Sea Fury 805 Sqn RAN HMAS Sydney Korea 1951 - completed

[trickyrich]

My first GB of the year and straight into it with a big resin monster, Fisher Model & Patterns 1/32^nd Sea Fury!

 

 

 

I’m a huge fan of these guy’s, they turn out some of the best resin models available anywhere! I happen came across this model by chance and at a price significantly cheaper than normal so I couldn’t resist. 

 

The box is packed full of very carefully wrapped bits of resin….warning the photos below are pure hardcore resin porn!!!!!       

 

The fuselage is a one piece hollow cast thing of beauty with the only mould line being on the bottom of the fuselage, easy to fix and remove.

 

 

The wings are cast in 2 pieces with the main gear wells moulded as a separate piece as well. They were moulded like this to easily allow you to have the wings folded, they supply all the extra bits for this as well. I’ll probably end up building her with the wings folded to help save some space.

 

 

 

The rest of the bits, all nicely casted, the rockets are a wee bit wrapped but I may end up replacing/scratching building some replacements, something to think about there.

 

 

 

The prop even comes with a special jig to help align the blades correctly as well.......which I forgot to add into the photo when I took it!!

 

 

The final bits are the cast metal gear, they need to be as there’s some weight in this model and the canopy. It’s super clear and some of the most finely/think cast clear resin I’ve ever seen.

 

 

The supplied decals are very extensive but don’t cover the bird I want to build so I’ll be using most of the kit supplied decals and the extra I need will come for the Nova Scale set for RAN Sea Fury’s. The scheme I've chosen is for a RAN bird that operated off the HMAS Sydney in 1951 off Korea.

 

 

To go with this build I bought Valiant Wings “The Hawker Sea Fury”, it’s full of great reference stuff I’ll need, especially the wing folding section.

 

 

 

The only issue with the model was that the spinner was broken, but I fixed this already.

 

 

It’s a big build for the start of the year but it’s a model I’ve really wanted to build for ages. Plus with luck I'm on holidays for a week so with my shift pattern I get to have 3 week at home, so plenty of build time for me for a change. The only scary part of the build will be the folding wings……for that I have to cut up the wings!

[Col.]

Welcome to the GB Rich. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I think the excitement of looking at these photos has got too much and I've had a slight accident... 

[SimonT]

Wow, that really does look good, looking forward to watching your masterclass on it.

[modelling minion]

This has all the trademarks of being another cracking build Rich, full of details and an interesting scheme.

[Rob G]

A big resin kit of the best piston engined fighter ever built... I might need to go have a Bex and a good lie down.

 

This will serve as a reference manual for my tiddly 48th scale Airfix versions (when I get around to building them). Rock on!

[trickyrich]

11 hours ago, Col. said:

Welcome to the GB Rich. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I think the excitement of looking at these photos has got too much and I've had a slight accident... 

...it's a good thing you haven't fondled the fuselage like I have been, else it could have been worse!!!  

2 hours ago, SimonT said:

Wow, that really does look good, looking forward to watching your masterclass on it.

thanks, I wouldn't say a masterclass but I'm hoping it's going to turn out nicely 

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

This has all the trademarks of being another cracking build Rich, full of details and an interesting scheme.

I hope so, I've been looking forward to building this one ever since I bought it.

55 minutes ago, Rob G said:

A big resin kit of the best piston engined fighter ever built... I might need to go have a Bex and a good lie down.

 

This will serve as a reference manual for my tiddly 48th scale Airfix versions (when I get around to building them). Rock on!

she was something special, the last hurrah for piston engine fighters but what a way to go out! Even in 1/48th she'll be a good size model, I do hope I can do her justice.

 

thanks for the nice comments, she should be a much nicer model than the last one I built (the Scratchbuilder Ki-44)!!

[Hewy]

Hello rich, thats a great looking resin kit I'm sure you'll do it full justice, your not on that slow boat to china (sea) during this build are you

Glynn 

[trickyrich]

mmm not this time, plus I've managed to escape the clutches of central Queensland for an extra week so will get to have almost 3 whole weeks with this resiny beauty!!!  So I'm hoping to get a lot done on her.

 

there is a rumor that I may be heading back to the rig later in the year......but on a much better roster.... 

[Greg in OK]

Rich:

 

That is an impressive looking kit.  Looking forward to your build!

 

Greg in OK

[trickyrich]

…………and here we go!

 

I had completely forgotten if I had given her a bath or not to remove the releasing compound, nut that they use very much. So a bath in some water and bleach.

 

Looks like a resin orgy!!  

 

 

They were all neatly bagged before, now which goes in which!  

 

This as usual will be built in no particular order. The blades were cleaned up along with the prop hub. This is the tool supplied to help align up the blades.

 

 

She’ll be impressive ones built, there’s no need to worry about engine detail, as you won’t be able to see much at all.

