Ask all your Sea Fury questions here

[Jim Kiker]

Hey Navy,

 

Thanks for the information and the picture;  I'm glad to know I'm not so foolish after all and I look forward to carrying on with my build.

 

Cheers, Jim

[NAVY870]

On 3/8/2018 at 1:04 PM, Jim Kiker said:

 

 

P.P.S.  Ok, last one- what color are the underwing codes, and what is the answer based on?  I have asked this one before but no one seems to know...

 

 

Have a look at the bottom right hand corner of the painting instructions for scheme A

Theres a footnote about the underwing serials and the reason why the lighter ones are included.

[janneman36]

No question but a very nice link to Meiermotors which is restoring a twoseat Sea Fury !!

This site gives you a heck of lot detailshots on things that never see daylight when put together!

I think that this is going to be one of the finest restorations of a Sea Fury at the moment..

http://www.meiermotors.com/index.php/projekte/hawker-seafury-d-cace/hawker-seafury-restaurierung?showall=&limitstart=

 

Cheers,Jan

Edited March 9, 2018 by janneman36

[Jim Kiker]

Hey Navy,

 

Actually I have read that comment; perhaps I failed to write a precise question.  It is clear from the photos that the underwing codes are not black, so that it a fact even though the comment uses words like "suggests..."  The wording in the comment sounds to me like the author is not yet sure what color was used.  Was it white?  Was it pale grey?  Was it a much-lightened shade of Sky?  I am hoping that someone knows and has some documentation on what that color was.  Unfortunately, I do not think Airfix know based on how their comment was worded.  I am quite aware of how difficult it can be to pin down a detail like this, and if one does not know the answer it makes good corporate sense to be very careful in dealing with it in one's instructions.  Thanks for the post!

 

Cheers, Jim

[72modeler]

NAVY870,

 

I've been following this thread, and have learned a lot about the old gal, but I have a nagging question that might have been answered before, but I somehow missed. What is the purpose of the teardrop-shaped blister present on the undercart fairing door on some Sea Furies? Some have this and some don't. I don't see anything associated with the struts that would require a blister; could it perhaps be for clearance when the strut is compressed during retraction to fit into the wheel bay? I seem to have read somewhere that the Sea Fury undercart was compressed like the P-47's when retracted to fit into a smaller wheel bay. I figure you would be the man with the answer. It is visible in the photo Scimitar posted. (Soooo, how's the Sea Venom coming along?)

Mike

Edited March 10, 2018 by 72modeler
corrected spelling

[NAVY870]

On 3/10/2018 at 12:40 AM, Jim Kiker said:

Hey Navy,

 

Actually I have read that comment; perhaps I failed to write a precise question.  It is clear from the photos that the underwing codes are not black, so that it a fact even though the comment uses words like "suggests..."  The wording in the comment sounds to me like the author is not yet sure what color was used.  Was it white?  Was it pale grey?  Was it a much-lightened shade of Sky?  I am hoping that someone knows and has some documentation on what that color was.  Unfortunately, I do not think Airfix know based on how their comment was worded.  I am quite aware of how difficult it can be to pin down a detail like this, and if one does not know the answer it makes good corporate sense to be very careful in dealing with it in one's instructions.  Thanks for the post!

 

Cheers, Jim

Its just a lightened version of Sky

Jonathon Mock approached me when he was researching the scheme for WJ.236 to see if I knew anything about it.

As luck would have it I had a copy of the Stewart Wilson book "Sea Fury Firefly and Sea Venom in Australian service (excellent publication)

that had a shot of VW.647 being unloaded off HMAS Sydney when she was brand new. Having not seen the pale under wing serials

before I did a bit of digging around in the RANFAA Museum archives and found information that the underwing serials were to be

overpainted in Sky to reduce visibility when the aircraft were stowed on the flight deck. 

Unfortunately this was way back when the only 48th scale kit of the Fury was the Falcon vac and I didnt bother to copy it.

Next time I'm at Nowra I'll have a look

Edited November 7, 2018 by NAVY870

[NAVY870]

6 hours ago, 72modeler said:

NAVY870,

 

I've been following this thread, and have learned a lot about the old gal, but I have a nagging question that might have been answered before, but I somehow missed. What is the purpose of the teardrop-shaped blister present on the undercart fairing door on some Sea Furies? Some have this and some don't. I don't see anything associated with the struts that would require a blister; could it perhaps be for clearance when the strut is compressed during retraction to fit into the wheel bay? I seem to have read somewhere that the Sea Fury undercart was compress like the P-47's when retracted to fit into a smaller wheel bay. I figure you would be the man with the answer. It is visible in the photo Scimitar posted. (Soooo, how's the Sea Venom coming along?)

