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1:72 Supermarine Scimitar F.1


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Hi mates,

 

I've been seduced by the dark side. The side that won't be stuck by conventional styrene adhesives. The side that seduces you with the addictive aroma of toxic dust. The side that shocks you more than the price for a litre of petrol. You know the side I speak of - resin modelling!

 

Hot on the heels of my resin Grumman Jaguar from the Swinging Winging Group Build, I've decided to pull another resin kit out of the stash for this one. It's the 1:72 CMR take on the Supermarine Scimitar F.1. In addition to the basic kit, I also spent my child's remaining college fund on the folding wing set. The CMR kits include everything you ever needed in a model kit - resin, etch, several different marking schemes (eight in this case), extensive payloads, vacuform canopies, masks - heck, everything except plastic! The instruction sheet runs 18 pages, and there are several more pages of both colour and B&W detail photos.

 

Here are the raw materials:

 

100_3855

 

If I counted correctly, there are 197 resin and etch parts in the main kit, and another 31 in the folding wing set. Not included is any kind of ocular assist device to enable you to see some of the small parts, especially when you're an old man like me! :)

 

So that is where we're starting, no actual work has occurred yet. I have no clue what scheme I'll choose, but since they're all EDSG over white, I suspect that's how I'll being painting the model! I do fancy the yellow and black checkerboards of 803 Squadron, but then the stylised Scimitar from 807 Squadron seems strangely appropriate for a, well, Scimitar. But these are accompanied by gold leaf nose numbers that I think would look better on something where Graham Hill was the pilot. We'll see, I've been known to bounce back and forth between schemes, only deciding when I'm ready to start the stickers!

 

Since I spent the money for the wing fold set, I'm sure I'll use it. But to be honest, the lines are so clean on the Scimitar it's almost a shame to interrupt the wings by folding them. Ah, fickle modeller!

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Ahh, Bill, but can it match the weird and wonderful beauty that is your XF-10F Jaguar? I do have to admit I rather like the Scimitar - to me it looks like it's about one and a half 'planes long, as if the front end belonged to a smaller aircraft, and they stuck half of this aircraft onto two-thirds of another aircraft. If that makes any sense to you, and if it does, go easy on those super glue fumes, Mate! I got out a couple of my resinous wonders today to have a butcher's; my Pro Resin Loening OA-1A and my Omega Models Breguet Br.19. I can almost smell the heady and toxic mixture of resin dust and super glue!

Regards,

Jason

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Do the 803 markings include the stylised over-flowing beer mug, too? Apparently the squadron managed to wangle some kind of deal with a brewery, which is why the beer mugs super-imposed on the yellow checks. Never allowed in my day; all our relationships with beer were strictly on a consumption basis...

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On 7/18/2013 at 16:25, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Do the 803 markings include the stylised over-flowing beer mug, too? Apparently the squadron managed to wangle some kind of deal with a brewery, which is why the beer mugs super-imposed on the yellow checks. Never allowed in my day; all our relationships with beer were strictly on a consumption basis...

 

Alas, no beer mugs on the transfer sheet. Two of the reference photos included with the folding wing set show them, however. They're on XD243 and XD271, neither of which have the yellow and black checkerboards in the photos. There is a white "E" on the lower part of the fin forward of the rudder, and the beer mug on the upper part of the fin.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Ha ha...guess who's got resin fever!!!! :bleh:

welcome to the dark side, particularly considering the colour of the resin! :wicked:

That’s a nice model, have seen this one built before, so am almost tempted to build one as well.

Am looking forward to following this build, especially after the spectacular results with the last one. :clap:

You’re going to find plastic boring after this........just wait till you move up a scale!

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Looking forward to this one, I have always liked the Scimitar and feel it is somewhat under represented. I do have the Magna version but that will take ALOT of time and patience. I also did have a Dynavector one but unfortunately that was sacrificed for some other spending spree! Good luck with it!

Cheers now

Bob

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Hi mates,

 

I've spent the last few days removing parts from their casting blocks, cleaning up the "seams," sanding the intake interiors, gluing back together the parts that I accidentally break, etc. I also did my best to sand the two fuselage halves so that the joining surfaces are flat and true. I used the vacuform kit method for that, with a large piece of sandpaper taped to a big piece of glass. You know the typical resin kit stuff! :)

 

For the first stage, we have the following parts that are required to go inside the fuselage before the halves get closed up:

 

100_3856

 

The two box-like enclosures are to be glued inside the fuselage (I think they are part of the gear wells) but they won't be seen at all once the fuselage is together. The gear doors in this area are closed on the fuselage, and appear to be closed when the aircraft is on the ground.

