Airfix Grumman Martlet in 72nd scale - Operation Torch (2) No 888 Squadron Fleet Air Arm

Below; a Grumman Martlet naval fighter of No 888 Squadron Fleet Air Arm taking off from the deck of HMS Formidable in the Mediterranean during 1942. 'FN 142' - the subject of the Airfix kit - may have been a 893 Sqd machine, also on Formidable. The Imperial War museum's 'Fleet air Arm archive is here 

Another neat Airfix new-tool. Buy one..and build it! The only slightly tricky area was joining the fuselage halves. The wing fold option was a little awkward with no real positive location points. I thought it would be interesting to feature one wing fold and leave the other deployed which was possible on the Martlet and quite often seen. From the earlier Wildcat which I built at the start of the year here, Airfix have provided parts to lengthen the forward fuselage and these fitted well but a little filler was needed - I don't think there was a visible seam line here on the real aircraft. One detail I've missed is the engine crank case which must be fixed with the `attachment' facing upwards and not down as it shows in the instructions. Otherwise, having stared at pics of the real thing, I think the windscreen is a little too long and the fuselage spine behind the cockpit a little too 'fat'..but not enough to detract from the appearance of the finished model. The windscreen also needs a rear view mirror - I fabricated mine by simply leaving the plastic sprue tab attached to the part..

Note the carrier code isn't 0 (zero) or O (Latin alphabet) but Ø (Greek letter Phi) Phi is F;  F for  carrier HMS Formidable.