Supermarine Seafire FR Mk. 47 - 1:72 Special Hobby

[Paul A H]

Supermarine Seafire FR Mk. 47

1:72 Special Hobby

The concept of a navalised Spitfire was first proposed some time before the outbreak of war in Europe. The idea failed to make progress because of the pressing need for conventional Spitfires and a desire to maintain production of other types such as the Fairey Fulmar. The idea persisted however, and the first proper Seafires, a group of 48 Spitfire Mk.Vbs converted for carrier operations and renamed Seafire Mk.Ibs, entered service in early 1942. As the Spitfire developed, so did the Seafire, resulting in the Griffon engined Mk.XV, Mk.XVII and F Mk 45. The ultimate incarnation of the design was the F Mk 47. This variant was fitted with the tremendously powerful Griffon 87, rotol contra-rotating propellers and a prominent supercharger intake below the nose.

The F Mk 47 did not enter service until after the end of the Second World War, but it served with the Fleet Air Arm during the early years of the Cold War and saw action during both the Malayan Emergency in 1949 and the Korean War in 1950. By 1951 however, all Seafires had been withdrawn from frontline service, replaced by early jets such as the Sea Venom and Attacker.

Although the Spitfire/Seafire series has always been a popular choice for model kit manufacturers, there were so many unique variants that some have inevitably been kitted more often than others. Late model Seafires have fared relatively well in recent years, particularly since Airfix released their superb 1:48 scale FR 46/47 in the 1990s. This has since been joined in 1:72 scale by a resin kit from Czech Master and an injection moulded F 46 from Admiral. Now Special Hobby of the Czech Republic have chipped in with a kit of the last of the Seafires.

Inside the top opening box are well over 100 parts moulded in grey and clear plastic. This kit shares a couple of sprues with some of Special Hobby's other late Spitfire and Seafire kits, so not all of the parts need to be used (in fact there are an awful lot of spares). The kit looks excellent on the sprue, with plenty of moulded details and surface structures made up of fine, recessed lines and fasteners. It certainly doesn't look much like the older MPM/Special Hobby kits in my collection, being far closer to a modern, high pressure injection moulded kit than a low pressure limited run kit.

Construction starts with a reasonably well detailed cockpit, made up of a floor, control column, individual rudder pedals, seat, seat armour and rear bulkhead. The instrument panel features raised detail and a separate gunsight. The inside of the fuselage halves also feature some nice sidewall detail and the overall impression is of a well detailed and suitably busy cockpit. The only improvement I could suggest would be the addition of a set of photo etched harnesses, if you happen to have some available.

The lower wing is moulded in a single span, with separate upper wing surfaces. The ailerons and flaps are all moulded in place, but surface details are very nicely represented indeed. Each of the main landing gear bays is made up of four separate lengths of plastic which form the boxes that make up the bays themselves. Engineering the landing gear bays in this way makes construction more complex, but will result in very well detailed bays.

The horizontal tails are moulded as solid pieces, but the rudder is a separate part and even features a separate trim tab. The prominent underwing radiators feature separate exhaust vents and radiator faces and the distinctive bulges for the Griffon rocker covers, as well as the chin mounted supercharger intake, are moulded as separate parts. The landing gear is quite nice and each wheel is split vertically. The distinction between wheel and tyre could be clearer, but with careful painting they should look fine.

The distinctive contra-rotating Rotol airscrew is moulded in ten parts, which each of the six blades moulded as a separate part. You will need to take care when assembling this part in order to make sure that everything lines up nicely. The canopy is moulded in two parts so that it can be posed in the open position if desired. The cockpit door is also moulded as a separate part. The canopy is thin and clear but exhibits a fair amount of diffraction, so perhaps fixing it in the open position is the best idea. Ordnance comes in the form of two drop tanks and two faired-in auxiliary fuel tanks, as well as JATO packs. Bombs and rockets are not provided though.

Three decal options are provided, which is pretty generous for a kit of this size.
Seafire FR Mk. 47, VP431, 804 NAS, HMS Ocean, 1948. This aircraft is finished in Dark Slate Grey and Dark Sea Grey disruptive camouflage over Sky;
Seafire FR Mk. 47, VP442, 1833 NAS, RNVR, RNAS Bramcote. This aircraft is finished in Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky, with yellow and red bands on the wings and rear fuselage; and
Seafire FR Mk. 47, VP461, 800 NAS, 13th Air Carrier Group, HMS Triumph, North Korea, 1950. This aircraft is also finished in Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky with black and white bands on the wings.
The decals themselves look great on the sheet and a full set of stencils is provided too.

Conclusion

This looks like a really top-quality kit, and provided there are no surprises in terms of fit and finish, it should build up into a really pleasing model. The level of detail is very good indeed, and my only gripe is the lack of weaponry to hang from the wings. The spares box should cover everything that it missing though. Overall though, this is a really nice kit which I am looking forward to building, if I can find the time! Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Col.]

Certainly looks like a high quality & highly tempting kit.

[fatalbert]

It's a lovely kit,just make sure the new carb intake under the nose is in the box,mine was missing and looking at your photos so is yours,I emailed Petr at MPM and he sent out a replacement ,great service.

[maudesman]

I better look at mine to see if the intake is missing too! Oh can anyone say when the Korean markings, special hi tec kit FR47 is going to be released?

[heloman1]

Thanks for the review, it certainly looks like a good kit from the pics, and another purchase for the FAA collection.

Colin

[Miggers]

Sonny Jim has bought me one of these for my birthday and turned up with it

this morning,it too has the undercowl missing.