Ventora3300 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 (edited) I'm a confirmed GB participant after the excellent Matchbox GB so, seeing as I'm a big fan of the BM community, i thought I couldn't possibly miss the chance to join in with this '10th Anniversary' GB. Having cleared up the mobile workspace, I'm going to launch out again with the Frog Sea Fury X I got this kit some years ago when I was collecting Frog kits of subjects not covered by others. I liked the fact that the Sea Fury X was the first production model of this aircraft and other kit manufacturers seem to focus on the subsequently developed and more capable Mk.11 or FB 11. I saw a Sea fury flying at an Air Show a few years ago and was impressed by the speed and quiet power on display. Here are the pieces then, a fairly simple kit. I fancy doing the FAA 802 Squadron 1952 option. All the pieces seem to be there and there is a small amount of flash - it was later that I started to go for the earliest boxings I could reasonably get to try for better quality before the molds began to possibly wear. This kit has a 'wings folded option' so I'd like to try that but I am stilled pulled to having a wheels up 'flying' version so that the sleek lines can been seen, plus a fly round the room with prop spinning! I have never built a Sea Fury and it is a very long time since I did a Frog kit (only every did three) so there is some new ground to be covered here as well as a bit of nostalgia. I've convinced myself to do two kits, one in each pose, and I'll pick up another kit plus aftermarket bits for the wing folding mechanisms, cockpit and cannon barrels etc. Absolutely perfect modelling weather...... Edited April 5, 2018 by Ventora3300 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepboy Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 So looking forward to this - I bought the self same kit as a kiddie at St Mawgan airshow in about 1974 when we had a school trip from Plymouth (for those who'd passed the 11 plus - it was a only minibus full, small school but a teacher had contacts to get us in free). I sincerey beieve you wil make a better build than I did with gluey fingers and nail clippers but the memory of the day when we had real airshow and that Sea Fury taxiing past to take of are still there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 9, 2018 Author Share Posted March 9, 2018 Got going on the Sea Fury X and seat and armour plate glued to the deck and fitted to one half of the fuselage. Did a bit of research on interior colours and came up with H78 for the cockpit interior. Glued the undercarriage door pieces in position in the inner wings lower halves and the lower fuselage halves - seemed to be a good fit. Glued together the halves of the underwing fuel tanks together. I was interested in the narrow space behind the spinner and wondered if I could give an impression that the Bristol Centaurus 18-Cylinder could be seen in there. I painted in a background with H53 Gunmetal and 'dotted in' what I imagined to be 18 inlet horns in H85 (I am assuming that the inlets face forward and the 18 exhaust manifolds go backwards and out to the fuselage sides). While the gunmetal was out, painted the rocket shafts and arrestor hook. (Painted the undercarriage legs and wheel discs too but reminded myself that this first kit is being built with wheels up). Painted the inner portion of the prop blades to allow a representation of the blade pitch mechanism inside the spinner. I was also determined to make some representation of the exhaust outlets on the fuselage sides (9 each side) and spent a fair bit of time looking around for something that would do. I bought some tiny (so I thought) brass ferrules but nine of those in a line were actually too long for the space. I tried slicing up one of the spikes in a hairbrush and tried gluing in place but they just would not sit in position. Some black Velcro caught my eye as a possibility and I managed to cut very small strips to fit, but they only really had six stubs each. I'll leave these in position for now - if they won't do then I may end up painting in dots for the exhaust stubs. While this was all going on, the aftermarket goodies that I ordered from Hannants arrived. This is a definitely a first for me. The cannon barrels and pitot tube are MINISCULE! However, the existing holes in the wings were not deep enough to hold the brass barrels so I opened these fully back and dropped the barrels into a blob of glue, positioning as per the included instructions. Well, looks good now but will I obliterate them during the (brush) painting of the wings? Fuel tanks are glued to the lower wing halves and so we keep going.... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 (edited) If it isn't too late go with black for your cockpit in this one. As an aside and of no real importance to your build so feel free to ignore this but the Bristol Centaurus engine is a sleeve valve so has the inlet manifolds at the back of the cylinders. What you are seeing at the front of each cylinder is the exhausts. https://goo.gl/images/MXaHhp Edited March 9, 2018 by Col. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Love it, such a tantalising combination of elegance and menace. Also a welcome change from a more recent Sea Fury kit that is getting a lot of attention 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Excellent,about time this kit got an airing,pulling up a chair . