Colin W Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Hi Guys Here is a model which has been in the part built box for a while and has now finally made it to the finish line. The basic airframe was built by Tony H a few years ago but was passed on to me as a part built S5. The plan was to finish her as WK198 since I had already built a Swift for my collection of 1950's fighters but this would fit in the record breakers collection since its feats in the Libian desert. Thinking this was easy I gave her a coat of blue, did the last bits of assembly and job done. Only then did I realise that as a Mk 1 converted to a Mk4, WK198 didn't have the extended chord outer wing, had a shorter fin and a slighly different shape under the nose. Hmmmm Well after a year or so I plucked up courage to cut her up and made the 3 mods above. Cutting up a vacform is not quite as easy as a normal kit but I was able to feed some rod into the the new leading edge and reattach/blend the wings to it by using lots of super glue and Milliput. I also made a new undercarriage having lost the original in a house move. (I know its here somewhere!) I stripped off the decals before repainting and making some new ones. Finally I added the wing fences. A note in Brians book 'Swift Justice' says these were removed for the record flight but I'm not so sure. Anyway at long last here are 2 Falcon Swifts, a rare sight if ever there was one! Cheers Colin W 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine coast Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Excellent finish on a pair of unusual subjects .... Regards Trevor ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitbasher2009 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 WK198's fuselage rotted away in a scrapyard in Failsworth Manchester (see http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1148827/) for many, many years before being rescued by North East Air Museum (http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/swift/survivor.php?id=605). Remember playing in and around the scrapyard as a kid - and beng chased out by the foamin guard dog - on more than one occasion! Life was so simpler when everything was in black and white! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Womby Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 A great pair and nice to be able to see the differences in the airframes as they tried to address the Swift's shortcoming. Thanks for posting. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 A lovely looking pair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Very nice - I've been musing about my Falcon kit of late for some reason... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Superb work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Lovely work, nice to see two together as well. I built one in the 1990s and it remains my favourite ever vacform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 The only issue I had when I was preparing mine was that the instructions show a boxed in nose gear bay, when in reality, it's pretty much the wheel hanging off the bulkhead and a big empty space in the nose. I got a bit despondent after spending ages making a bay for it with front and rear bulkheads to hold it in place, and put it back in its bag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Great models , i have one in my display case which i built a few years ago. If i recall its a nice Vac to build and pretty easy even for a beginner. Top job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike DeTorrice Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 NIce ! Both look superb and the record-breaker is a real beauty. The Swift is a very interesting aircraft and makes for wonderful subject matter. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticbutcher Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Very nice to see a Swift up let alone two. Very nice and thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glyn Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 that's different.nice though. glyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 Thanks guys. Yes its a lovely vacform and an even prettier shape. Much more like a fighter than some others of the era. The history of WK198 is very interesting and till goes on. Maybe one day she will get restored and receive the recognition she deserves. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Very nice indeed. Some years back, one of the guys in our club brought in a piece of WK198 that had been replaced on the real thing by the Mackems at the North East Aircraft Museum. Colour looked a little darker than your blue but not too far out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Super builds, both of them! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 Thanks for the comments I spent ages trying to ascertain the correct colour. Only the British could win the world air speed record and not bother to take a decent picture of the plane before chucking on the nearest scrap heap! The picture referred to above by Ktbasher is one of the few good colour pics but I assumed the paint was slightly faded after years in the scrap yard. The final colour was based on the profile in 'Swift Justice' and a painting of the event. Pictures I have found of the remaining parts either show it in primer or a somewhat darker shade of blue grey. The descriptions of it were 'a pleasant pale blue'. Somewhat more romantic than FS34256 but equally less useful. I would have loved to see a part of the real plane. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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