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Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Aircraft Set 1 (SA-35009 for Merit)


Mike

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Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Aircraft Set 1 (SA-35009 for Merit)

1:350 Tetra Model Works

 

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To accompany their stupendous set for the main kit, reviewed here, there is also a companion set available for the aircraft that are supplied with the kit, which will add a huge amount of detail to the eclectic complement supplied with the kit, which to recap is as follows:

 

5 x Fairey Swordfish

4 x Fairey Fulmar

4 x Blackburn Skua

 

Supplied in a resealable foil bag, with a large fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass taped in place on a piece of backing card for security, with the instructions to the rear, the set gives you options for each aircraft, to build them with wings deployed as well as folded, whilst adding more detail than would otherwise be feasible.

 

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Fairey Swordfish

Each airframe is upgraded with a cockpit floor, seats, windscreen frame and a PE Lewis gun at the rear as standard.  The aircraft can be built with the wings ready for flight, in which case a set of finer struts and bracing wires are included to replace the kit etch.  To build your Stringbags with folded wings, the instructions show where to cut the wings, and a different set of PE struts and braces are used, which also have the hinge-points to allow you to glue the wings on in the illustrated position.  For these two options you get a "prop-blur" set of blades, plus a static set with no blur effect, which is also appropriate if the aircraft are on-deck without their engines running, both options re-using the spinner from the kit part.

 

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Fairey Fulmar Mk.I

The fuselages of these models are supplied as solid halves, so the first order will be to remove the canopy area so that you can install the cockpit floor and crew seats.  Then the large greenhouse canopy is replaced with a two-piece PE assembly, plus an aerial mast for the rear section, with a scrap diagram showing the finished article from three-quarters and the side.  The landing gear is given a set of captive bay doors to improve on the simple struts on the kit gear, and then the wings are either added as a complete section, or cut using the drawing supplied into three sections, as per the real thing's complex folds.  The parts are re-joined using small PE parts with interior rib detail that allow the parts to be folded to the correct angles as per the accompanying diagrams.

 

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Blackburn Skua

The Skua also has a solid canopy from the box, which must be removed to install the cockpit, which consists of floor, seats, an internal bulkhead and rear gun.  The canopy is replaced by one of two types of assemblies, depending on whether it is to be closed up or not.  For the closed canopy a separate windscreen is added to the front, and a complete rear canopy is folded up and added behind with an antenna part.  For the open canopy, a separate sliding section and gunner's section are added along with the fixed central section, with the sliding part laid over the fixed section, forward of the aerial post.  Another set of diagrams show the correct fitting of these parts.  The Skua's wingfold is a little more straightforward than the Fulmar, but has a dog-leg kink along the cut line that will take some care to replicate.  The outer wing panel is then added folded back and rotated 90o, fixed in place with a folded rib-detail part, with scrap diagrams again showing the way.  Finally, the gear legs receive bay doors to further improve realism, and you have a choice of blurred or static props, utilising the kit spinner again.

 

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Conclusion

Another superb set for the Merit Ark Royal's airwing, which will hopefully be released as a stand-alone set for those wishing for a busier deck that better reflects the actual periods that these aircraft spent on the Ark.  The set is for the experienced modeller, but there is nothing too onerous that couldn't be done with a little care and attention, but some PE handling tools and a little bit of experience will go a long way.

 

Extremely highly recommended.

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Review sample courtesy of

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