 

 

The spinner was filled and cleaned up where the broken section was before being given a base coat of grey. You can’t see the repair, which is nice. The prop will probably be the first bit completed on this build.

 

 

As mentioned in the original post the fuselage has a resin join mark that runs along the bottom of the fuselage, it’s the only casing make on it. To remove it I sanded the whole thing back and filled. There were still a couple of marks along it so I’ve refilled it and will sand it back again. Hopefully this time they’ll be gone.

 

 

Hmm every time I look at this or think about it, it scares me! There I no real marks on the wings to show you where you need to cut them! The recommended way is to join them up then cut and remove what’s not required. I have details on a couple of Pro-builds of this model, I’ll see what they say. I’ve cut out the new sections for the wings.

 

 

The main wheel well was actually quite warped so I had to re-heat it to straighten it up. I’ve given it a coat of grey as well. This needs to be painted “Hawker Primer”, so I’m going to give it some really light coats, hopefully the grey will sort of act as shadow. Using panel ink maybe a bit of a nightmare and I don’t what it that dirty! I’ll add a bit more detail to it once the base coat in done.

 

 

I tried using Vallejo’s Acrylic Metal Color one the engine and hubs. I’m not really fussed on the finish, it looks a bit course in its finish. I much prefer Model Master Metalizer paints, so I’ll remove this and repaint them with that.

 

I’ve started cleaning up the undercarriage. The gear itself is cast brass and super strong, no need to worry about it collapsing! The main gear doors are not quite right so I had to make a couple of minor changes, you can see those on the RHS one.

 

 

Plus the way the gear and door go together is a bit vague as well. Am so glad I bought the book on her, it’s already proved to be invaluable.

 

 

The gear has been given a coat of primer, ready for painting. Now I’m still not 100% sure on the correct colour for this, Sky or Grey or even Hawker Primer? There is some disagreement on this, a lot of the restored aircraft are wrong in their colours (the wheel wells are a classic example). I’m tending to think a Semi-gloss grey, the gear doors inside are Sky. Anyway, I’ll finish painting the gear then add the lines etc.

 

 

Finally the cockpit. It’s beautifully detail, but it’s so sad most of it will be hidden and it’s painted black!!  I’m going to cheat here a wee bit. I won’t paint it black, but will instead paint it NATO Black! They did this on one of the Pro-builds (on the other build he said would do it this way if he could build it again) and it really helped the cockpit to stand out. NATO Black is almost like a very dark Black Green/Grey, think RLM66 but much darker. I’ll mask some of the panels up and paint those Black to help give it depth, I may be even about to use some panel ink as well. Plus some careful painting (thank god it’s 1/32nd scale for this) and dry-brushing and it should look a treat…..hopefully!

 

 

All this accounted for only a 1/3 of the time spent on her yesterday, all the rest of the time was spent of test fitting and seeing how everything goes together…a real must with resin models.

 

A big days worked planned for today!

[Col.]

[Hewy]

Really does look like a gorgeous kit, i agree that canopy is crystal clear, the metal lg looks finely cast too, nice start rich

Glynn 

[trickyrich]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Really does look like a gorgeous kit, i agree that canopy is crystal clear, the metal lg looks finely cast too, nice start rich

Glynn 

it is a beautiful model!!! The front part of the canopy is so thin, I've never seen clear resin that thin and it's flawless as well!

 

…..and todays over already, time flies when you’re having fun!

 

Right first off, the prop, well it’s pretty well done. It’s all painted and some of it’s together. It just needs a clear coat before the prop decals can go on. Then a light panel wash and a final coat of flat clear and that task is done.

 

 

I finish off cleaning up the underside join of the fuselage, it looked good but I found one small divot so I need to fix that….again. Plus I got to mix up my “Hawker Primer”, I am very happy with the resultant colour, it matches the colour photos I’ve got, plus the description.

 

 

The main wheel well looks a bit bare I may add a bit of detail, not sure yet as it will never really be seen unless the model is picked up and looked at….not something that is ever going to happen. Will think about it.  Pay no attention to the crappy paint job with the black……. it’ll disappear soon.

 

 

I re-did the “aluminum” with Model Master Metalizer, I’m much happier with the finish now, the wheels have been painted as well. The only issue here is the hub for the tail wheel is too small for the wheel itself. I may have to raid the spares box for a replacement.

 

 

Ok, the cockpit, this took up most of the day. I did end up painting everything NATO Black, them other bits either black of Rubber Black, this gave everything a bit of depth other than painting the whole think Black!

 

Each of the PE levers were given a blob of CA cement to help make the knobs round.

 

 

It looks good together, but boy you don’t really see much….

 

 

Even less when it’s in place, truth be told you could probably paint the while lot black and then dry-brush it with white and be done with it!

 

 

But I had fun building and painting it, I just need to make up the seatbelts and touch up the joystick and then I can glue it all together and fit it.

 

So she's starting to look like a Sea Fury now, boy she's big!

