1/48 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo

NAS Miami-The WWII "Top Gun"

Gallery Article by H. Davis Gandees on Jan 25 2021

 

      

During WWII, Naval Air Station Miami was a beehive of activity, specifically the Advanced Fighter School, where fledgling Navy and Marine pilots were sent to become fighter pilots. Most of them in their memoirs mention training at NAS Miami/Opa-Locka before going to operational squadrons. This 1942 photo shows a very weary, well used Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo flown by legendary, LTCDR Joseph “Jumpin Joe” Clifton, who early in the war served as an NAS Miami instructor and later commanded several fighter and training squadrons. The photo was taken over NAS Miami’s two bases, Master Field upper left and Mainside Opa-Locka lower right. Master Field is now the North Campus of Miami-Dade College and Opa-Locka is a busy private airport and serves as the USCG Miami base. My childhood home is a mile off the Buffalo’s nose. It was an interesting place to grow up even info the late 50s with constant Navy and Marine aviation activity!

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The Model
I have always admired this iconic photo and decided to replicate it in 1:48 scale as a tribute to WWII, NAS Miami. 

In 1939, the Brewster Buffalo along with the Grumman Wildcat were the Navy’s first monoplane fighters. Although obsolete by WWII, the Buffalo’s last U.S. combat was at Wake Island. The remaining Buffalos were sent stateside as advanced trainers. They were flown night and day when not being serviced and repaired. This particular aircraft is a patchwork of various parts from wrecked aircraft and is very weathered from the S. Florida sun. It has been ground looped at least once as both wing tips and ailerons have been replaced. Note the rear green house has been painted over to reduce cockpit heat. Unfortunately, #21’s BuNo is unknown as it was lost when the rudder was replaced.

At the time this model was built there was no kit available for the late model F2A-3, so I decided to convert the Tamiya F2A-2. This required stretching the nose ahead of the firewall 10 scale inches with formed sheet styrene and the area re-scribed. The prop spinner was deleted and a correct prop hub was made from styrene tubing. Barely visible in the photo is a gunnery camera mounted on the starboard side of the fuselage that was constructed from styrene round and square tube with a wire connection. A rear-view mirror was also constructed from shaped sprue and attached to the windscreen. 

The model was painted with various mixed hues of Model Master enamel gray and blue that was applied over aluminum and zinc chromate that was worn by light wet sanding exposing the layers of paint. From the firewall aft, washes and powdered graphite were used to match the photo. A nylon antenna wire and white glue insulators were attached to finish it off. Right after finishing this model, Special Hobby released an F2A-3. Isn’t that the way is always happens?

H. Davis Gandees

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Photos and text © by H. Davis Gandees