 

To let everyone know ahead of time, I will have the speed brakes open because it will look cool! It doesn't matter to me if they were closed on the ground. Just tell my pilot to get into the officer's club and belly up to the bar and buy everyone a round! Triple Stout for me! :)

 

CMR have you painting the cockpit black, but then they provide a pre-painted PE instrument panel that looks like it is Dark Admiralty Grey. Is this a mistake, or was the Scimitar cockpit painted that way?

 

I've decided on XD324, "033/R", No. 803 Squadron, HMS Ark Royal, August 1966. At about 3:30 in the afternoon. This means the model will have the in-flight refueling probe in the nose and those cool checkerboards on the tail. The starboard inboard cannon trough is faired over on this plane - anyone know why? I suspect something to do with the refueling probe.

 

Not sure what payload to use. For this specific plane, CMR has 200 gallon drop tanks and AIM-9B Sidewinders. They also provide Red Beards and 2,000 lb inert practice bomb that are "optional" for this scheme. Other bombs and rockets that come with the kit are shown as incompatible with the plane I've chosen. Pity, because the Triple Stack pylon for the rockets looks pretty nice. Both Mk.3 and Mk.5 3-inch rockets are included. Somebody tell me I can use the rockets!

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Looking nice and clean so far!!

Didn't ground crew do airbrake functionals every afternoon at 3.30? Therefore your setup would be correct for the time period! :thumbsup:

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Looking nice and clean so far!!

Didn't ground crew do airbrake functionals every afternoon at 3.30? Therefore your setup would be correct for the time period! :thumbsup:

I do believe you're right. Just before tea time.

Regards,

Jason

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Yes! Air brake functionals every day at 3:30 - sharp! :)

 

Now, quick, before wifey finds me on the computer again...here are a couple of updates. First, some filler needed inside the intakes (note the crisp details on the cockpit sidewalls):

 

100_3858

 

Since this area will be somewhat visible after the fuselage halves are joined, it's best to do this now while it's easy to get at.

Next, an Oh! No! moment...1, 2, 3, 4 voids in the tail fin, and not in nice places. Don't put that filler away just yet, young man!

 

100_3859

 

I've been doing some painting work, too. Here we see the intake faces, and inner intake walls, plus the front gear bay and the arresting hook bay. The detail in these bays is incredible. I used regular old Alclad aluminum with a black wash.

 

100_3860

 

I was wondering if the intake cones might be white (like they were on the Buccaneer) but photos over on the Thunder and Lightnings site would seem to show that's not the case.

 

Next I'll be painting the cockpit, but will do this in a very dark grey rather than true black. This should let the detail be more easily seen when the model is finished. I think I'll use black for the ejection seat frame, though, that will make a nice contrast.

 

Quiet! Here comes wifey with the dough roller! Time to leave for now! :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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this looks great Bill

and soooooooo much better than the Xtrakit version ive been trying to save from the junk bin

Speaking of the Dark Side ,if your going to run it past any plans...... IMHO the Warpaint plans are MUCH better than the plans in the Richard Franks book "Scimitar" published by Dalrymple & Verdun ( this is odd as both sets of plans are drawn by Richard L Caruana ! but completely at odds with each other...the Franks book is otherwise superb tho !.) The later ,revised , Caruana plans in the Warpaint look very good !.......( hes realised that the wingtips arent parallell to the Scimitars centerline . but swept outwards for one thing ! )

im sure CMR have got the shape right tho,

one thing to watch on any Scimitar is that the nose "shape" is largely defined by the EDSG/White demarcation line , get it too high or too low and it throws the shape out (same with any FAA jet IMO ....escpecially Sea Vixens !

Look forward to watching another great build......:)

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In the Richard Franks book Neil mentions above, on p34 there is a photo of a pilot doing his walkround before flying a display at the Paris Air Show in 1961. The air brakes are definitely open; the picture is taken from underneath the tail, so you can't really miss them.

No round at the O's Club required.

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On 7/23/2013 at 21:29, Procopius said:

I hope I grow up to be Navy Bird, but living in the midwest.

What do you use for adhesive, out of curiosity?

 

Grow up to be Navy Bird? Oh dear... :o

 

What do I use for adhesive...why, Zap-A-Gap of course. It's just a medium viscosity superglue. For tough joints or big gaps, I also use five-minute epoxy (whatever's on sale).

 

On 7/24/2013 at 00:14, Neil Lambess said:

this looks great Bill

and soooooooo much better than the Xtrakit version ive been trying to save from the junk bin

Speaking of the Dark Side ,if your going to run it past any plans...... IMHO the Warpaint plans are MUCH better than the plans in the Richard Franks book "Scimitar" published by Dalrymple & Verdun ( this is odd as both sets of plans are drawn by Richard L Caruana ! but completely at odds with each other...the Franks book is otherwise superb tho !.) The later ,revised , Caruana plans in the Warpaint look very good !.......( hes realised that the wingtips arent parallell to the Scimitars centerline . but swept outwards for one thing ! )

im sure CMR have got the shape right tho,

one thing to watch on any Scimitar is that the nose "shape" is largely defined by the EDSG/White demarcation line , get it too high or too low and it throws the shape out (same with any FAA jet IMO ....escpecially Sea Vixens !

Look forward to watching another great build...... :)

 

I haven't compared against any plans. The reviews on-line seem favorable, I think the biggest concerns for this kit (beside the price) were the shape of the front of the windscreen and the lack of separate leading edge slats. To be honest, I suspect part of the problem with the windscreen will depend on how you cut it out since it's a vacuform. On many a model I've ruined the first one before getting it right on the second. I think this is why CMR always gives you two canopies!

 

Thanks for the tip on the demarcation line, I will pay close attention to that!

 

On 7/24/2013 at 10:38, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

In the Richard Franks book Neil mentions above, on p34 there is a photo of a pilot doing his walkround before flying a display at the Paris Air Show in 1961. The air brakes are definitely open; the picture is taken from underneath the tail, so you can't really miss them.

No round at the O's Club required.

 

Excellent! Did you notice the time on the pilot's chronometer? It's 3:30! :)

 

OK, now for a quick update. I've finished painting the cockpit and ejection seat. I used a dark engine grey which looks a bit lighter in these photos than it does in real life. Once the fuselage is closed up though, I think it will look even darker, and provide a good replica of a black cockpit.

 

100_3861

 

100_3869

 

I'll be leaving the seat out until the end of the build. The same is true for the rest of the PE that will be added to the consoles; levers and stuff like that which would be broken off for sure when I mask off the cockpit during painting.

 

I've also decided to add the exhaust later in the build as well to simplify the masking around that area. CMR included a nice step on the inside of the fuselage that the exhaust bottoms out against, so it will be easy to put in the correct position. I will have to modify the part that contains the exhaust vanes and shock cone since it's too large in diameter to slide in from the back. It's a simple sanding job.

 

I thought long and hard about the fancy PE section that goes onto the inboard side of the intakes. I believe this is a boundary layer control, and consists of the BLC vanes and a PE section to represent the inner wall of the intake. I was going to add them now, according to the instructions, but then I saw several Scimitar pictures that clearly show the EDSG/White paint and demarcation line extending into the BLC area, behind the inner intake wall. That will be impossible to paint if I install the PE now, so it will also have to wait until later. The entire PE assembly will end up aluminum, so no fancy masking on it.

 

I think we're close to closing up the fuselage. Sweet!

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. The dough roller didn't hurt too bad.

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looks really niceso far! I've got the extrakits scimitar in my stash, but the more I look at the CMR-Kits, the more I am tempted to bin it and get a resine scimitar too.

Alex

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Though I know I-ll never build one, I'm going to follow this build with interest. The Scimitar was a fine looking aircraft, and your build is progressing very nicely indeed!

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With vacform canopy, I usually fill it with blue/white tac to make it more rigid inside and carefully cut out with a small pair of sharp scissors, then finish of with a sanding stick

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Looking good thus far Bill....I'm very tempted to get one of these, I have their Buccaneer (and some spares of course! And may attack that after I've built my Navy S2) and their Venom FB4, Not for the faint-hearted, but they do look good and accurate..

Good stuff!

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Bill's indirectly responsible (by making it look so easy) for my owning two of their Buccaneer S.2s, a Venom FB.4, and a Sea Venom. If my wife knew about any of them, he would be in big big trouble.

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