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Airfix Mountbatten class SRN4 Hovercraft Images


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Heres a few photos of the finished model. A few details have been added but the most work was a reworked roof to do away with the 'see through' bit so it looked less toy like. The Hoverlloyd decals were home printed as the kits ones are useless! Anyway I think its a nice different subject to have a go at, hope you agree.

MacGREGOR

Bow.jpg

OverviewFinished.jpg

AtSea.jpg

Atsea2.jpg

Stern.jpg

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WOW a great job on the base :worthy::thumbsup: .

JB.

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Very nice clean build and a fantastic base.

How did you get the water and spray effects?

Phil.

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Thanks for all the kind comments, much appreciated. On the subject of the base, I read loads of ideas on doing a water diorama and ended up not knowing which way to go, so I kind of just hashed up what I thought would work. Base is MDF, I marked around the craft & cut a bit of a groove from midships & around the stern, for the skirt to sit in, as SRN4s ride bow up in the water. I scored all the outer base board where the water is ( to give the mixture a key to bond to) then used normal household filler mixed with diluted PVA white glue to hold it together, plastered it on and shapedwith a knife into wave shapes, flowing smoother at the stern. This mix goes rock hard & isnt brittle. Painted various washes/mixes of Acrylics, blue, green, yellow, black, whites etc till I got a colour I liked. Highlighted waves with white enamel. Then used clear silcone sealant applied with brush to give sheen and to give wave crests slight curled highlights. Its fairly good for forming & staying in shape. The foam is just fake cobweb stuff left over from Halloween! I think you can get it in Joke shops etc. Taped in place under the craft & fluffed up, gives good foam spray effect. Its all cheap & readily available at most hardware shops. Hope this helps.

Regards MacGREGOR

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  • 3 years later...

I remember going over to Calais in the early eighties on one of these, they were supposed to be quite smooth.............not, I recall dozens of people suffering from sea sickness, and no where to go apart from a paper bag

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Wow!!! Is there a prize for the resurrection of the oldest thread lol. It was stunning in 2008, but the question is, is it still stunning now or has it succumbed to cats/kids/dogs/ex wives/ etc like most of my kits do after a few years lol

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Nice rendition of an unusual subject.

Swift was well named: at one time she was the fastest thing on a cushion of air across the Channel. She was scrapped by the Hovercraft Museum at ee-on-Solent in 2004, whic is rather ironic as her registration markings were GH-2004. I think she looks super in the original Hoverlloyd colours rather than the later Hoverspeed coours that I knew her in.

Steve (who has fond memories of these craft).

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Wow!!! Is there a prize for the resurrection of the oldest thread lol. It was stunning in 2008, but the question is, is it still stunning now or has it succumbed to cats/kids/dogs/ex wives/ etc like most of my kits do after a few years lol

Oh Id love a prize! LOL , She still looks as good today, mainly as she has a glass case that fits over the wooden base....... too much work went into her!

Thanks Mac

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Nice rendition of an unusual subject.

Swift was well named: at one time she was the fastest thing on a cushion of air across the Channel. She was scrapped by the Hovercraft Museum at ee-on-Solent in 2004, whic is rather ironic as her registration markings were GH-2004. I think she looks super in the original Hoverlloyd colours rather than the later Hoverspeed coours that I knew her in.

Steve (who has fond memories of these craft).

I have a piece of her, which I got as a souvinier! And also a picture of me in the captains seat in the surving cockpit, I have a rather daft cheshire cat type grin on my face but it was boys own stuff!

Mac

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  • 3 months later...

Well forgive me for reviving this thread yet again, but I am about to tackle my Airfix SRN4 hovercraft and I understand it's a bit of a'dog' to build? I was searching the net to see what other people's looked like and have to say this is the best build of this kit I have ever seen! Well done. Firstly though, half the roof is transparent and the clear section has no detail on the roof as the starboard side has. How did you make the detail on the 'clear' section of roof that you have overpainted?

A second question, did you ever get to do the 'stretched' SRN4 Mk.3 in its final guise with HOVERSPEED markings? This is what I would really like to do, but I guess there is more to it than just getting a second kit and doing a 'cut-n-shut' job?

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They say Hovercraft don't sink & this one keeps bobbing back to the surface.............Oh dear!

Ok, regarding your questions, worst fit for me was sidewall to roof, I think this could would harder if you go the "clear view" way. The skirt which some people seem to make a pigs ear of just needs a steady away approach & little filler. The roof was sanded flat, to remove the molded half of detail then plastic ribbed sheet was added in the correct shapes across starting from the middle then working out over. If you want see some images that may help I have plenty of in progress shots, just PM me & I will get you some.

Alas the stretched version is still very much in the future projects to do list but I feel much more capable of tackling it now as my scratch building understanding has improved thanks to this site and your right there is a huge amount to do to make a Super4, lengthening, widening, skirt, roof scratch building to name a few. Its far from just a chop in 2 & add a section. I have done a fair bit of work on the artwork for the decals so perhaps a little progress has been made.

The Airfix SRN4 is a bit like the Airfix 1/48 Buccaneer, some say terrible, unbuildable even, then you see some of the stunning efforts on here & its probably all down to approach.

Anyway if need any info, always happy to help with my pet subject!

Cheers Mac

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