Building the Dora Wings Fairey Delta 2 (part 1)

 

It is nearly two years since the 72nd scale Dora wings Fairey Delta was released and here are a few pics of the build underway. It really is a straight forward kit and assembles easily and quickly. There is some work to do on tidying up the fuselage seams but nothing too onerous and I like the provision of a wing 'spar' to aid location and fit of the wings. There is some jet fan and cockpit detail - but almost none of it will be visible. In his build review for the Key 'Model World' site Chris Clifford attempts to fit an after-market Martin-Baker Mk 3 resin seat in the cockpit - which is not possible. He concludes that the cockpit looks 'undersized' on the model. Of course it was on the real aircraft too. The cockpit was very small and cramped and had been to some extent 'miniaturised' including ejection seat and instrumentation as explained by Barrie Hygate in his 'British Experimental Jet Aircraft' book! Click to expand the images..

new tool DBMK Model Kits RAF Hornet in 32nd scale - a first 'feel' - DBMK Sea Fury in 32nd

 

Second Tuesday of the month is club night at East Kent Scale Modellers. Will from DBMK was present with some of the Hornet sprues at our July club night a few weeks ago

".. DH.103 Hornet test shots in 1/32. It is coming - it is going to be very accurate - it is going to be big. We were overjoyed to receive the test shots for our Hornet last week. We are just finishing off the design of the decals, PE and 3-D printed parts. You will be able to make an F.1, PR.2 or F.3 from the kit. This will be a limited run kit. More news to follow - we hope to have it ready for Telford. Sprues will be on display at the Farnborough show..".

At one point Will (from DBMK) disappeared to get a cuppa. Before we could stop him, Dick suddenly ripped the parts off the sprues and started assembling them! I managed to get some pics. Note the £2 coin for scale...

Mr Bill Clark is also a member of East Kent Scale modellers - this is his build of one of the first 'test' shots of the 1/32nd DBMK Sea Fury - due soon along with a full build report in Scale Aircraft Modelling

Airfix Gannet COD 4

 

Dick from East Kent Scale Modellers has done a brilliant job on the new Airfix Gannet COD 'carrier delivery' aircraft. What a beast, looks magnificent in 48th!

Airfix new tool Spitfire Tr. 9 twin seater - Aero Legends, Headcorn, Kent

 

" Absolute genius idea by the Airfix marketing department - not only one of arguably the most popular type of aircraft in many scales that Airfix have ever produced , but now also tied in to a model that many people have been lucky enough to take a flight in , and can now build that model... Take a bow Airfix..

As seen on the Airfix stand at the Hailsham show earlier this month along with some pictures taken by Ben Lavender, Aero Legends volunteer and East Kent Modeller, of the two Tr.9s operated by Aero Legends from Headcorn airfield in Kent. A single click to view full screen..

Building the new Airfix 48th Sepecat Jaguar GR. 1 (3)

 

Airfix 1:48 Jaguar GR.1 build continues. No issues. Concentrating on sticking the 'large' parts so we can get some paint on soon. Slats, flaps and ailerons just clip in. I notice some builders have left these parts off to paint and weather separately - no idea why you might need to do that. Care needs to be exercised when removing these parts from the sprue though - some youtubers have inadvertently cut off the extension tracks, which otherwise allows you to clip these parts into position easily. A smear of PPP in the upper wing join, wiped off with acetone to avoid any sanding. The intakes are fitted and just slide into position - Airfix supply a 'jig' to get them 'square' but I didn't feel the need to use it. There's also a jig to drill the options for the intake-mounted VHF aerial(s). There's also two tailfins - an 'early' and 'late' with the RWR.

In the rain at Fairford in 1995 (IIRC) and, below, standing under the wing of the Manston machine XZ 106. XZ 106 is a Gulf War veteran and at one time displayed 35 mission symbols in desert pink. In 2002 it received 'winter' camo and went to Bardufoss with 41 Sqd. It came to Manston via Bentwaters in 2010. Engines and other prominent features are missing from this airframe.

Building the new Airfix 48th Sepecat Jaguar GR. 1 (2)

 

Above; general view of the Jaguar forward fuselage showing the curved intake and the starboard 30mm cannon fairing. Note the cover in the intake. There were a number of different intake covers fitted to Jaguars, both in- and outside the aperture. This is the machine on display at the RAF Manston history museum, XZ 106, latterly of 41 Sqd. 

The new Airfix Jaguar GR. 1 build continues serenely. This is as close as Airfix will ever get to a Tamiya-style 'shake n' bake' kit  - yet still a 'Skill Level 4'. Must be something to do with the number of parts, because its not a difficult build at all. Everything just 'clips' into place. Gear and airbrake bays build up easily into each fuselage half before the cockpit pushes into the fuselage. While the 'fit' is mostly very good, there are a couple of seams that I'm not too thrilled with, especially just aft of the cockpit.

Next steps involve some detail painting of the gear bays and constructing the intakes, the tail and the other moveable surfaces - slats and flaps can all be fitted in extended mode. 

Below, a few more reference shots. Note Airfix recommend '27' for the gear legs  - which seems far too dark a grey. There are no colour call-outs for the interior of the airbrake doors - they seem to be in the same colour as the fuselage/lower surfaces..

Building the new Airfix 48th Sepecat Jaguar GR. 1 (1)

 

Let's make a start on the new Airfix Jaguar that everyone seems to be showing off at the moment - and since my local museum has an example on display we can feature some 'reference' too rather than go searching for that elusive issue of 'World Airpower Journal'..keep checking in to see the build progressing with some more close-up 'reference' shots..

The first 12 stages (of 130 or so) deal with the cockpit tub and ejection seat  - there appears to be two of everything for different types of  MB seat - rather than for a twin seat version as far as I can tell. Although that is obviously coming - given the separate forward fuselage/cockpit area. There is neat raised console detail and decals to finish off the tub which is black which will obviously need washing or highlighting in some way to bring out the detail. If you are including the pilot figure you might want to check the fit here - apparently he doesn't with the ejection handle in situ.

The cockpit 'sits' on the forward wheel well and it all fits snugly into position. Next steps are to add some seat belts from wine bottle foil and build up and detail paint the super-detailed wheel wells - here they are in plain zinc chromate primer. A wash will bring out all the detail. The 'black' is (Halfords) 'Volvo Dark Grey' which seems to work better than 'black'..

A view of the main gear bay (looking rearwards) of the Jaguar in the RAF Manston History Museum (near Ramsgate, Kent). Not a terribly clear shot admittedly, but the green/yellow gear bay and some of the associated pipework is evident..note this appears to be in (light aircraft) grey along with the gear legs themselves. 

At East Kent Scale Modellers club night last week, Dale had already got most of the major components of the kit together...flaps and slats deployed