De Havilland Sea Hornet NF21 - 1/72 Skybirds 86

[bryanm]

I found this on ebay a couple of years ago, described as "started". On first inspection it looked like some of the hard work had been done, as the nacelles, nose and drop tanks had been assembled. A closer look showed some issues - for example, the wings need substantial thinning before assembly but our would-be Horneteer had attacked the outer surfaces rather than the mating surfaces! The drop tanks had taken on a rather blobby shape so I left them off but the nose and nacelles weren't too bad.

The rest of it went together OK with a bit of test fitting, but no more than any other limited run kit. Sorting out the wings was the main issue. The white metal parts were nice. The canopy was a bit yellow and looked pretty brittle so I didn't cut too far and will live with the result. I hoped to use the kit decals but they cracked as soon as they saw water. I contacted SH and asked if I could buy a decal sheet from them, but they very kindly sent one gratis and they went on very well - many thanks, Michal! It's brush painted with Humbrol and Revell paints.

Apart from the cockpit, which has the usual issue of an upswept windscreen base, I won't comment on accuracy, but the recent posts by John Aero here suggest it's not bad but not brilliant. It's the first Skybirds 86 kit that I have built and is a tribute to the late Mike Eacock.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2017 by bryanm

[David Womby]

Lovely to see the Skybirds kit built and you've made a great job of it.

David

[stevehnz]

Brilliant. I've one of these tucked away, I think yours is the 1st I've seen made up, its really heartening to know they can come up so well.

Steve.

[TomW]

Great result from one of the pioneers of 'cottage industry' kit makers. I've built the F.3 version and have a couple more tucked away for a rainy day (or month) but seeing yours has moved them a bit further up the build list.

Regards

Tom

[F-32]

That's lovely work