Airfix Seafire FR46 in 1/48th Scale.Finished.

[Alex Gordon]

G'day Chums,

Here's what I've been doing to the Airfix Seafire 46/47.

I have to confess to starting this at the same time as my Seafire XV but wanted to get somewhere near completion before posting.

Sprues and boxart.

 

I built one of these in it's FR47 guise about 10 years ago.The moulding is,I think,better this time,nowhere near the number of sink marks and the decals do look less translucent.

Cockpit components and the inside of the fuselage.

 

 

The first job to be done is to open up the camera hatch on the port side.A spot of drilling and scalpelling took care of that fairly rapidly Too rapidly really,I made the hole slightly too big.
The instructions would have you open the round hole directly opposite for the starboard camera port,but I'm not so sure.I did this on my 47 way back when and realised that in real life there would not be enough room for both cameras at the same time.There is also a suspiciously suitable looking hatch just forward of the recommended spot so the centre of that hatch became the focus of attention.

The glassware from the kit was fitted and glued into place.

More soon chums.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[bigbadbadge]

Nice choice, remember enjoying this kit a few years ago, good luck with your build.

All the best
Chris

[SaintsPhil]

Nice, had this kit but traded it away! I'm starting to regret it, I think your build may sway me to buy another!

[Alex Gordon]

Hello again chums,

Chris,I'm enjoying revisiting this one with the ten years or so of experience since the last time.This time I'll do her some justice.

Phil,while this kit is regarded as sublime there are a few niggles.I still think that it is money well spent and the build will be generally problem free.

Just like the last one the fuselage dryfitted together a treat so taping up and glueing with liquid glue was not a time consuming process.The cockpit components were assembled and a little drybrushing around the instrument panel was in order to make it a little more lived in.A decal is provided for the panel but I decided not to use it.

 

Now for a bit of glassware.The camera port transparencies are a tad on the thick side so when I fitted them I made them sit proud of the surface so that they could be sanded back and polished for a bit better appearance.

 

This was especially necessary for the circular transparency which has a big sink mark,over halfway through the depth of the item,to be addressed.

 

 

More soon chums,thanks for looking in.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[Learstang]

Now this is one of the few 1/48th scale kits I haven't sold off. I shall be watching this build with great interest, as I intend to do mine as an FR.46 also. So all of the interior is black (with the possible exception of the seat)?

Regards,

Jason

[Alex Gordon]

G'day Jason,

I'm given to understand that the interior was all black on the 46 and 47.This link regarding the seat may be helpful to you.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946642-seafire-47-seat-color/

[Mozzy19]

Another one I'll be following with interest. I picked one of these up in the ModelZone sale a few months ago, and looks nice in the box.

Sean

[Alex Gordon]

G'day chums,

Sean,this kit is lovely.With a bit of care she builds up with the minimum of fuss and very few problems.It's a shame that there aren't a few more different colour schemes because I'd like to build a few more.

Here we go again.Once the glue had set the tape was removed and the joints tickled up to remove any blemishes.There was a slightly visible line on the top of the cowling but nothing so serious that a length of fine stretched sprue and a dribble of liquid poly didn't take care of.It took me longer to type that than it did to sort the snag out. The glassware for the camera ports was sanded to conform with the fuselage surface and then polished to make it see through again.Various grades of Micromesh were used to achieve this.

 

The canopy as supplied looked a little cloudy to me but,suprisingly,the windscreen which is moulded right next to it looked fine so I don't know what happened there. Being as it is the same shape as the one in the Airfix IX/XVI kit I pinched the one that I had in the spares box and used that instead.Masking inside and out is one of those jobs that can be a chore but it gives me the end result that I like and it's not exactly the greenhouse of,for example,a Lancaster.It also means that the inside colour is actually on the inside and looks a little more convincing to me.

 

I made a harness for the seat from my usual Tamiya tape,painted with Humbrol 72 Matt Khaki Drill and metalwork from Swann Morton blade pack foil.For a change I think I might have made the buckles look about the right size rather than the vastly oversized lumps that I usually seem to knock out.The cockpit goodies were fitted with no problems.

 

Time to tackle the wings.My favoured method of fitting the wings is to fit the upper surfaces to the fuselage first to ensure a clean and tidy joint that requires no fettling and then,once set,fit the lower surface and sort it all out from there.It took me years to work that one out.Started using it as a standard method,discovered Britmodeller and then found out that most folks have been doing this for decades and what's all the fuss about?

 

The dihedral will be sorted out when the lower surface is fitted.

 

 

More soon chums.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[SaintsPhil]

Looking good! I like that idea of fitting the top half wings first, simple but effective. A similar method works for multiparty fuselages. Build the two halves up first before joining, avoids any nasty steps

[heloman1]

That is looking rather nice a great choice. I'll we watching intently.

Colin

[Alex Gordon]

Hello again chums,

Phil,as a method it work well for me,not just on spit/seafires but on some jets and other props as well.

Colin,thanks for the kind words.

Once the upper wings had set it was time to paint the wheel wells.After a spot of masking a mixture of Humbrols 90 Sky and 78 Cockpit Green was made to try to replicate the Apple Green as described in one of the many Spitfire/Seafire Interior threads that inhabit the WWII section of the Military Aircraft department elsewhere on BM.This was sprayed on and does look satisfyingly different to the Sky colour that will be used on the underside.Once dry the underside identification lights were installed by using suitable diameter clear sprue glued into the holes and then,once set,sanded and polished to conform to the surrounding surface.

