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Hobbycraft Sea Fury - Hawker Company demonstrator G-AKRY


airscale

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That Sea Fury does look rather stunning. Sure a few of us would very much enjoy seeing a few more photos of it if you are willing to share.

..well Col you did ask, so here is where I am at!

I have chosen a Hawker company demonstrator from 1948 Fury 1 NX748 effectively what became in lineage the Sea Fury prototype....

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For those with an eye for history, the shot is attributed to be in Luqa, Malta and I have the following info (would welcome any further pics / details / corrections):

In April 1948, Bill Humble, Hawkers chief test pilot, flew the first prototype Sea Fury to Cairo for the forth-coming Heliopolis Air Display. On this occasion, it carried the civil registration G-AKRY instead of its original RAF serial number NX798. Humble arrived on 21 April and three days later put on a demonstration of aerobatics and high-speed passes for the Royal Egyptian Aero Club at Almaza AB. This display so impressed the Egyptians that an excited crowd swarmed over the aircraft as soon as Humble landed. On 27 April, Bill Humble gave the machine a ten-minute test flight preparatory to his homeward journey. Just before his intended departure the Hawker test pilot discovered that the Fury had been moved from the civil to the military side of Almaza AB and that the aircraft had been impounded by the Egyptian authorities who turned it over to the REAF. It was given code '701' and become an REAF fighter. On 4th June 1948 this aircraft scored the first REAF air combat victory shooting down an Israeli Fairchild Argus.

Anyways, enough waffling, on with some pics

..this is roughly where I am at after 15 months on one £29.99 kit...

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..and a potted history..

..my company airscale makes aircraft cockpit details - so start with my favorite part..

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..made an engine by making master parts & casting in resin, also opened up the firewall area..

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..undercarriage bay - lots of bits & bobs...

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..lots of scribing & riveting..

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..tailfeathers from brass - I find it easier to work and good for panels with raised detail..

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.wing corrections...

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..first time vacforming & made a new canopy..

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..cast 90 gal wing tanks & pylons from masters...

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..undercarriage doors...

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I have the PE set I designed it was time to start using it - the under wing cooling vents used to look like this (I made these..)...

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..pulled them off and roughly rebated where they will sit so the louvre slots don't sit on solid plastic...

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..painted the rebates matt black and annealed, shaped & primed the new vents...

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..also added the cowling fasteners.. - think they look ok but I can't get them any thinner

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...also made up the open fasteners to finish off the cowling panel - it was quite satisfying using home made PE :)

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..I also added the two rings around the engine, I think these came out well and I could not think of any other way to get the tiny square holes that are where the cowling panels would fasten to. Had a little dry fit with the other panels to see how it was coming together..

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..the front windshield looked ok from my home made vacformer, so thought I would start on it - if nothing else I can practice the processes involved...

..first up the cockpit frame - this is thick sheet brass - marked it out and scored the inner cut-out (always remove inner shapes / holes first as the part still has strength..)... after scoring, careful repeated bending and you get a nice clean break...

made the inner edge in the same way and CA'd together

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..added fastener and structural details...

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..basically it needs paint...

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..anyone who has followed this build will know how terrified of painting I am so I guess the next few weeks are going to be some of those 'kill or cure' moments..

..I have just started using alclad and I have to say I think it is pretty forgiving to a bad painter, so I am building up experience and practice before doing the airframe itself..

..I started with some of the sub-components - cowl panels, gear & doors and the canopy...

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..thankfully nothing ruined

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..I masked the legs and added some steel to the aluminium colour to try and get some contrast...

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..gave the parts a going over with Flory dark wash - very easy to use and effective...

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..will add more weathering later - the inside of the cowl panels will have quite distinctive burn marks from the diamond shapes on each cylinder head..

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..canopy needs the inside weathering (and a good clean..)...

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..doors will need angled oil streaks from crap spilling out of the engine - anyone know how you do that?

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...I think the legs may be a different colour if you look hard enough..

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..nearly finished.. it was only when I looked at these while posting I realised I was a bit too keen to paint as I forgot I hadn't done the brake lines yet... doh

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..we have stripes!

..I masked everything up and am pleased to say the alclad held out perfectly - the only bit that didn't was on the brass panels over the exhausts... I must have forgotten to prime these...

..no matter, I think I can sort them out..

