Description
The stubby Buffalo fighter, designed and built in the late 1930s by the American Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, was one of the first U.S. Navy’s monoplane aircraft destined for carrier-borne operations. It was a single-seat, all-metal mid-wing monoplane with fabric-covered control surfaces and a retractable undercarriage. Powered by a Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engine, it was fitted with Hamilton Standard propeller and its armament consisted of two machine guns in the nose and one in each wing.
Deliveries of the first variant, the F2A-1, began in mid-1939. Only eleven aeroplanes were delivered to the Navy’s VF-3 unit aboard USS Saratoga, while 44 de-navalised aircraft were sold to Finland early in 1940 as the Model B-239. In Finnish service the Brewsters gallantly fought against the Soviet Union, becoming popular among its pilots and earned a reputation as one of the most successful fighters.
In the U.S. naval service, the Buffalo soon became obsolent and was replaced by the F4F Wildcat, whereas in Finland the last B-239s continued to fly until 1948.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Brewster F2A-1, BuNo 1386, Black 3-F-17, VF-3, US Navy, USS Saratoga, winter 1939
2) Brewster F2A-1, BuNo 1393, Black/White 3-F-13, VF-3, US Navy, USS Saratoga, winter 1939
3) Brewster B-239, BW-354, White 6, 2/LeLv 24, Finnish Air Force, Tiiksjärvi airfield, summer 1942
4) Brewster B-239, BW-370, Black 4, 4/LeLv 24, Finnish Air Force, Römpötti airfield, summer 1942
Assembly instructions:
