Airfix 1/48th Seafire XVII

[Miggers]

I don't put many in RFI,I'm a slow builder and I don't consider myself to be quite

upto the standards of some of the gems in here,so bear with me a bit please.

BTW,my photography and figure painting ain't that good either.

A rash of these appeared on here last year when the kit was released(that's when I bought mine-at a soggy Cosford)

so you can see how long I've been faffing about with it.

I wanted to do a three spoke wheeled overwing bulged high demarcation aircraft,so after much research,one of

the kit's options was selected,but in a later guise.

I discovered that SX358 had the requirements I wanted when she was with 1832 at Culham.

She'd had prior service with 800 NAS(side number 177)in Triumph and Hal Far in 1947,before going to the VR units

for the Weekend Warriors to ride about in.

Her final flight(after a full RNAY re-furb)was into storage at Stretton,where she sat in the long grass with the other

remaining members of her breed before being taken away to the scrappers for reduction to saucpans in the late 1950's.

So,without further adoo,here she is. SX358/103,1832 NAS(RNVR),HMS Hornbill/RNAS Culham,early 1950's.

"She'll be ready for you in a jiffy Sir"(Haven't you undone that jury strut yet lad!!!)

Built very much OOB except for scratched rudder pedals and fuel tank back behind them,contols deflected

to reflect the flying surfaces,thinned ailerons and radiators,masking tape seat belts,erm...,that's about it really.

Oh yes,drilled out exhausts and scratched the wing bulges to match the three spoke

wheels too.

Painted with humbrol enamels and lightly weathered around the cowlings and forward panel lines that catch

the exhaust staining.

Big thanks to the gents that responded to the call for stb'd wing parts after I managed to ruin the original

and sent me the basic ground crew figures.

The pilot is the remodelled kit,er,well,pilot.

Go for it with your comments(I know the photography isn't the best,I had it on "shutter" when it should have been on

"apeture" ),you all know I give enough about other's Spits/Seas.

Fanks for looking.

Mark

Edited June 1, 2012 by Miggers

[nimrod54]

Looks great to me Mark and the figures look good too. Well done.

[Parabat]

That is really good, especially with the figures.

[Silver Fox]

A really nice and eventful diorama.

[SimonT]

Worth the wait if you ask me, great stuff! One wing folded is how I'm thinking of doing my 'wing fold' aircraft too.

Simon

[gazza l]

Nothing wrong with your standards, in fact they appear to very high...well done, looks very nice.

[Seahawk]

Very nice: standards-wise it fits in quite nicely, in my opinion. First Airfix F.17 I've seen with the wheel bulges added. Very tidy job drilling out those exhausts.

[F-32]

I think that's lovely, really nice build

[Miggers]

Thanks for the positives chaps.

The kit option for SX358(177/P with low demarcation EDSG/Sky) should have the three spokers and the wing bulges.

She was built(AFAIK)with them as new,but as we do know,Airfix don't tell you to use the correct wheels or supply

the relevant bits to go on the wings.

I made mine from thin plasticard with a smear of milliput to give 'em some shape and then sanded until I thought

they looked about right after studying loads of pictures of SX336's bulges.

I reckon I should've thinned the plasticard until it was nearly non-existant,I think they're a bit too prominant really.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Miggers

[Plasticbutcher]

Ah Mark, that is an absolute stunner. :clap2:

[keefr22]

Lovely model - I really like the animation of the pilot, you can definitely sense his impatience!! Great stuff!!

Keef

[phildagreek]

Looks rather excellent from here, good effort.

[Chris Ferguson]

Dunno what you mean looks great to me... And the photography is easily good enough to show off your lovely build !

[Seahawk]

I really like the animation of the pilot, you can definitely sense his impatience!!

Yes, irritated drumming of fingers on tailplane!

[Martian]

Over the last 25 years I have made Culham a special area of study and I have to say that your model really captures the feel of the subject. Its nice to see that you have kept the plane nice and clean as I have more than one first hand account from personel stationed at the airfield, that much of the weeks was spent servicing the planes and making sure they were spotless for the weekend's operations. First class effort!

Martin

[Forlornhope]

Nicely done, I've got the CMR 72nd scale of this on the go, I hope it looks half as good as yours. But can I ask, do you have a photo of where the red support bar for the wingfold is attached at the bottom?

[Enzo the Magnificent]

and I don't consider myself to be quite upto the standards of some of the gems in here,so bear with me a bit please.

Maybe you should have a bit more confidence in your abilities. This is excellent! I particularly like the chap who is clearly wearing his denims over a pair of long johns.

[The wooksta V2.0]

She looks fabulous!

Finally got one of those too.

[trpsarge]

Bit of thought went into that one.

For the diorama the' half and half wing fold' is perfect, love the history attached also.

Often wonder do I tend to rush off and build while overlooking the reality of such machines.

The story and the dio are half the event in this case.

Lovely piece of modelling.

[Miggers]

Many thanks for your kind comments gentlemen.

Well spotted Seahawk and Keef,that's exactly how I sort of envisioned our Weekend Warrior,itching to get aboard.

Ah Martin,I did this with you in mind(knowing of your interest in Culham),I rather hoped you'd spot it .

Folornhope,I'll see what I can find you,but AFAIK,there is a spring loaded flap both in the wing inner fixed and outer

folding panel that opens up to reveal the jury strut attachment points.

Could be a question for the main forum,Edgar is usually a goldmine of such information with the Spit/Seafer series.

[Mike DeTorrice]

Your abilities are far beyond what you are allowing yourself credit for here ! It's excellent work in all respects and it shows up wonderfully in your photos. A very neat display base/diorama, too !

Mike

[Miggers]

Thankyou very much Mike.

I've seen some of your work,very good indeed.

[Darby]

Anything in EDSG over Sky with Royal Navy on the side looks good. Nice one!

[Miggers]

Anything in EDSG over Sky with Royal Navy on the side looks good. Nice one!

I like your style Darby,I like your style

[spadegrip]

Nice one again Mark, mine is still in it's early stages, I was going to built my 15 and 17 at the same time but the 15 is now all but finished. I can see one of our photo sessions coming on in the near future.

Rich.