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 (edited) On 09/03/2018 at 22:39, Col. said: If it isn't too late go with black for your cockpit in this one. As an aside and of no real importance to your build so feel free to ignore this but the Bristol Centaurus engine is a sleeve valve so has the inlet manifolds at the back of the cylinders. What you are seeing at the front of each cylinder is the exhausts. https://goo.gl/images/MXaHhp Many thanks for those pictures, Col - I can see now that I should make a representation of the nine front row cylinderheads with the turned ends of exhaust piping either side of each. I had seen some pictures of the Bristol Centaurus engine and must have picked up a sectioned pipe. However, I wonder how the air got in to the inlets? I had imagined they would use the ram effect of the air going in from the front - must just depend on this for cooling. On the cockpit colour, I see quite a few modellers going for all black. However, the second 'first boxing' Frog kit has arrived now and the instructions give the seat and decking colour as a green, with the seat brown (must be for a leather cover). I've gone with a black interior and a green seat with brown leather cover and headrest for now. Ill give it a bit more thought for the PE detailed cockpit in the second kit. Regards, Mike. Edited March 12, 2018 by Ventora3300 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 On 10/03/2018 at 11:57, stevej60 said: Excellent,about time this kit got an airing,pulling up a chair . Many thanks - you'll get two kits for the price of one, here! This is the first Frog kit(s) I have done since the three I did as a sprogling sometime last century so should be a blast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 Many moons ago when I first built this kit, I took to the mass that is where the exhausts should be & cut eight small (very small) wedges into it to represent the gap between the individual exhausts. Without a lot of faffing around, I reckon that is a workable solution. Quite honestly, I don't reckon much work on the front of the engine is worth it, it is so small in this scale & being so closely cowled & in shadow, very little is visible anyway. The carb intakes on the Centaurus are the small intakes each side on the wing roots & from memory can do with opening up which improved the look of the beast a lot, the bigger intake outboard of one of these is the oil cooler intake. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, stevehnz said: Many moons ago when I first built this kit, I took to the mass that is where the exhausts should be & cut eight small (very small) wedges into it to represent the gap between the individual exhausts. Without a lot of faffing around, I reckon that is a workable solution. Quite honestly, I don't reckon much work on the front of the engine is worth it, it is so small in this scale & being so closely cowled & in shadow, very little is visible anyway. The carb intakes on the Centaurus are the small intakes each side on the wing roots & from memory can do with opening up which improved the look of the beast a lot, the bigger intake outboard of one of these is the oil cooler intake. Steve. Many thanks for that info, Steve, as I'm still undecided what to do about the exhaust outlets - sounds like an excellent solution. I was holding the fuselage in my hands last night and my 'representations' of the exhaust ends fell off. Also, I'll have a look at the wings and see what there is in terms of detail for the inlets. Edited March 13, 2018 by Ventora3300 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 (edited) Some more progress on the Sea Fury X. Fuselage halves glued together now and the 'view' of the Centaurus in the cowling changed to represent 9 black front row cylinder heads with two silver coloured exhaust pipes either side of each. Spinner painted in H123 Extra Dark Sea Grey and put on the propellor blades, which are in H224 Dark Slate Grey. Yellow tips to come. Propeller fitted and spins! Cowling glued to the fuselage - there isn't a locating tab so you can put it on at any angle, however, the clue is the two very fine panel lines directly opposite each other which I think represent the cowling access panel lines - put them at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. Rudder on the fuselage and set to represent a turn to starboard. Wing halves glued together with ailerons set to represent a bank to starboard. There was a lot of checking of fit required with trimming of flash at edges to get a good fit. Stabilisers on and elevators set to represent a climb - hopefully, it all represents a climbing bank to starboard - hope the stand can take it! I'm getting quite a few gluey marks here from trying to get enough on the moveable control surface hinge points to keep them in the set positions - they sit beautifully in the neutral positions but maybe a bit of trimming/sanding is required on the edge that is pushed in when you set them in a control position. I'll watch for that on the next kit. Arrestor hook and tailwheel doors on. Picture a bit out of focus there. Painting up the rockets, rails, tailwheel and pilot. Need to let everything dry for a bit. Edited April 5, 2018 by Ventora3300 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 On 09/03/2018 at 22:39, Col. said: https://goo.gl/images/MXaHhp On 13/03/2018 at 01:20, stevehnz said: The carb intakes on the Centaurus are the small intakes each side on the wing roots & from memory can do with opening up which improved the look of the beast a lot, the bigger intake outboard of one of these is the oil cooler intake. Steve. Col, Steve, I've been having a good look at the carb / oil cooler intakes on this Frog kit version of the Sea Fury and quite a lot doesn't seem to add up. The intake on the starboard wing at the root is solid but could be opened up but is also of a round shape so putting in a rectangular hole of the right size may be a problem. On the port wing, there is no representation of the carb intake but the oil cooler intake seems oversized - it seems to take up all the space between the wing root and the cannon ports (which, looking at the reference photos is much too long). I think what I may attempt is to make a carb intake on the port side by putting a divider in the existing oil cooler to create a carb intake and then try to reproduce a hole of the same size in the rounded protrusion on the starboard wing - I may need to use some filler to 'sculpt' a larger more rectangular fairing around the right sized intake hole. I've had a good look around the forums and can't see any instances where this issue has been tackled - everyone seems to have just left as is. Was the intake arrangement on the FB.10 so different to that on the FB.11? Still checking this out.