rossm

Today I managed to get the other half of the plans printed out at 1/72 - the imminent house move means using the other half's printer which has a lot in common with Arkwright's till, hence the delay. That revealed my measurements were wrong and most of the extra length of the E.2H is behind the cockpit. So just one "cut and shut" needed, but a tricky one.

@Phantome seems to be trying to complete this major task. See :- I'm not sure how many more he has done.

Four saw cuts today, the Yak-15 wings are starting to look the part, just need to reprofile the leading edge. At the moment I've cut them to go to the centreline, this may change (or not). One of the Kiwi kit wings is also in the photo to show the difference between E.2H and E.3H wingspan.

It's usually the kiss of death for any of my projects to start a WIP thread but in this case I'm going to need all the encouragement I can get as I only have a vague idea how I'm going to do this build. It is also likely to be interrupted by a house move at the end of January so the omens aren't great. The basic problem is there is no 1/72 kit available of the E.2H Mew Gull - only the E.3H (G-AFAA) which looked similar but was a complete redesign with 2ft less wingspan and a smaller fuselage. As a starting point I have the Kiwi Resin kit of the E.3H and an Airframe vacform which purports to be G-AEXF but measures as an E.3H, galling because it was an ebay purchase on the strength of the packaging showing G-AEXF Besides the smaller span and fuselage the E.3H also seems not to have had the wing to fuselage fillet of the E.2H and this is going to be one of the trickier things to overcome. For references there are detailed 1/48 plans by Harry Robinson in Bent Throttles no.39 - the newsletter of the IPMS Racing and Record Aircraft SIG as well as plenty of photos online and in books. I have reduced the plans to 1/72 and will use them as the basis for the build. One of the best online references showing the differences between E.1H, E.2H and E.3H variants is http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/bleneau/mewgull/mewgull.pdf Of course the real G-AEXF still exists but it has had major rebuilds following crashes as well as undergoing modifications throughout its time in Alex Henshaw's hands. As part of my Devon and Cornwall airfields project I want to build it as it was as raced in the Devon Air Race in 1937 when it started from Plymouth with the tail pushed back into the boundary hedge to get as long a take-off run as possible. As well as Henshaw's notes on the event in "The Flight of the Mew Gull" there is also a 2 page feature on the race in Flight, sadly no longer available online. The list of changes I plan to make:- 1. Longer wings 2. Wing to fuselage fillet 3. Longer cowling 4. Carburettor intake (?) on stbd side of cowling 5. Longer rear fuselage (? - the jury is still out on this). 6 Larger horizontal tail surfaces As an aside a model of G-AEXF as used for the Cape record would also need a modified canopy, undercarriage and propeller with slight changes to the cowling mods required (e.g. item 4 not needed) Of these :- 1. can be fixed from the spares box by cutting down the wings from a Pioneer2 Yak-15 - they are far too thin for a Yak-15 but match the plans for the mew gull for thickness! 2. Is the most challenging, I've some spare Spitfire fuselage halves which I hope will yield suitable pieces but making them fit will be tricky 3. Hopefully a 60 thou plastic card insert and some filler will do but the shape of the cowling isn't quite right so I might check out other DH engined planes to see if I can nick a different cowling - maybe a Tiger Moth? Then the panel lines and cooling louvres will have to be rerscribed. 4. Easy - a bit of plastic or metal tube shaped to suit 5. Another insert, maybe 40 thou 6. If I get this far I must be able to find something to hack into shape At the end of all that I should have something close enough to make me happy even if not 100% accurate. Ever the optimist I have already printed my own decals! Now where did I put that razor saw? Behind the gin maybe? The Kiwi kit:- Again with some Aeroclub bits and the Spitfire fuselage that might be useful, note the kit wing clipped to the Yak-15 one from the spares box:- And that Yak-15 one from the spares box laid over the plans:-

I haven't checked out the dimensions but in 1/72 I have long planned to use the exhausts from a white metal Sea Hornet conversion. Whether this is a possibility in 1/48th I'm afraid I don't know.

Does this help

Unless Mr Franks can produce primary source evidence to corroborate his statement I suggest it's something someone said in error that has been picked up and propagated (cf TB Hampdens). But note LA610 was modified at the tail end when converted from Griffon to Sabre (or prior?) so photos of the Sabre configuration don't necessarily show the original form. There's a good page of Griffon Fury photos in Tony Buttlers book Sea Fury: In British, Australian, Canadian & Dutch Service. One of those photos shows something odd on the upper surface of the port wing - any ideas what it is? Also, given this and the first photo in @Troy Smiths link is the first photo in his post VP207 as it has no camouflage?

The Warbird Tech and Air Enthusiast combined yield useful information which I think I've interpreted correctly but I welcome evidence to the contrary. Serial Type Engine First Flight Notes NX798 Fury Centaurus XII 01/09/1944 small tail, returned to RAE May 1945 for trials with larger tail and elevator and other mods (but not the hinge cutout? - see G-AKRY photos). LA610 Fury Griffon 27/11/1944 small tail, later re-engined with Sabre VII, first flight 3/4/46, photos show modified production type tail NX802 Fury Centaurus XII 27/07/1945 production tail (I think from the start?) VP207 Fury Sabre VII 1947 larger radiator/oil cooler than LA610 SR661 Sea Fury Centaurus 21/02/1945 small tail, 4-blade prop, fixed wings. Modified and returned for trials 5/7/45 with revised rudder & 5-blade prop, Later the larger production type fin/rudder was fitted (see Profile 126 which has photos of all 3 stages) SR666 Sea Fury Centaurus 12/10/1945 production tail, 5-blade prop, manually folding wings VB857 Sea Fury Centaurus 21/01/1946 Boulton Paul built There were various other mods to the Sea Furies, notably the arrestor hook, which I haven't recorded but if building one of the prototypes it would be worth checking photos. As far as the rear fuselage construction goes I haven't found anything more but I remain doubtful about the use of a Tempest rear fuselage because of the raised cockpit. I'm open to any convincing evidence though.

