CplPunishment Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) Special Hobby's 1/48th scale Seafire from the box. A good kit needing some fitting and a bit of filler around the usual 'Spitfire' wing roots. My only real concern about the kit is that I think the U/C legs look a bit long. Paint is Humbrol uppers shaded lighter on the top-most surfaces, and Tamiya XF-21 under-surface. Decals represent 13-9/T (serial number unknown) of 806 squadron, Fleet Air Arm based at Trincomalee in 1945, If you're interested, more Seafires here: Late Mk XV of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1947 with wings folded. (Kit bash of Airfix Spitfire Mk XII and wings from their Seafire Mk XVII) SX358 Mk XVII of No 800 NAS, Fleet Air Arm on HMS Triumph and at Hal Far, Malta in 1947. Edited April 21, 2020 by CplPunishment Re-link images. 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Fantastic job ! Really nice work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Brilliant job! Regards, Jason 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VG 33 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Very nice with those big roundels. Patrick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Looks great! Lovely subject, nice work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 very nice!!!! looks great nice job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 That's a seriously nice Seafire. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Very tasty, nice job. FF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveinns Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I like that ! Thanks for posting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roof Rat Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Very nice great job RR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Very nice indeed,......great paintwork. Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Astounding! Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Looks like the real thing. Artist's eye + honed skills = stunning result. Kind regards, Joachim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Jolly good build.. It looks quite SPLENDID.. Sweet photos too.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Grand job on both model and photographs Cpl. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Gorgeous looking aeroplane, beautifully made! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoohoo Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Great work Paul - i don't know how much work you have had to put in to get it there but thats a lovely model, tempted to get one myself, Cheers, Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CplPunishment Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) Stu, I really enjoyed this kit. It is supposed to be a 'short run kit' implying some sort of lower standard. Well, I've done plenty of worse kits than this from Revell, Airfix and others that weren't short run!Really, just the wing roots took special effort. The upper surface of the wing ended up higher than the wing-root fairing. I should have done more fitting and trimming before I attached the wings. Extra effort from me included: Cut the elevators and repositioned drooped. Drilling out the exhausts. The recessed surface detail is fine and light. I thought it would get lost in the layers of paint, but it didn't. But I still scribed deeper lines for the wing-fold joints. A bit of extra cleaning and prep of parts to remove moulding lines and flash. Whip aerial from stretched sprue. Fitting the hood in the open position required a bit of fitting - be careful not to split it when pushing it down over the rear section to line up with the slide rails. I wasn't expecting this as I assumed this would fit OK given there was a stand option to display the side door open. (Mine has some tiny stress cracks in it now!) The kit helped with the following: Nice clear, thin hood transparency - the windscreen is just lovely. PE bits for seat belts, instrument panel (plus printed clear film for the instruments), cockpit hood and door release mechanisms, and a few other items are included. Lower inner cockpit side walls and other cockpit details (compass, gunsight, rudder pedals that are not just square blocks, 2-piece control column, firewall, gas bottles, throttle, etc). Separate ailerons and rudder. Open cockpit door. Choice of wheel hubs - covered or 4-spoke (if I remember correctly). Wheel bay linings (the source of my wing root fit issues). 4 decal options - although they are all Far East Asia blue/white 'US' style markings. 3 options are Slate Grey/EDSG camo, the other is EDSG uppers with Sky fuselage sides and under surfaces. The decals worked fine. As the mould allows for early or late version (although this boxing is only for the late), but there is some cutting and removal of unnecessary 'early' surface detail around the hoisting pins in order to do the late version properly. The kit also comes with a centre-line fuel tank and under-wing bomb racks - but no bombs. There are also unused bits supplied for the early version; an A-frame arrestor hook and full height rudder (which will come in very handy when I convert an Airfix Mk XII with the left over wings from the Seafire XVII!). If I didn't already have enough spare bits for the Spitfire MkXII-to-Seafire XV conversion I would certainly be looking to by another... but if it is short-run I should probably buy another, and quick! My understanding is that the Revell Seafire XV is this mould, but comes minus the PE and decal options. I'm not sure, so check first, but this may be a cheaper option for getting hold of this kit. Edited April 28, 2014 by CplPunishment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Beautiful Job Paul! I haven't seen many of the SH kits built up but this one really looks the business. i think its beautifully photographed as well, under that partly cloudy sky. Saw your comment about the gear legs. I see what you mean. Do you think the length could be OK, but the legs not having enough forward "rake"? Still, thats a very minor quibble and not something to lose sleep over. The panel lines look subtle and restrained; everything the Airfix panel lines are not, LOL. Thanks for posting! david 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Another excellent Seafire and beautifully photographed. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CplPunishment Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Beautiful Job Paul! I haven't seen many of the SH kits built up but this one really looks the business. i think its beautifully photographed as well, under that partly cloudy sky. Saw your comment about the gear legs. I see what you mean. Do you think the length could be OK, but the legs not having enough forward "rake"? Still, thats a very minor quibble and not something to lose sleep over. The panel lines look subtle and restrained; everything the Airfix panel lines are not, LOL. Thanks for posting! david Hi David, Thanks for the comments. You could be right about the rake although I did try and get this right as best I could against photos. I have compared it with the Seafire XVII, which I understand should be a few degrees more, and this one's a bit less. I also compared the position of the wheel top, the undercarriage covers and the oleo scissors with several photos. From what I could tell it looked like the oleo on the model is extended by about 1.5 to 2mm from where it should be. Perhaps this is the difference between an operational weight and empty? It might also be to do with a bad fit and misalignment of the oleos into their wing sockets - and lack of effort and patience on my part to improve it. In any case, this one's nose sits a good 5mm higher than all my other Griffon-engined Spits. I'll just have to make another and have another go at getting it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Seriously tasty! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
426 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Fantastic scheme. It looks good to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky210 Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Great Seafire 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Excellent build and presentation, great stuff ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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