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Fairy Firefly FR I - HMS Triumph


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Hi,

This will be my build, Firefly FR1, HMS Triumph; early stage of the Korean War right after HMS Triumph took part in striking bandits in Malayan jungle.

Years ago, a good friend of mine passed me this unknown kit, which is deem obsolete by him, I have no idea where this kit from, the instruction is in Russian, and the kit came with a unusual brown plastic with Made in USSR molded on the spure. may be a bootleg of Frog kit, anyone know?

I see 2 potential issues,

- The decal is un useable, I will need to find a solution later,

- the clear parts are thick and blur, maybe a future bath can help, let see..

starting soon..plan to build OOB

IMG_1594_zpsa19ecffb.jpg

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Old Frog made in USSR!

You start with a stacked deck against you, but these old things can scrub up very well with some loving care!

Is there anything vaguely looking like an interior?

That's one build I am going to follow, mostly on account of all the Frog kits I have been hoarding for a few decades...

Good luck

JR

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Nice! I didn't know there were any FR.1's used in Korea - I thought they were all Mk.5's. Shows what I know.

Regards,

Jason

HMS Triumph's air wing consisted of Seafire 47s and Firefly FR.Is at the start of the war until her withdrawal after the Inchon landings, but AFAIK, all subsequent carriers had Sea Furies and Firefly FR.5s.

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The book "Fairey Firefly" by W. A. Harrison shows a pic of a Mk.I landing on Triumph - and the pic shows the Union Jack as well. I suppose that Special Hobby based their boxart on this pic. There is another thread here where someone pointed me on this book as I planned to enter a Flightpath 1:48 MkI with the Union Jack deck - but there is so much other stuff I need to do that I did not enter as I will be clearly unable to finish it in time. snif.

Rene

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Thanks for the feedback guys.

Union jack on the deck huh? I would think this is for IFF purpose or prevent cross decking with USN jets..but I plan to build mine in the very early stage of the war, that's mean no IFF strips on plane too..:)

So, I started the build, JR is the right, the interior is vague, there is noting to it, but with the thick and blur canopy, noting much can be seen anyway, so the best thing to do is to place 2 crew figures as suggested by the instruction.

Firefly_G02_zps4eda4f7d.jpg

and the plastic surface is full with blemishes, that needed to be sand smooth, maybe due to mould erosion from extension usage, that also mean I will loose the raise line, I may re scribe some...let's see...

Firefly_G01_zpsdbe2e6cf.jpg

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Wow Thomas, I see what you mean about the clear parts, they are very thick indeed, armour glass able to resist a direct hit from an 88mm flak :lol:

Hopefully they will look okay when they have been Kleared/Futured and fitted, looking forward to seeing more :)

Cheers,

Stew

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Stew, yup, and not only that, it came with thick spure and thick ejectors, that need careful removal, and I will try polish the clearpart with toothpaste and follow with a future bath, hopefully this can help...:)

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I want to warn: Be careful when painting because This brown plastic has a strong red pigment, and can occur after painting ... The way to deal with this - prime with carefully! I pushed this when painting Harrier))

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  • 3 weeks later...

hgbn, yup, the clear parts are awful

Growler, noted with thanks, will prime it properly when time comes..

Anyway major assembly done, fitting is from average to bad, I rescribed some of the line, plastic is very hard, and now working on the awful clear parts..

Firefly_11_zps8319870a.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Oooh! Lovely choice masterqq!

I have a thing about older kits and I believe somewhere in my boxed away stash I have this kit so I'll be watching this build.

Incidentally, I recently bought the old Airfix Firefly 5 (02018) to go alongside a HMS Glory Sea Fury. (not the one I'm currently building I must add)

Anyway, she's looking good at the moment...we're going to have a few FAA subjects when the GB is finished - a state of plastic affairs I'm very happy to see. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nobby 57,Thanks, I love to build the older kit too, the super over engineering modern kit is just too complicated for me :)

anyway, finally have time to update after much World Cup watching..

Painting started with prime the whole plane black, then masking for required serial no. added

IMG_1701_zpse0ffe9e5.jpg

then, followed with Sky and DSG..

IMG_1703_zpsf6c1c84b.jpg

Result of the masking...

IMG_1704_zpsdc685dac.jpg

The solid plastic actually build up quite nicely, but the clear parts are just craps..I hope for a batter clear parts for this kit..

Next , Future coat and decalling..

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you very much everyone for your comments and finally , my Firefly is ready to strike bandits either is Malayan jungles or Korea.

1/72 Russian Frog Firefly FR1

No. 827NAS, HMS Triumph,

Far East Fleet , 1950

Flew combat missions over Malaya and Korea

IMG_1716_zps6a2f78a5.jpg

IMG_1715_zpsdd8d63a4.jpg

IMG_1714_zpsded7ea1b.jpg

IMG_1712_zps35e66549.jpg

overall not too bad for this old kit, except the canopy, enjoy building it...

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