Me too, but I'll have to stop so I don't get splinters

All I can say is I haven't found any photographs of a Fury prototype (Centaurus, Griffon or Sabre) with a fin or rudder the same shape as any Tempest variant (including prototypes). The Air Enthusiast article by Tony Buttler states the Fury and Sea Fury differed from previous Hawker types in that they had a full monocoque fuselage structure - so a Tempest rear fuselage sounds unlikely, especially given the raised cockpit of the Fury compared to the Tempest. PM me an email address if you'd like that article. The books I have to hand (Sea Fury Warbird Tech and Warpaint and Crowood Typhoon, Tempest, Sea Fury and Profiles of both Tempest and Sea Fury) all have some detail of the development but none has a clear, chronological, picture of all the changes airframe by airframe. It doesn't help with building a model but the Griffon version of LA610 (and probably the prototype Centaurus Fury NX798* and maybe Sea Fury SR661**) seem to have started life with tail fins and rudders that are different from any previous or subsequent airframes including the Sabre version of LA610 - at least judged from the photos and books I have. * See the first photo on https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/hawker-fury---sea-fury ** See https://navalairhistory.com/2018/02/21/hawkers-fastest-fury-la610/ where there is a photo of SR661 with what seems like the shorter fin but the rudder hinge block - a curious mixture which probably changed later to the production Sea Fury style.

From the photos I'm pretty sure LA610 had a different tail as originally built with a Griffon before it was fitted with a standard Fury one along with the Sabre engine. Have a look here https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/hawker-fury---sea-fury

Another interesting find - the Warpaint on the Sea Fury has a drawing of SR661 - the prototype Sea Fury - with the short fin and rudder. I haven't found any photos yet to confirm or deny this but the reference to modifications for deck trials noted above suggests it could have started life this way.

LA610 did have the Griffon style rudder and shorter squatter fin when it was fitted with a Griffon before modification for the Sabre. No definite statement in my books but I assume the mods for fin and engine happened at the same time. I can't say for sure but photos suggest the same size fin as the Sea Fury - but no hook - when fitted with the Sabre.

The more I look the more I think there was a change to the fin/rudder when LA610 was re-engined - the article @wellsprop quotes states there was no "rudder block intruding into the fin" on the Griffon Fury, the photos I have found support this but also show the Sea Fury style intruding "block" when re-engined with the Sabre. Luckily my Sabre LA610 used the Sea Fury fin/rudder as a basis but the Griffon version will have to be modified somehow.

Whilst wating for Troy to turn up on here I had a look at some books / photos and I wonder if the change came early on as the photos of the Fury prototype LA610 could suggest it had a taller fin/rudder when re-engined with the Sabre after starting life with a Griffon. There is also a reference to the airframe SR661 having a lengthened rudder and 5-blade prop for deck trials in a photo caption in the Profile booklet.

try this thread, sorry I haven't read it in detail but came across it while looking for something else Beaufighter related -

Someone doing the same thing

There's the autopilot (?) bulge in front of the windscreen.

In the Airfix Magazine supplement by @Chris Thomas he states the position of the bomb rack moved when 1,000lb bombs were used, from near the inner cannon to near the mid-point between the cannon. The recent 1/72 Airfix kit seems to have the position somewhere toward the mid-point and not as near to the inner cannon as the Bentley drawings in Scale Models. So I think I need to move it inboard if I want to fit drop tanks? Please can anyone confirm?

Print Scale 72-093 has a 1942 example

Xtradecal 72111 will supply roundels in 1/72

Interesting that the second one seems to have radar.

Just to muddy the waters regarding the colour scheme of 144 Squadron Beaufighters in late '43 to early '44 - have you seen the 'Colour Conundrum' article by Paul Lucas in Scale Aircraft Modelling October 2017? I'd summarise it here but it's incomprehensible at a quick scan and I'm not sure even a thorough reading would help although there's lots of detail of documents as well as speculation. Let me know if you'd like a scan.

I used to live very near to Harrowbeer and walked across the old airfield many times on my way to the pub. A long time ago I decided to start a project modelling at least one aircraft from every RAF base in Devon and Cornwall and Davidstow was one that took some pinning down as the Beaufighter strike wing wasn't there for long and it coincided with a change in codes and camouflage. When I spotted that 131 Squadron (Spitfire VII from Harrowbeer) took part in ops with 144/404 (Beaufighters from Davidstow) and 1/165 (Spitfire IXs from Predannack) it sort of took off. I think 235 Squadron Beaufighters (Portreath) were also involved in one of the two ops, I must check. I'm easily diverted into researching the background to models and I've spotted a file reference in the National Archives for Roadstead ops, it would be good to see if there are any reports on 108 and/or 109 but it's a long way to go, by the time I got there it would be time to get the train home! Check out my web page http://hrmtech.com/SIG/devcor.asp and the linked pages on airfields to see how far the obsession has got! PS and off topic but If ayone can pin down a code/serial tie up for one of the 264 Squadron Mosquito detachment at Trebelzue I'd be delighted. I've started trawling the ORB for clues but there's nothing easy like entries giving both! Jerry is the author of the Airfield Focus book on Harrowbeer so I guess he has some sort of link to it.