Airfix Sea Fury FB 11 48th - build review finished

Second completion already in 2020.....

The new -tool Airfix Sea Fury is finally finished -what a lovely kit this is. Despite one or two small issues, especially around the cowl I can't be anything but pleased with the way this turned out. I used the Aeromaster Sea Fury sheet to do an example sporting stripes - FB 11 VX 726 aboard HMAS Sydney during 1952. Shame Airfix's decal options were so 'dull'. The Aeromaster sheet was of course designed for the Hobbycraft kit - so the stripes don't wrap around the fuselage all that well. They are in fact about one whole centimeter too short! The gaps were masked and painted as were the wing stripes ....

A long documentary from the video-tape era posted on youtube. The Korean carrier footage is at around the thirty-minute mark, well worth watching. A single click to view here..

 

More pics of the build in progress and the real machine

https://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.com/2019/05/airfix-sea-fury-fb-11-hms-glory-korean.html

https://falkeeinsmodel.blogspot.com/2018/04/airfix-hawker-sea-fury-fb11-new-tool.html

Lidl Airfix Christmas special - Jet Provost T.4

In the UK over the Christmas period the supermarket chain Lidl once again had a stack of Airfix kits on their shelves at something approaching 40% off RRP. These are starter sets with paints, glue and brush for just £4.99 instead of at least £7.99 retail.These make great stocking 'fillers' for just about anybody (well, perhaps not the mother-in-law...) and I made sure that people knew about them - in the end I received the Spitfire, P-51 and Jet Provost kits.The Jet Provost is a bargain at this price and is a very nice little kit. A breeze to build - apart from one or two detail omissions and a curious fit issue around the forward fuselage - which I note that Mike Grant also encountered in his AMW build review..(ie the two fuselages halves never actually meet around the front end. There's not much in it, but still...)

Here's a few images of the build and the finished model in the overall red of the Red Pelicans display team, Central Flying School, RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, England, 1966. Detail views of the real machine at the RAF Manston history museum, including a close-up of the 'missing' fuselage vents..click on the images to view larger..

Below; note the canopy 'brace' is an internal feature - there is no external frame as portrayed by Airfix on the kit part - replicated with a piece of decal strip and sanded and polished back. Note the instrument panel coaming needs cutting back in the kit.

Three months since my last post ..so what's been going on ?

To paraphrase "Scale model soup " - blimey, I can’t believe it’s been more than three months since my last post! Time sure flies, especially as you get older. Suffice to say, I’m still here. So what’s been going on? On the basis that you might be vaguely interested....here goes..

 Since my last post here..I've written two books ! And a publisher is interested! Here's a mock up of the cover of the first one - doesn't take a great deal of effort to work out what the second title might be either. Of course these titles weren't compiled overnight - they are the synthesis of about ten years work on various projects..

Ok so you're thinking same old, same old..but both titles are jam-packed with great photos from a number of Luftwaffe alumini and artworks by Vincent Dhorne. And no-where do I say that Hartmann was credited with 352 kills or that Walther Dahl managed 128 victories including 36 heavy bombers...

In the same series I collaborated with Jean-Louis Roba on this next title earlier in the year and it is now available from the usual sources!

Features first person accounts, artworks, 200 photos, nice thick glossy paper and glossy card cover.

Elsewhere Eduard's new Bf 109 G-6/AS is released - one of the five markings options is for F-K Müller's 'red 2', the 1./NJGr 10 Moskito hunter flown by the ace during July-August 1944. I'd already written about this machine on my Luftwaffe blog and was invited to submit a lengthier appraisal for the latest Eduard INFO.

My 'history' feature on Müller's aircraft and night fighter career complete with rare photos and first person accounts is available to read in the free 76-page November issue of Eduard Info - download it here

...now to get some modelling done..

48th scale Merlin-engined P-51 Mustangs

The count down to the US Nationals and the release of the 'kit of the year 2019' is on. I'm referring of course to the Eduard P-51. So how many are you looking to add to the stash? If any ? Surely any modeller worth his salt already has a large number of P-51s to build?  Here's a look at some of the 48th scale Mustangs in my stash.