Mike

I believe its part of a mod done to the landing gear to increase extension of the strut to prevent prop strikes during hard landings 

on the boat.

It doesnt appear to have been carried out on RAN aircraft so I dont know if its in our master modification index til I have time to check.

 

897's ticking along quite nicely, there may be some interesting news later in the year.

Edited March 9, 2018 by NAVY870

[Jim Kiker]

Navy,

 

Thank you very much for the reply.  I would agree to a lightened version of Sky, I think it would have to be lightened to give the result in the photo.  A close Sky match would, I think, not show much contrast at all.  I appreciate the information and look forward to more if you should run across it!

 

Thanks, Jim

[CJP]

10 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

Its just a lightened version of Sky

Jonathon Mock approached me when he was researching the scheme for WJ.236 to see if I knew anything about it.

As luck would have it I had a copy of the Stewart Wilson book "Sea Fury Firefly and Sea Venom in Australian service (excellent publication)

that had a shot of "my" VW.647 being unloaded off HMAS Sydney when she was brand new. Having not seen the pale under wing serials

before I did a bit of digging around in both our and the RANFAA Museum archives and found information that the underwing serials were to be

overpainted in Sky to reduce visibility when the aircraft were stowed on the flight deck. 

Unfortunately this was way back when the only 48th scale kit of the Fury was the Falcon vac and I didnt bother to copy it.

Next time I'm at Nowra I'll have a look

Thanks Navy870 for that information re the above  - I have the same Stewart Wilson book and always assumed it was a bit of heavy handed censorship by the Navy at the time.

CJP

[Jim Kiker]

Re: WJ236 for Navy,

 

Referring to the photo of WJ236 I posted earlier, I have been pawing over the kit sprues and looking at various builds and descriptions.  I had thought that the underwing tanks were both the smaller 45 gallon type, including the camera pod.  Airfix views the camera pod conversion to be from a large tank, which means that visually there is asymmetric loading of tanks- a small fuel tank under the left wing and a large camera pod/tank under the left.  Have I figured this out correctly, or is the camera pod in the picture made out of a small tank?  Thanks in advance for any light you can shed!

 

Cheers, Jim

Edited March 23, 2018 by Jim Kiker
Correction of tank size- 45 gal.

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

An interesting reference:

https://www.faaaa.asn.au/heritage-hawker-sea-fury/

[CJP]

9 hours ago, Scimitar said:

An interesting reference:

https://www.faaaa.asn.au/heritage-hawker-sea-fury/

Good find Scimitar - very interesting link with lots of interesting photos of RAN Sea Furies

CJP

[Jim Kiker]

Hi all,

 

Another reconnaissance-related question here.  Does anyone have pictures showing the side oblique windows/camera installation?  I have read that a side oblique camera could be mounted in the fuselage one either side just behind the wing trailing edge, but I have not found an image showing the window/camera in use.

 

Thanks, Jim

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

Interesting article with some photographs of Sea Fury in Canadian service.

 

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/481/Canucks-in-the-Zone.aspx

[Junchan]

On 3/23/2018 at 11:08 PM, Jim Kiker said:

Hi all,

 

Another reconnaissance-related question here.  Does anyone have pictures showing the side oblique windows/camera installation?  I have read that a side oblique camera could be mounted in the fuselage one either side just behind the wing trailing edge, but I have not found an image showing the window/camera in use.

 

Thanks, Jim

Hi Jim,

Here are a couple of photos to show the camera window on each side.

 

Jun in Tokyo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/horaburo/albums

[Ventora3300]

Excellent info on the Sea Fury in this thread everyone, many thanks, it's been of great help to me.

I'm currently building a Frog Sea Fury X (or F.10) for the Britmodellers 10th Anniversary GB and normally I would just 'build the kit'. However, on this occasion, I've decided to build two kits, one in flight and the other with wings folded, just to show off the capability. I've hit a slow patch while I try to recreate the carb intakes on the wings (not represented at all on the Frog kit) but I think I know where I want to go. 