 

 

 

 

I’m having lots of fun with this build, it’s super enjoyable…..though the wing fold still scares me!!! For a while I was not going to bother at all. But I have to finish the wheel well and join the wings first, so still plenty of time to change my mind………many times!

[Col.]

Looking great Rich. Well, of course it does, it is a Sea Fury! What I mean is and great progress for day 1.

[janneman36]

What a great kit you've  got! 

I really love your build

 

Cheers, Jan

[Hewy]

Good job on the office, even though not a great deal will be on show, will it be a fairly clean and looked after example? Or will it show the worst of what being at sea can do to an airframe? 

Regards Glynn 

[Blitz23]

This looks class so far, look forward to seeing your progress as your build progresses.

[trickyrich]

5 hours ago, Hewy said:

Good job on the office, even though not a great deal will be on show, will it be a fairly clean and looked after example? Or will it show the worst of what being at sea can do to an airframe? 

Regards Glynn 

I'm not sure yet, but maybe something in between. I don't have any photos showing them in poor condition, so I may play it a bit safe. I'll do all sorts of panel pre-shading first then give her some nice thin main coats, that should help break up the flatness of the main colours, plus panel lines. There's a couple of other things to try I read about on the other builds.

 

Most of the in-service photos I've seen of RN and RAN aircraft show them to be mainly faded with light exhaust staining. They looked to have been kept on fairly nice condition most of the time. So the faded paint look may be the way to go. 

[Greg in OK]

You are building FAST!!

 

Greg in OK

[trickyrich]

1 hour ago, Greg in OK said:

You are building FAST!!

 

Greg in OK

 I think it's a case where it's just falling together! These Fisher Model & Pattern models are just superb and for a resin model and just go together so nicely.

 

Things will slow down once I start on the wing folds, I'll be closing up the wing shortly, the cockpit is finished and in. I'll be doing an update tonight or first up tomorrow.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I have to agree this is looking very good and it is moving fairly quick. 

[CliffB]

Just catching up with this one Rich.  It's looking fabulous so far

Cliff

[trickyrich]

…and another hard day at the office here!

 

Got lots done and am ever closer to having to decide whether to cut the wings or not!

 

Anyway the cockpit was finally finished, doesn’t look too bad at all.

 

 

 

Again as you can see once fitted most of the work cannot be seen………but I know it’s there and that’s all that matters in the end!

 

 

I added some extra bracing to keep it all in place.

 

 

The cowling auxiliary doors were added, I fixed them in the closed position, open and you would see a lot of the stuff behind the engine! I had no proper photos or drawings of that area so decided against scratch building it….plus it saves a lot of time as well. They were actually a bit of a pain to fit as well!

 

 

The instructions mention fitted gluing the engine to the cowling be left to after the cowling has been fitted to the fuselage???? I had no idea how that would work at all, so decided to do that task now. It took forever!!! I ended up having to shim the engine ring (behind the last row of cylinders) to help even it out and square it.

 

 

I found out later the rear hub unit for the prop is moulded out of alignment as well (the hole in it is not square)!!! So it now means I have to rotate this hub and the prop unit to get everything to line out correctly and the opening to be even! What a pain and I forgot to paint the blank spaces around the rear cylinders black as well!

 

 

And of course apart from the opening you can’t really see a thing!

 

 

The final big job was the wing…..it’s together!

 

The main wheel well was redone, first all the panel line were done, them a light coat of the main colour again, then finally dry-brushing. Just the basics and it looks great.

 

 

 

There’s some more stuff that needs to be fitted and a wee bit more detailing to be done, but I can do that institute without to much drama.

 

The wings could be finally be closed up now. The only dramas was that I somehow managed to move the wheel well unit out of position even after I super glued it in its right position!! So the wheels will be out by just over 1.5mm, nothing huge, just a annoyance, especially after all the time I took to try and get it right in the first place.

 

 

 

The instructions did warn of resin shrinkage in the wing section, and there was some. I’ve ended up with the RH section of the inner lower wing being a wee bit out when compared to the upper wing (the LH side is fine). It required some extra filling of the lower wing join with plastic card, but other than some panel lines you wouldn’t notice.

 

 

 

So the wing is about 70% cleaned up and now I have to decide whether to cut the wings or not! I guess worse case is that I have to glue them back together with shims to make up for the lost material, not a huge job, but a right pain in the butt.

 

I guess in the next update you’ll find out which way I went…….

 

Gee at the rate I’m going I’ll finish her in another week and I’ll still have a week to go in my break!

 

Oh and I ended up having to buy new tyres for her, the supplied ones were Radials that were fitted in later years, the correct ones for her on the carrier were Diamond tread pattern. Plus I'm replacing the resin gun barrels and pitot tube with new brass ones from Master Model.

 

 

[Col.]

Good going Rich. At this rate you'll have to pick your next project soon!

[Colin W]

Crikey Ive only just started and you've almost finished building this monster.

Great going and excellent quality too.

 

Colin