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Seafire III, 809 Sqn FAA


Beard

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4 hours ago, johnd said:

Not only a Marina. A Fastback Marina.

 

John.

 

It can't be a Marina, it hasn't got a piano on its roof...

 

My mother used to have one, in wee wee yellow, puke green, that was popular at the time and can say without any hesitation, the only car that I have driven that was worse than the Marina, was the VW Beetle.

 

Both should be consigned to Room 100 with the utmost haste....

 

 

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At the risk of off topic.

 

I must admit my first car was a 1979 Pageant blue Morris Marina.

 

:blush:

 

It was beautifully upholstered in 'Mum's velour sofa beige (of course)' material with plush carpets. They were close to the end of production and really making an effort.

 

Upholstery wise.

 

Unfortunately it had a 'factory fault' in that it blew 3 gearboxes in the first three months; it would engage (I was told by an RAC inspector) first gear and reverse at the same time :boom:.

 

I also learned a lot about grease guns and grease nipples, given the front trunnions would seize up if not greased every four months.

 

Then there was the pint of oil a week that I was told was 'perfectly normal', and the Morris Minor torsion bar suspension that rusted off the drivers side floor after two years, the bar through the floor nearly slicing through my vitals :undecided:.

 

Rock salt (grit) for snow and 70's BL metal didn't go well together.

 

For all that, I loved that car. I was only 17 and had a lot of fun with my friends, driving to strange country follies, dams, abandoned airfields and the like.

 

Fish and chips in the car with pals, good banter, a cassette on of Dire Straits 'Making Movies' at night, the odd bottle of home brew (just one for me; lots for them :beer: ).

 

It was a comedown from the Morris Oxford it replaced, but although a real PITA, just fine for a first car :).

 

Apologies for rambling Simon, happy to edit :blah: !

 

Thanks for the photos. Got me reminiscing. 

 

Was the chap on the memorial a relative? I saw my surname on one at Vimy ridge; but it wasn't  someone I knew from the little I know of the family tree (not 'Tiger' :D). Like you say, it's still a sobering moment.

 

All the best

TonyT

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I've made a little progress (although I've got side-tracked by putting the transfers on my fabric-wing Hurricane, finishing the painting on a Sword Spitfire XIV, fiddling around with the Freightdog Spitfire XI conversion, starting a KP Spitfire cannon-armed MkI and an Airfix Beaufighter and, finishing-off an Airfix Spitfire MkV for a friend's art-work (which has to be finished by Friday), I hope to get the painting done tomorrow (Tuesday). I will post some photographs on Wednesday.

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As promised, here's where it's at tonight:

 

32912670211_5217c0446c_b.jpg

 

(I'll get rid of that nasty seam on the rear fuselage, promise.)

 

32657046110_a20fab9dcc_b.jpg

 

(Clearly, the propellor and hub need some work.)

 

Here's the Sword Spitfire Mk XIV that's been giving me so much trouble...

 

32657085700_128fc3213f_b.jpg

 

 

Edited by Beard
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21 minutes ago, rob85 said:

Well it doesn't look like it's giving you trouble Simon! Both look cracking in fact!

 

nice work

 

Rob

 

1 minute ago, CedB said:

Seconded!

 

Thank you gentlemen but you weren't party to the enormous amount of swearing involved in getting the XIV to that point. There'll be yet more swearing before it's finished because Sword undercarriages aren't, usually, easily installed. 

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On 2/8/2017 at 6:58 PM, Beard said:

 

I see what you mean, not that there's anything wrong with a Spitfire. I guess it was painted in RAF camouflage because 885 were doing spotting work on D-Day. Here's a history of 885: http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Squadrons/885.html

I recall a discussion on Seafire colours in Scale Aircraft Modelling, back in the '90s I think.  It seems that some Westland-built Seafires were finished in Day Fighter Scheme and that some may have had Dark Sea Grey and Cockpit Grey-green upper surfaces. I think Neil Robinson painted a review model in the latter scheme.