I was going to leave the supplied rockets off the kits to represent the 'F' option but some material from this thread has given the option of a 'long range rocket fighter' armed with 4 cannon, 2 x 45 gallon fuel drop tanks and 4 x 180lb rockets - just as provided by Frog.

The area that has caught my imagination now is getting some accurate serial numbers and squadron/aircraft codes for an actual F.10, rather than the FB.11's that seem to be everywhere. Again, the Frog kit gives decal options but they are not 'holding water' with regards to relating to an F.10.

My research so far has flagged up that there were 50 F.10's produced before production switched to F.11's / FB.11's. The serial numbers which I am assuming for these are TF895 to TF928 and TF940 to TF955 (seem to be the first serials issued for Sea Furies). 807 Squadron NAS on HMS Theseus was the first to receive Sea Furies, I believe, so I am trying to get an idea of what their squadron codes were.

Any ideas on this, anyone??

Edited March 28, 2018 by Ventora3300

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

From the Air Britain tome:

TF915/114

TF951/115 (?  code unconfirmed)

TF952/123

TF954/125T

They also used 920,921,925,927,928,948,949,950, and 953 but no codes are listed for these.

 

They started to get FB11s in Feb 1948 and the last FB10 had gone by December.

Squadrons of Fleet Air Arm book only lists TF954 and there are no photographs of their 10s.

Hope this helps.

[Ventora3300]

On ‎26‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 13:19, Scimitar said:

From the Air Britain tome:

TF915/114

TF951/115 (?  code unconfirmed)

TF952/123

TF954/125T

They also used 920,921,925,927,928,948,949,950, and 953 but no codes are listed for these.

 

They started to get FB11s in Feb 1948 and the last FB10 had gone by December.

Squadrons of Fleet Air Arm book only lists TF954 and there are no photographs of their 10s.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks, Scimitar. This lines up with what I found out and gives me some squadron codes to line up with serial numbers. Is 'Air Britain' available online?

[Seahawk]

From photo on p.97 of From The Cockpit 12: Sea Fury:

 

TF925 110/JR

TF952 106/JR

 

JR is station code for Eglington where squadron was working up between reforming on 28 August 1948 and embarking in HMAS Sydney on 19 February 1949.

 

Caption reckons there is evidence of the aircraft having a disruptive pattern on the upper surfaces but to me it looks like a low demarcation EDSG/Sky scheme.  Station codes above fin flashes.  Again according to caption, spinners are red.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2018 by Seahawk

[hacker]

l am looking for drawings l can use as a template for the instrument panel, rear bulkhead and various other parts so l can use my cutter to cut the parts out 

 

Hacker.....another day in the life

[huvut76g7gbbui7]

Does this help with bulkheads?

[hacker]

4 minutes ago, Scimitar said:

Does this help with bulkheads?

l have that one but looking for something with more structural details 

 

Hacker

[NAVY870]

On 3/24/2018 at 1:08 AM, Jim Kiker said:

Hi all,

 

Another reconnaissance-related question here.  Does anyone have pictures showing the side oblique windows/camera installation?  I have read that a side oblique camera could be mounted in the fuselage one either side just behind the wing trailing edge, but I have not found an image showing the window/camera in use.

 

Thanks, Jim

The aircraft marked as VX.730 (It isnt) at the Australian war memorial has the windows fitted

 

[Jim Kiker]

Hi Jun and Steve,

 

Thanks Jun for the two pictures you posted showing the side oblique windows.  Steve, thank you for the close-up shot; it's great to have a close-up of the window to get the shape right; much obliged!  I'll take the opportunity to ask again about the under-wing camera pod; is it based on the small tank, the large tank, or perhaps both?  I have seen a picture or two of Sea Furies other than WJ236 carrying a camera pod which looks like the smaller tank, but I'd like to get this detail as correct as possible.

 

TIA, Jim

[Brad-M]

Greetings,

 

I received my Airfix Sea Fury a couple of days ago and I am very pleased with it. No short shot tail and the engine cowling has super fit too. I was wondering though about the raised rivet detail on the rudder and other control surfaces. Is this a mistake or a true representation of the real deal? I have tried to search for close up shots of the rudder and didn't find anything that would tell me either way. Not bashing the kit, just want to get it right when I build her.

 

TIA

 

Brad