The most recent is the new-tool Airfix P-51D and it certainly appears to build up into a fine model. Here's my friend Bob's build (East Kent Scale modellers)

The P-51 B/C kits by Accurate Miniatures, Tamiya, and Pro-Modeler (Monogram/Revell) are apparently very similar, although the Pro-Modeler one is the most accurate out of the box according to Detail and Scale Mustang vol.1, which covers Mustang variants from prototype to P-51 C. Nowadays, this is probably also the hardest one to find. Of course the Tamiya is reputed to have the best fit of all the kits - indeed it's probably one of the best fitting kits ever. For the P-51 D, the Tamiya and Hasegawa kits are also supposed to be very comparable.

Above; the Hasegawa 'D' looks great in the box with a super level of detail in the cockpit and in the selection of underwing stores. The Tamiya kit has one major advantage over the Hasegawa kit - the separate flaps, which are usually seen 'dropped' on shut-down. Their B/C kit also has separate flaps, unlike the Pro-Modeler and AM kits. However the cockpit floor of the Tamiya P-51 B is probably inaccurate, all Merlin engined P-51's had a flat plywood floor, not metal as in the Tamiya kit.The ICM versions look as good as the Tamiya kits that they may have been 'developed' from, with perhaps not quite such a good fit of parts.

Below; Patrick Chung's beautiful Tamiya 'B'

As I guess is well-known, all the kits of the P-51B/C/D/K in 1/48 scale have their wheel wells boxed in, whereas Merlin-engined P-51s featured no well as such -  the wing spar running straight through the wing essentially comprised the well, so in this regard all 48th scale kits are incorrect, but to be honest this is not the sort of thing that worries me as modeller. Although I do have a resin Aires 'bay' in the stash (below) The Hasegawa P-51D/K has very shallow wheel wells (this can be hidden by modelling the aircraft with the undercarriage doors closed).

Also in the pic above; a long out-of-print Jaguar P-51 B detail set, Ultracast propeller and spinner, Aires corrected undercarriage bay and Ultracast corrected flaps and wheels..

Although it is often said that the Tamiya P-51D is an easy build, the assembly of the canopy can be tricky consisting of a frame to which the glazing is attached. I use either a spare Hasegawa canopy or a Squadron vac form canopy (the Hasegawa canopy is slightly wide when compared to the Tamiya fuselage).

Although the flaps and inner wheel well doors fell as the hydraulic system lost pressure I would not get too hung up (excuse the pun) as your model could represent the aircraft just after shut down.  It is easy to find photo's of Merlin P-51's with the wheel well doors just cracked open and the flaps up.

Bearing in mind that I don't have the Fujimi, Meng or Academy or even the Accurate Miniatures kits, my recommendations for an OOB build would probably be the new Airfix tool - I'm starting one of mine as soon as - and the Hasegawa P-51 D. The Hasegawa D contains more under wing stores than the Tamiya kit and appears - in my opinion- to feature better detail.

Below;

".. when Revell re released the old ICM kit (we all know that this is rather similar to other 1/48th P-51 B kits!) with the markings for AK-A I just had to buy it and here it is.."

Tony O'Toole

Airfix new-tool 72nd Tiger Moth - build review finished (3)

Tiger Moth new-tool build review is finished. This is another neat new-tool from Airfix. A very nice production. Airfix have achieved the' impossible' here in my book - making a 72nd biplane kit that can be easily built by a (more or less) biplane novice (only the third I've completed on this blog..). In fact the top wing sits nicely in place on just the cabane struts alone, while the interplane struts fit perfectly, alignment  and 'forward lean' guaranteed. I decided in the end to turn the elevators 'up' rather than have them droop and the rudder has been cut out and angled to the left. Note the fin does not sit flush on the fuselage on the real machine, being slightly raised at one end. Rigging - well, I'll do better next time. I've not attempted to replicate the tail plane control cables which run alongside the fuselage, less is definitely more in this scale. I'm not Mike Grant anyway, that's my excuse, so not too many close-ups. I definitely think I might do more of these - although at a tenner a throw you don't really get a lot of plastic for your money. While I've still got my eye sight I fancy an 8th AF hack to display alongside some P-51s

Below, Tiger Moth as seen at the Aero Legends Battle of Britain show at Headcorn, Kent during July and below that,  XL 717 in 1962 in Scotland from an Air Britain photo and subject of the Airfix kit in this latest release.