 

Those models are coming along nicely, however much resistance they're putting up.

Edited by JosephLalor
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There's been some discussion about FN547's colour scheme here too:

The above thread links to another, it seems unlikely that FN547 had the tailplane painted in the colours Sword (and other profiles) have it in.

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I was in the attic when this parcel arrived this evening...

32243459523_92f5d687d6_b.jpg

 

What could be inside?

32213458864_ab99b00fa8_b.jpg

 

Ah yes...

32243459873_88faf99583_b.jpg

 

The nice people at Eduard also sent me these:

32213459004_4523c144ba_b.jpg

 

I now have all the kits I need for the D-Day anniversary build I have planned for May, June and July this year.

Edited by Beard
Inserted text, to improve clarity.
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The Sword Mk XIV looks excellent Simon. It looks like as much as it's been fighting, you've wrestled it into submission :thumbsup2: .

 

Amazing haul from Eduard! Christmas all over again (in fact that beats my Christmas :undecided:). Postage makes even the overtrees pricey to this large Island, but I would love some, and very much love a Mk. VIII. 

 

Looking forward to your D-Day anniversary build :).

 

All the best

TonyT

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8 hours ago, TonyTiger66 said:

The Sword Mk XIV looks excellent Simon. It looks like as much as it's been fighting, you've wrestled it into submission :thumbsup2: .

 

Amazing haul from Eduard! Christmas all over again (in fact that beats my Christmas :undecided:). Postage makes even the overtrees pricey to this large Island, but I would love some, and very much love a Mk. VIII. 

 

Looking forward to your D-Day anniversary build :).

 

All the best

TonyT

 

Thanks Tony. If the XIV looks anything approaching good it's because of my poor photography skills. I usually mess-up the first of any kit I make, in the case of the Sword XIV it's the third one that might be okay.

 

7 hours ago, rob85 said:

Now that is a box worth having!

 

Rob

 

Indeed, and the wife didn't even say 'more kits?'

 

7 hours ago, CedB said:

Envious :jealous: Great haul there Simon - I can't wait to see the production line :) 

 

Order some Ced, the Eduard website is easy to use and they even allowed for idiots who forget to tell them their address.

 

5 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

The Seafire's looking great Simon, and thanks for the bonus update on the Sword XIV!

 

That is quite the Eduard Spitfire haul there - you'll catch up to PC at this rate.

 

Thanks Cookie (although see my above reply to Rob), there's a possibility that I'll exceed PC's haul.

 

2 hours ago, Procopius said:

 

Challenge accepted.

 

If I have any money left after all the work on my house is completed, I'm going to order a container load of Eduard Spitfires... then you'll be sorry.

(Heads off to check how many kits a 32 ton lorry can carry and what the postage would be.)

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Whilst I'm trying to calculate how many Eduard Spitfires I'll be able to buy once the building work on my house is finished, I've done some work on the Seafire.

 

Decals on (one side only).

32729005500_5655db8240_b.jpg

 

Sword would have the white stripes over the edge of the roundels, I couldn't think of a way to do this (but see below) so I'm pretending that the painters on HMS Stalker took a lot of pride in their work and repainted the roundels.

 

There's been a bit of progress on the Sword XIV too.

 

32955083502_462200257d_b.jpg

 

I forgot to paint the yellow ID markings on the leading edge before I put the roundels on. Fully prepared to have to re-do the roundels after masking the yellow, I put a coat of Klear over them and masked. When I removed the masking tape, the roundels were intact. I suppose other's knew this would happen but I was quite surprised. I now intend to re-do the white on the Seafire.

 

Finally, I've nearly finished the Hurricane...

 

32729005310_4d076b6e92_b.jpg

 

(I better put the lid back on the TET...)

All the photographs in this post were taken with my new S7 and I'm quite impressed.

Edited by Beard
To correct spelling and add text to improve clarity.
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Nice work on all three Simon and glad the Klear worked for you - I bet you let it dry properly eh?

Nice photos too - the Galaxy S7 is it? Nice...

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