosquito, Hawker Tempest II, F-86A, and F-5A. I've had their AD-5 Skyraider (1/48) assembled and ready for paint for a couple decades now--really need to finish that one off. 

They're not the best kits, but they're usually troublefree and FUN builds. 

[Mike999]

Some of the Matchbox 1/32 scale car kits were very nice, too. Their 1/32 Citroen Legere had an engine, a radiator grille with OPEN bars, and could be built as a coupe or cabriolet. For many years, it was one of the few WWII era civilian cars available for military builders.  

Their Rolls-Royce Phantom I was also impressive.  Its (tiny) steering box even has the "RR" emblem molded into it. For years I've thought about building that one as a "Home Defense" vehicle, in Britain circa 1940. Maybe with some home-made armor plate and a Vickers machine gun...

[Faust]

9 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I own a bunch of the Matchbox kits, but haven't built them all. The ones I can remember building are the P-51D, F4U-4 Corsair, Mosquito, Hawker Tempest II, F-86A, and F-5A. I've had their AD-5 Skyraider (1/48) assembled and ready for paint for a couple decades now--really need to finish that one off. 

They're not the best kits, but they're usually troublefree and FUN builds. 

Wow. I have a tonne of Mbox kits, and other than the Skyraider that I had and gave to a friend (he was down on his luck and loved mulit-seat Able Dogs), I've got NONE of those. Impressive!

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Faust said:

Wow. I have a tonne of Mbox kits, and other than the Skyraider that I had and gave to a friend (he was down on his luck and loved mulit-seat Able Dogs), I've got NONE of those. Impressive!

I'm pretty sure I've built two of the F4U-4s and I know I've built two Tempest IIs. Oh, I've built the FW190A, too. Others I have yet to build include the A-4M (started, ready for paint), F-104, F3D Skyknight, and UC-64 Norseman. Maybe some more. Oh wait, I'm pretty sure I've built at least one of the Spitfire XVIs. If I didn't finish it, it's near ready for paint. 

I have some of the bombers, too-- B-25, B-26, B-17, and PB4Y. Only reason I haven't built these is I can't decide if I want to build them gear down or gear-up on their display stands. 

ETA: Here's the AD-5, ready for paint. I've already pre-shot the finicky areas with GSB so laying on the color coats SHOULD be easy. While looking for this pic, I found that I've also built the Matchbox Spit IX as a PR XI, and the XVI isn't finished yet, but almost ready for paint. I could start a thread showing all or many of my Matchbox builds, if you'd like to see them. 

Edited May 9, 2019 by Snake45

[bisc63]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

I could start a thread showing all or many of my Matchbox builds, if you'd like to see them. 

Heck yeah; this is EXACTLY the place to show those beauties off!  I have a few odd Matchbox kits myself, and think they are sometimes critiqued a bit too harshly. They may be somewhat simplified, but adding detail is a FUN challenge for modelers. The overstated "trenches" for panel lines can be an annoyance, but easily filled; modeling 101, right?  ( An unfortunate issue that is creeping into some VERY new kits, too, these days, much to my despair; looking at you, Revell new B-17; and newer Airfix seem to be  suffering from over-trenching as well) Most importantly for my tastes, Matchbox seemed to be pretty darn good at capturing the overall shape and proportion of their subjects. If that ain't right, all the detail in the world won't help.  Rant over...

[Snake45]

16 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Heck yeah; this is EXACTLY the place to show those beauties off!  

Well, I tried to start a thread last night, but kept getting the stupid 404 error. I'll try again tonight....

[Mike999]

Since this turned into a Weird Subjects thread, sort of, I wondered if anyone else has seen the kits from Arsenal Model Group (AMG) and its offshoot Dora Wings. They're in the Ukraine and do some odd aircraft, armor and watercraft subjects, like a 1/35 scale Russian Armed Speedboat from WW2. A couple of photos are below. 

The Dora Wings branch does a whole series of 1/48 scale Bell P-63 KingCobras, including the ultra-rare T-P63-E two-seat trainer. (Only 2 built.)  These kits have nothing to do with the old 1/48 P-63s from MPM, Hi-Tech and Fonderie Miniatures.  They are short-run kits but very well done, with photo-etched parts, canopy masks and big decal sheets.  The P-63E kit includes decals for 6 different aircraft, including 2 from the post-war Honduran air force and a civil racing KingCobra.

I ordered my P-63C and some other kits from "aceUA" on eBay.  Like many Ukrainian vendors, they flatten the kit boxes to save money on shipping.  So you get a big brown shipping box crammed full of sealed parts bags and the flattened boxes. You have to figure out where everything goes, which is not too hard.