Reasonably pleased with this one. Not often you get the chance to paint an aircraft purple (to paraphrase Cliff Clifford) - and pose it in 'droop-snoot' mode and flaps down. It did take a few attempts to mix a mauve shade -albeit a little pale perhaps -that came reasonably close to the photo of the real aircraft. I used Humbrol enamels in magenta and royal blue with some light grey. This is WG 774, the World record speed holder, as it was painted for a late 1950s Farnborough air Show ( 1958 IIRC). Much of the type's flight testing was done in the south of France and obviously 'inspired' the designers at Dassault!
A couple of points to watch out for;
- don't bother cutting off the nose probe to avoid breaking it off...you'll just snap it right off again as soon as you stick it back on. Either that or drop the model on the floor. In the end I broke the nose probe three times! Take care. Needless to say I didn't bother with the etch vanes, but then they weren't always mounted. Check your refs.
- the fit of the intakes is a little 'unclear' from the instructions (stages 7 and 8) Note the 'vanes' on the inner face should be visible from the front. See the image (bottom) of the Cosford machine.
- panel lines are so shallow they won't hold much of a 'wash'
- note the landing gear stance, especially the forward gear strut. It angles slightly backwards. It is possible to hold the gear leg in the aperture at this 'new' angle while it dries. Use super glue and fit the small strut (part E4, build stage 11) once the main leg is located solidly. Check reference photos here
This video screen grab (above) shows that I have failed to correctly mask the canopy! There is a small glazed panel above the pilot's head, also just visible in the view below. No, I've just forgotten to take the mask off before taking a few pics - one of the reasons why posting pics of your models is good! Helps you to spot your mistakes! The anti-glare decal for the nose as supplied in the kit is far too large for this machine, so here I've cut it down. Note the fuselage-mounted air intakes are just about large enough to be opened up with a small pin-drill. I should also really replace the rather 'blade-like' antennae on the nose which were more like whip aerials..
The Fairey Delta 2 was a British supersonic research aircraft produced by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was not an RAF aircraft despite the roundels. On 6 October 1954, the Delta 2 flew its maiden flight with Fairey test pilot Peter Twiss at the controls. Just two aircraft would be produced. The Fairey Delta 2 was the first jet aircraft to exceed 1000 mph in level flight, flying faster than the sun moves across the sky - the text on the nose of WG 774 reads " Fairey Delta 2 holder of World absolute speed record." The French largely copied the design when creating the Mirage series of fighter aircraft.
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