moaning dolphin Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Good day to you all This is my latest impression of one of Her Majesties Fleet Air Arm not so great aircraft. Rejected by the Air Force so the Navy made do and it performed as well as it could but it was Too Big, Too Slow and Too Late! This is the 1:48 Special Hobby kit. It is a nice kit with some fine details, the only over size area was the fuel tanks behind the cockpit. It went together quite well but the wings do need alot of care and attention. Another pain was the engine, an exquisite rendition but to fit the engine to the exhaust ring was a right pain in the butt and caused quite a bit on chuntering and grumbling! Persevering it came out ok. The only problem I really had was when it came to painting. With the engine off there is a nice hole in the front to push a rod into so it can be held on that. However when I took it off again there was a rattle inside. On closer inspection I had shoved the rod up thropugh the cockpit and knocked off the instrument panel! With a bit of careful cutting and jiggery pokery I got the bugger back in but it was a little at times! Painted in Model Master acrylics, the sky was mixed approximately 2:1 with light sea grey to try and get that early sky grey colour. The camouflage was RLM 70 and 71 lightened about 1:1 with white. I think it came out ok and am pleased with the results. I think there has been a bit of criticism about MM RLM 70 and 71 but I find they are not too far off Fleet Air Arm colours! The underside was interior black and white. I did try a bit of preshading but i think i lost the effect. I shall try again though.I did a panel wash with my own mix from soft pastels and then used those for the exhaust staining. Decals from kit and a touch of rigging with elastic thread. Now for the fotos, I started off then as I uploaded I saw I had forgot the front canopy! so then went back and reshot but I have included some of the originals. All in all I like her. And her she is next to her new stable mate Next up is a Fulmar from MPM but due to lack of space I had to chop the wings up, I can feel myself going a little Cheers now Bob 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I like that a lot Bob - I built their 1/72 kit in the same markings and really enjoyed it. Yours looks great, and the colours look good to me. Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Really looks the part. Such and ungainly bird on the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85sqn Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Looks really good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhutchi Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Good build. Colours look good to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Great job,not the prettiest of aircraft but looks great to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenko Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 A man after my own heart. You cannot beat FAA aircraft. A great rendition of an under sung aircraft. Not the easiest kit to get your head around. How about a Roc ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moaning dolphin Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Thanks for the kind input and its nice to get good feedback on the colours, I tend to get a bit of colour washout working in the dark depths of my cave so its good to get an independant view. How about a Roc ?? Errrrrrrrr no ............. not yet..............may be?............ Possibly .............. if I can find one when my stash is within acceptable SWMBO limits. Cheers now Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonl Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Very nice. Really nicely presented.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 very nice build....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 She does seem to have rather awkward lines, but I can see why one would like her. Very nicely built. Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveinns Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Hey Bob, Great job, an interesting choice of colours that work well. However, she's an ugly old bird, I guess it's that peculiar undercart ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iang Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) That's a beautifully presented and painted Skua. Just one thing - which you might not be bothered about : This was Lt Filmer's 803 squadron Skua that was shot down during the Scharnhorst attack on 13/6/40 and did not have black and white under-surfaces when it was shot-down. What we now know for certain is that Ark Royal's 800 and 803 Squadron Skuas had their under-surfaces repainted in a sky-blue colour (but not their fuselage sides) in an attempt to comply with the early May 1940 Air Ministry order to repaint in Sky. L2963 was a replacement aircraft for Lt Lucy's L2925, which was shot down on 14/5/40, and L2963 would probably never have carried the blue F code on the fin and the black and white under-surfaces, as it was allocated to the Squadron when Ark Royal returned from her second deployment off of Norway on 26/5/40 (three weeks after the Admiralty had instructed units to repaint in Sky). Ark Royal sailed for her third deployment on 31/5/40 (with L2963 embarked) and it would either have had the sky-blue applied before embarkation or while on board, when the F code was applied to the fin. Of course, I don't mean this to distract from your very nice model. IG Edited May 16, 2015 by iang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Wow, you don't see many of those! Very nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 How about a Roc ?? Even better, a Roc with floats. There was at least one; I've seen pictures. It must have been slower than a very slow thing - the Roc itself wasn't exactly high performance! Nice Skua. Nice Barra, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moaning dolphin Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 That's a beautifully presented and painted Skua. Just one thing - which you might not be bothered about : This was Lt Filmer's 803 squadron Skua that was shot down during the Scharnhorst attack on 13/6/40 and did not have black and white under-surfaces when it was shot-down. What we now know for certain is that Ark Royal's 800 and 803 Squadron Skuas had their under-surfaces repainted in a sky-blue colour (but not their fuselage sides) in an attempt to comply with the early May 1940 Air Ministry order to repaint in Sky. L2963 was a replacement aircraft for Lt Lucy's L2925, which was shot down on 14/5/40, and L2963 would probably never have carried the blue F code on the fin and the black and white under-surfaces, as it was allocated to the Squadron when Ark Royal returned from her second deployment off of Norway on 26/5/40 (three weeks after the Admiralty had instructed units to repaint in Sky). Ark Royal sailed for her third deployment on 31/5/40 (with L2963 embarked) and it would either have had the sky-blue applied before embarkation or while on board, when the F code was applied to the fin. Of course, I don't mean this to distract from your very nice model. IG Thanks for that information, although on this occasion I do plead total ignorance. I just went straight for one of the options OOB, not really doing any research into it. I chose that scheme just because of the extra colour on the fin! But it is nice to know the history behind each aircraft. Even better, a Roc with floats. There was at least one; I've seen pictures. It must have been slower than a very slow thing - the Roc itself wasn't exactly high performance! Nice Skua. Nice Barra, too! Do you mean this beast? I think it looks asthetically pleasing but there is no way I would want to go to war in it! Cheers now Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I do indeed. The handling...? Oh, the horror! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I think the only thing Blackburn nailed was the Bucc. BZ on that Skua. I do like gawky looking things. (standfast the Roc on floats), I have to draw the line there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moaning dolphin Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 I think the only thing Blackburn nailed was the Bucc. BZ on that Skua. I do like gawky looking things. (standfast the Roc on floats), I have to draw the line there. Well there was the Blackburn Blackburn which was asthetically pleasing.............to a blind rat LOL! Legend says it was the last aircraft to be designed by aircrew! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Blackburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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