 

The lower wing was then attached,using the adjacent fuselage as a guide because I find it easier to sort out the wing edges than steps in the fuselage.

 

Once set the resultant gaps were not too formidable at all,and easily filled with a few short lengths of stretched sprue glued in and put aside to set.

 

 

 

 

The colour scheme given in the kit calls for some yellow paint,so this seemed to be an ideal time to do this.The propellor blades were given a light scraping to remove the very slight part line from the leading and trailing edges

 

 

and then sprayed with Humbrol 154 Insignia Yellow.

 

The rudder,arrestor hook fairing and the propellor spinner components were all sprayed with Humbrol 24 Trainer Yellow.

 

Back again soon chums.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[Alex Gordon]

Hello again chums,

The kit wheels don't have the weighted look but,in the Airfix XVII kit there was a pair of suitable 3 spoke wheels so these were half inched and prepared for paint.

 

 

The yellow tips to the propellor blades were masked off and,with the radiator and oil cooler matrix faces,all was ready for paint.

 

 

My usual Humbrol 33 Matt Black was sprayed on and all was set aside to dry.

 

 

Time for the underside colour.

 

 

The wheel wells were filled with tissue paper and the various circular transparencies masked off with Tamiya tape cut into circles using my ever useful leather punch,which just happens to have two tools that are just the right size.

 

 

Humbrol 90 Sky was sprayed on to the airframe,undercarriage doors and the radiator housings.This was done in 3 coats over the space of 40 minutes or so and made a decent depth of colour.

More soon chums.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[Col.]

Enjoying these updates on your two Seafires Alex. Are you confident both will be done in time?

[Miggers]

G'day Jason,

I'm given to understand that the interior was all black on the 46 and 47.This link regarding the seat may be helpful to you.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234946642-seafire-47-seat-color/

Absolutely correct.

And for that "Supermarine Apple Green"?,5 parts Humbrol Sky (90) to one part Cockpit Grey/Green(78)

is pretty close.

Lightly wash with 78 and dry brush with 90 over your main mix.

[Alex Gordon]

Back again chums,

Col,thanks for looking in.The XVII was finished last Sunday and will be in the Gallery either tonight or tomorrow.This one is a matt varnish and a spot of oil streaking and exhaust staining away from finishing and should be done in time.Glad you're enjoying this.

Miggers old chum,I was wondering where you'd got to.Good to hear from you.I wasn't too precise with my mixing ratios but the resulting colour is a good contrast against Sky and looks sort of Golden Delicious like in hue.Cue Nick Millman for chapter and verse on that one.

Here we go again.The cockpit was filled with a square of bog roll to mask against the next round of paint.

 

 

The underside was masked off using Tamiya tape and bits of a Coop carrier bag.A quick wipe down with White Spirit and she was ready for paint.

 

 

A couple of sprayed coats of Humbrol 123 Extra Dark Sea Grey later gave me this.

 

 

While that was drying I thought I'd have a play with the undercarriage.Lightening holes in the torque links are a must,along with a little chiselling out of plastic to better represent the appearance of the real thing.This photo doesn't really show very clearly what's been done.

 

 

Being as I had decided to use the wheels from the XVII a couple of modifications need to be made.Firstly an axle in the centre of the wheel hub was made from the ubiquitous stretched sprue.Then the mounting plate on the end of the leg, which represents the cover plate if using the kit wheels,had to be removed and the leg end shaped appropriately before drilling a hole to take the axle of the new wheel.

Confused? This photo shows all ready for painting silver but also shows an unmodified leg.

 

 

Silver paint on,the usual Humbrol 27002 Polished Aluminium which looks just right to me for this type of component.

 

 

The exhaust stacks were hollowed out and attached to a cocktail stick ready for painting.

 

 

More soon chums,thanks for looking in.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon

[Alex Gordon]

G'day chums,

The last blast.A slightly visible ghost seam on the top of the cowling decided to manifest itself.Irritating but not unfixable.

 

 

I masked off either side of the joint and slapped on a hairy stickful of Humbrol 123 paint and allowed this to dry.

 

 

The masking was then removed and the paint lightly fine sanded to smooth off and remove any visible trace of it being there.This did the job nicely and the seam now doesn't show.

 

 

Something that Miggers mentioned in a post in the Cold War forum was that the lumpy bits on the upper inner trailing edge of the wing are pop up doors that are only open when the flaps are deployed.These had to go,so gentle removal with the tip of a scalpel blade followed by a light scribe to show the outline and then a sand flush saw that correction ready for a drop of paint.

 

 

This was lightly misted on and set aside to dry.

 

 

A brushed coat of Vallejo Matt Varnish was followed by some light weathering in the form of light oil streaking and mild exhaust staining sees us ready for final assembly.

So here we are,the finished article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a pleasure to revisit this kit.It is a shame that there are not many colour schemes for the 46/47 because I'd like to build another one.I am going to refurbish my 47 in the near future being as the appropriate decals have not been used on this build.

What would I do differently?

The maingear legs are difficult to fit after the wings have been assembled so a different method of doing this needs to be found.

The sliding portion of the canopy never did fit very well so a plunge formed replacement is essential.I might still do this for this one.

That's about it really,job done.

Thanks to all for looking in and also to Phil and Sean for hosting this GB.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Alex Gordon
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