..anyways, here it is all masked - and I mean all...

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..after a coat of paint - I darkened tamiya red a bit, mixed it 1:2 with thinners and sprayed very lightly - the first coat went a very fetching metallic pink...

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..also did the cowling panels...

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..I think they came out pretty good and am very happy I didn't have any disasters...

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..now well on the way to the finish - this is the first ever airbrush paint job I have ever done after getting back into modelling in 2010...

..sorry for huge post, but didn't want to just show over a year's work in a few pics

..until next time folks...

TTFN

Peter @ airscale

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Utterlly fantastic work. A collection of beautifully made parts going together and creating a stunning model. Thanks for taking the time to share your progress with us in such lovely detail.

As Pete says it's such a pity a kit of this quality doesn't exist for us mear mortals. Will show this thread to my father who, as an ex-Sea Fury pilot, I'm sure is going to enjoy your artwork.

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I'm sure you knew this, but anyway; there was quite a bit of coverage, and indeed footage, of Bill Humble's career as Hawker's test pilot in an episode of the genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are, dealing with his daughter, BBC wildlife presenter Kate Humble.....

Stunning workmanship on that, btw........

Edited by penfold
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True modelling if ever I saw it. Fantastic work, and really - your first airbrush job? Amazing, you done well my lad. I also think Alclad is pretty forgiving stuff; others feel differently. The Sea Fury looks extra loverly with that stripe - how clean do you suppose Hawker kept this aircraft? Does it need a full-blown wash, or just some selective oil stains, etc.?

Cheers,

Bill

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just lovely work

As i'm in the process of knocking the Pioneer2 1:72 Sea Fury out as a very quick (two weeks only) build I was prepared to hate this ;)

but

I love it, a magnificent Sea Fury and you have become a god. :thumbsup:

b

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wow - thanks for chiming in chaps and glad you like it :)

..I have the registration on now so will post some better pics than these next time..

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Will show this thread to my father who, as an ex-Sea Fury pilot, I'm sure is going to enjoy your artwork.

Col - I would consider that an honour and an inspiration - please pass on my thanks for his service..

I'm sure you knew this, but anyway; there was quite a bit of coverage, and indeed footage, of Bill Humble's career as Hawker's test pilot in an episode of the genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are, dealing with his daughter, BBC wildlife presenter Kate Humble.....

many thanks penfold - I didn't know about that, will have to find it on iPlayer - fascinating

how clean do you suppose Hawker kept this aircraft? Does it need a full-blown wash, or just some selective oil stains, etc.?

Cheers,

Bill

Hey Bill - as far as I know it was painted Hawker High Speed Silver for the sales trip to Egypt and was only in that livery for a month or so before being pinched and given their markings - I haven't added any contrast or weathing to the finish yet so it looks a bit one dimensional but do intend to once I get the markings finished..

Stunning. Was it really a Sea Fury, or a Fury? No wing fold, no hook (but I know that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't a Sea Fury!)...

Good spot! I refer to it as a Sea Fury so as not to confuse people with the Fury biplane, but it is in fact a Hawker F2/42 Lightweight Fighter or Fury 1. It wasn't until the RAF said they didn't need it that the third production airframe (SR661) was re-purposed as a Sea Fury with all the fixtures & fittings we are familiar with

..thanks for stopping by

Peter

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evening chaps :)

trying to run this build to the finish line, so now is all about getting the airframe sorted..

first time finishing a model in 25 years so much learning to do and after a lot of botched and uneven finishes on a test model, I tried thinning alclad satin kote with mr colour levelling thinners and it went on easily and nice and smooth..

..so, bit between the teeth off I went to ruin my model...

...actually, it turned out pretty good - I sprayed it all over having masked some parts and left it to dry. Then it was covered in flory dark dirt wash and left again...

..after a while i took a damp cloth and cleaned as much off as I could, hoping really to just accentuate the panel lines & rivets..

..put it together for a little photoshoot and this is where I am at...

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..next step is to try and do some light weathering - I have a lot to learn (again..) so better see if I can find anything on youtube..

..until next time

TTFN
Peter

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To quote my father after he had a, rather long, look at your work, "This laddie certainly knows what he's doing with a model aeroplane" ;)

Inspired him to tell a few stories from way back in the day and that's from a man who seldom talks about such things.

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