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Never give up, never surrender


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Never given up on a kit yet!  

 

I can't claim this as anything more than a bit of fun - but isn't that what modelling is for? I didn't buy this kit deliberately; it came as part of a job lot of Airfix kits in blister packs.  I knew it was bad, but it is actually a lot worse than I thought.  Rather than despatch it to the landfill, I thought I would have some hot summer fun trying to get something approximately useful out of it. 

 

Seafire Mk III of 880 Sqn, HMS IMPLACABLE, British Pacific Fleet

 

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It is intended to be the aircraft of Lt Cdr M Crossley, complete with ex-Australian/US P.40 drop tank, as used by the 8th Carrier Group to extend the Seafire's range.  Funnily enough, the drop tank actually came from a P.40 kit.

 

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... and now the grand reveal;  this is the kit I started with!

 

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It is a truly awful kit, barely reminiscent of a Spitfire even if you look at it with your eyes half closed in a dark room.  However, it does build quite well, which is possibly why Airfix kept selling it for so long.  I re-shaped the fuselage as best I could, added a hook, removed one set of gun barrels, replaced one radiator with an oil cooler, lengthened the undercarriage leg slightly, added some better looking spare Spitfire wheels and added a strengthening strip on the fuselage sides.

 

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You will notice I have not taken any pictures of the underside of the wing.  Those of you who are familiar with the kit and its flat underside will know why!  

I did, however replace one radiator with an oil cooler and add an extended air intake.

 

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But hey, I've got another "Seafire" in the collection and the planet has been saved from one more lump of deformed plastic in landfill. 

 

That makes 13 Seafires to date, plus a Seafang:    Fred's Seafires

 

13 doesn't sound like a lucky number, so I better get on and build another..... 

 

FredT :)

Edited by gengriz
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