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 16, 2018 Author Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) I'm having a think now about putting the black/white stripes on the wings before gluing these to the fuselage - seems that the masking process will be a whole lot simpler and maybe help me avoid breaking the prop blades etc. I'll do these first and then add the wing under and top surface colours afterwards, to try to prevent the paint layers getting too thick and to reduce the ridges at the masked colour boundaries. I'll have to pop off the fuel tanks first though - all good learning before tackling the second kit which will have all the aftermarket 'luxuries' included. Here are the 'luxuries': Here is the second kit - the colour is approximating to the underside 'beige green' this time (the kit above is more like extra dark sea grey): In this earlier moulding, the propeller has been moulded as five separate pieces - that will be fun! There is a different squadron option to the later boxing I have been working on but I like the idea of one of the aircraft being '105' and the other '106' - I'd better check that I can do that and still be fairly 'authentic'. Edited March 16, 2018 by Ventora3300 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 6 hours ago, Ventora3300 said: Col, Steve, I've been having a good look at the carb / oil cooler intakes on this Frog kit version of the Sea Fury and quite a lot doesn't seem to add up. The intake on the starboard wing at the root is solid but could be opened up but is also of a round shape so putting in a rectangular hole of the right size may be a problem. On the port wing, there is no representation of the carb intake but the oil cooler intake seems oversized - it seems to take up all the space between the wing root and the cannon ports (which, looking at the reference photos is much too long). I think what I may attempt is to make a carb intake on the port side by putting a divider in the existing oil cooler to create a carb intake and then try to reproduce a hole of the same size in the rounded protrusion on the starboard wing - I may need to use some filler to 'sculpt' a larger more rectangular fairing around the right sized intake hole. I've had a good look around the forums and can't see any instances where this issue has been tackled - everyone seems to have just left as is. Was the intake arrangement on the FB.10 so different to that on the FB.11? Still checking this out.... There was no difference between the carburetor intake and oil cooler from F.10 to FB.11 so the reference photos you've found are correct for both and your plan to correct the kit parts is a good one. To make a square intake on the starboard wing I'd recommend using some spare plastic to form the box section as that will be easier to work than brittle filler. If you don't have any plastic sheet in stock how about some of the rocket fins? The F in Sea Fury F.10 stood for Fighter as it had no Fighter/Bomber capability so the rockets would be spurious for that one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 The FROG Tempest has four separate prop blades, but these are made to fit snuggly into the spinner, so the pitch is not problem. I imagine the SeaFury is the same. Why would you paint the prop blades H224 Dark Slate Grey? They should be flat black. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, Ventora3300 said: Col, Steve, I've been having a good look at the carb / oil cooler intakes on this Frog kit version of the Sea Fury and quite a lot doesn't seem to add up. The intake on the starboard wing at the root is solid but could be opened up but is also of a round shape so putting in a rectangular hole of the right size may be a problem. On the port wing, there is no representation of the carb intake but the oil cooler intake seems oversized - it seems to take up all the space between the wing root and the cannon ports (which, looking at the reference photos is much too long). I think what I may attempt is to make a carb intake on the port side by putting a divider in the existing oil cooler to create a carb intake and then try to reproduce a hole of the same size in the rounded protrusion on the starboard wing - I may need to use some filler to 'sculpt' a larger more rectangular fairing around the right sized intake hole. I've had a good look around the forums and can't see any instances where this issue has been tackled - everyone seems to have just left as is. Was the intake arrangement on the FB.10 so different to that on the FB.11? Still checking this out.... I see Col has answered this one, I'll dig my old one out & have a shufti at it, your plan seems OK but I think the carb intakes might be half & half on the inner wing & wing centre section the way this kit was molded. Will report back on that. As Chris @dogsbodysays, the way the prop blades fit is quite well engineered & as long as there are no bits of stray flash on the roots or in the spinner they slot in beautifully. I dug my old kit out & yes, it is as I said. I had just filed a square notch in the centre section leading edge but looking at photos on this page & this page you can see the upper surface extends out further than the lower , it may be easier to file this in each side before joining the inner wings to the centre section Steve Edited March 16, 2018 by stevehnz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 The Tempest prop. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 On 16/03/2018 at 21:51, dogsbody said: The FROG Tempest has four separate prop blades, but these are made to fit snuggly into the spinner, so the pitch is not problem. I imagine the SeaFury is the same. Why would you paint the prop blades H224 Dark Slate Grey? They should be flat black. Chris Chris, yes I am sure you are right on the colour of the prop blades as those are the standard FAA colours. The Instructions that came with the early boxing of the Frog Sea Fury give 'Grey' as the prop blade colour, and also 'Grey' for the spinner. The Spinner I was taking as Extra Dark Sea Grey and I thought I'd try the Dark Slate Grey on the prop blades rather than make them the same grey as the spinner - doesn't look right at all. I am wondering if the Frog designers had access to a particular aircraft when they made the moulds and Instructions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 Well, that was a job and a half – trying to produce the carb intakes in the leading edges of the wings. The space to work in is really small and at one point I did drop the model and several bits sprang off, including the cowling, and that actually helped things along – I only noticed later that the tip from one of the prop blades had disappeared. I found that I was best doing this with the wings on the fuselage and I had a false start when I found that creating a flat area with a small square file didn’t produce the desired effect so I then had to add in some filler between the oil cooler on the port wing / the protrusion on the starboard wing and the fuselage to create new leading edges by sanding / 'sculpting'. I then applied a small drill to this to create holes in the right place then applied the tip of a sharp craft knife to try to ‘square’ the opening. From the reference pictures, the carb intakes are actually in the underside of the leading edge of the wings and that is why the opening top edge is further out than the bottom. I also created a deeper underside to the oil cooler using filler to reproduce the shape I have seen on reference photos (and kits by other manufacturers) and undercut this at the back to give the impression of the exit opening (edge needs some more work). I can’t really get a properly focussed picture at this stage (probably just as well) but I have applied some matt black to the interior of the intakes and will have to wait and see how it looks when the wing colours are on. (Looks like some sanding of joints is still required). I had a bit of a nightmare applying filler to the wing joints then finding that I couldn’t really sand them back without destroying some of the fine raised panel lines, so much rubbing with white spirit was required, which meant all the wing joints coming apart. All back together now although I got the impression that the plastic is a bit reluctant to stick together – cue gobs of glue. The pilot is in and I'm trying to create a new prop tip with ‘sculpted’ filler – if that doesn’t work then I’ll be raiding the Novo ‘Katyuska’ again. Here we are on the Frog stand and approximating to a climbing bank to starboard! Now I’m moving on to painting the wing and fuselage stripes…5mm masking tape looks to be the right size. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Looking good, I like the way you've done those intakes & improved the oil cooler too, very much heading in the right direction. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Look's great especially with the extra work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 (edited) Using filler to ‘sculpt’ a replacement prop tip didn’t work so I resorted to visiting my Novo Katyuska for a donation – it’s on and painted. I put some H123 EDSG on the wings above the carb intakes to get a better idea of how they will look and all looking good at the moment. Matt white applied (by brush) to wings and fuselage as close to the boundaries as I can perceive from the painting guide (different between the two kits) and the reference photos – it needed 5 coats and the finish has suffered in consequence. There is an excellent thread on stripes here (thanks, guys): I’m going to use 5 adjacent strips of masking tape on the white and compared the total width using 5mm and 6mm masking tape. The post above determined that 6mm was the correct size but it is looking too wide to me on the Fury’s wings. I’m going to try 5mm. Also having a look at the colour for the undersides - H90 Beige Green looks a bit better for 'Sky' than the H23 Duck Egg Blue? Edited April 5, 2018 by Ventora3300 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 It looks like you're on the right track for some dramatic stripes Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 (edited) Masking tape for stripes is on (the masking for the black sections was on for alignment then removed) and behaved pretty well - robust at maintaining a straight line but flexible enough to cope with the curves (I hope). First coat of 'Sky' is done. Also started the black stripes on the fuselage and undersides of wings. It's a bit messy around the 'gills' so I'll need to tidy that up with a smaller brush. Edited April 6, 2018 by Ventora3300 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 On 06/04/2018 at 07:47, CliffB said: It looks like you're on the right track for some dramatic stripes Cliff I am thinking now that they may have been better done last, on top of the main colours - just like they would be done 'in the field'. The white has ended up pretty thick and I've had to spend a bit of time feathering back the paint at either side so it doesn't show up as ridges. Method using the 5 pieces of masking tape is proving efficient though. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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